Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), who recently testified at a Congressional hearing on “Labor Abuses, Human Trafficking, and Government Contracts: Is the Government Doing Enough to Protect Vulnerable Workers?”
As David Isenberg writes on the Huffington Post:
Because this is a continuing problem new legislation has been introduced in Congress to address it. In the House it is H.R.4259 — End Trafficking in Government Contracting Act of 2012. In the Senate it is S.2234.
That bill would prevent trafficking abuses by requiring contractors with contracts over $1 million to implement compliance plans to prevent trafficking including destroying or confiscating passports, misrepresenting wages or work locations, or using labor brokers who charge exorbitant recruiting fees.
It improves accountability by requiring that a contractor notify the inspector general if he or she receives credible evidence that a subcontractor has engaged in prohibited conduct, requiring the inspector general to investigate such instances and requiring the inspector general to investigate all those instances, and with that require swift remedial action against the contractor.
And, it improves enforcement of anti-trafficking requirements by expanding the criminal prohibitions that prevent fraudulent labor practices typically associated with trafficking.
Click through for the full article about the hearing and proposed legislation.
