On January 14, the House approved, 236-191, the FY2015 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 240). On December 11, Congress approved an omnibus spending package (P.L. 113-235) for 11 of the 12 appropriations bills (see The Source, 12/12/14) that also continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through February 27.

According to the House Appropriations Committee summary, the legislation would allocate $39.7 billion in discretionary funds for DHS, an increase of $400 million over FY2014. The total includes $1.7 billion for domestic investigations, which includes a $62 million increase for efforts to prevent human trafficking and child exploitation.

During consideration of the bill, the House approved, 278-149, an amendment by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to prioritize immigrants convicted of domestic violence, sexual abuse, or child abuse for deportation.

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee  (D-TX)/Judiciary 

Bills Introduced

Crime

H.R. 285—-Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO)/Judiciary (1/12/15)—A bill to provide a penalty for knowingly selling advertising that offers certain commercial sex acts.

H.R. 320—-Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)/Judiciary (1/13/15)—A bill to establish a system for integration of Rapid DNA instruments for use by law enforcement to reduce violent crime and reduce the current DNA analysis backlog.

Foster Care

S. 184—-Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)/Indian Affairs (1/16/15)—A bill to require background checks before foster care placements are ordered in tribal court proceedings, and for other purposes.

Human Trafficking

S. 166—-Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)/Judiciary (1/13/15)—A bill to stop exploitation through trafficking.

S. 178—-Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)/Judiciary (1/13/15)—A bill to provide justice for the victims of trafficking.

H.R. 296—-Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX)/Judiciary (1/13/15)—A bill to provide justice for the victims of trafficking.

H.R. 345—-Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)/Judiciary (1/14/15)—A bill to make persons who conspire to commit or benefit from an act of human trafficking ineligible for admission to the United States of America.

H.R. 350—-Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD)/Judiciary, Foreign Affairs (1/14/15)—A bill to direct the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to identify strategies to prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking and review trafficking prevention efforts, to protect and assist in the recovery of victims of trafficking, and for other purposes.

H.R. 357—-Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY)/Foreign Relations (1/14/15)—A bill to amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386) to expand the training for federal government personnel related to trafficking in persons, and for other purposes.

H.R. 398—-Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)/Energy and Commerce (1/16/15)—A bill to provide for the development and dissemination of evidence-based best practices for health care professionals to recognize victims of a severe form of trafficking and respond to such individuals appropriately, and for other purposes.

H.R. 400—-Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA)/Foreign Affairs (1/16/15)—A bill to require the secretary of State and the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to submit reports on definitions of placement and recruitment fees for purposes of enabling compliance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386), and for other purposes.

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