WASHINGTON– Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) and Co-Chairman Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), will hold a hearing on Thursday, October 11 at 10:00 a.m. in 2226 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing entitled, “Combating Trafficking for Forced Labor Purposes in the OSCE Region,” will examine the scope and efficacy of the United States’ and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) efforts to combat human trafficking for forced labor purposes; assess the effectiveness of legal anti-trafficking tools to combat forced labor in selected member OSCE States as well as the adequacy of resources dedicated to identifying victims of trafficking for forced labor as compared with those directed at sexual trafficking. The following witnesses will testify at the hearing:
Panel One
The Honorable Mark Lagon, U.S. Department of State Ambassador-at-Large and Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State
Ms. Charlotte M. Ponticelli, Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor
Mr. Michael E. Feinberg, Acting Director for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Office of International Affairs (OIA), under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Panel Two
Ms. Eva Biaudet, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings
Mr. Roger Plant, Head, Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, International Labor Organisation
Mr. Kevin Bales, President, Free the Slaves
In advance of this hearing, the U.S. Helsinki Commission will hold a screening of the movie TRADE on Tuesday, October 9 at 5:00 p.m. in room HC-8. The movie is based on a 2004 New York Times Magazine article by Peter Landesman, which chronicles international sex-trafficking.
About TRADE: From the barrios of Mexico City and the treacherous Rio Grande border, to a secret Internet sex slave auction and a tense confrontation at a stash house in suburban New Jersey, TRADE illustrates the far reaching effects of modern-day slavery. Starring Academy Award winning actor Kevin Kline, TRADE, tells the story of 13-year-old Adriana who is kidnapped by sex traffickers in Mexico City, and the efforts of her 17-year-old brother, Jorge, to save her. Adriana’s only friend throughout her ordeal is Veronica, a young Polish woman, captured by the same criminal gang.
