	Obstruction

Prior to the Wilberforce Act, only the peonage statute among the anti-trafficking proscriptions included an explicit obstruction component. . . enforcement"). With the passage of the Wilberforce Act, it is now a federal crime to obstruct, or attempt to obstruct, or in any way interfere with or prevent the enforcement of Section 1583 (enticement into slavery), 1584 (holding another in involuntary servitude), 1590 (trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor), 1591 (sex trafficking using force, fraud, coercion or children), or 1592 (document abuse relating to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor). Nevertheless in a number of instances, Congress has elected to punish equally conspiracy and the underlying offense which is its object. First, it makes it clear that in its trafficking offense the section condemns not only trafficking but the sexual exploitation of the victims of trafficking. The explanatory statement accompanying consideration of H.R. The Wilberforce Act's definition of abuse of law is modeled after that found in the Second Restatement of Torts referenced in the earlier limited available case law (use of "a legal process, criminal or civil, against another primarily to accomplish a purpose for which it is not designed"). The Wilberforce Act adds the financial benefit offense to the forced labor, peonage, and document abuse prohibitions. The law of the place determines what is criminal and how crimes may be punished. The Wilberforce Act specifically designates Section 1591 offenses as such qualifying violations. The Wilberforce Act adds Section 1591 investigations (sex trafficking involving children or the use of force, fraud, or coercion) to the list of investigations in relation to which the Attorney General may issue an administrative subpoena. 1593, rather than in the forfeiture section, 18 U.S.C. The statute of limitations for the criminal prosecution of most of the offenses under chapter 77 is 10 years.
The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 7311), passed both the House and the Senate on December 10, 2008. The President signed it into law on December 23, 2008, P.L. 110-457, 122 Stat. 5044 (2008). Although much of the Wilberforce Act originated in H.R. 3887, most of its criminal provisions did not. Most appeared first in Senate bill S. 3061, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which Senator Biden introduced with a brief accompanying statement on May 22, 2008. Congress ultimately elected to proceed with a clean bill rather than use either H.R. 3887 or S. 3061 as a vehicle for final passage. Representative Berman introduced H.R. 7311, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which mixed features from the earlier House and Senate proposals, on December 9, 2008. H.R. 7311 passed both Houses on December 10, 2008, and was signed into law on December 23, 2008. The Wilberforce Act bolsters federal efforts to combat both international and domestic traffic in human beings. Among other initiatives, it expands pre-existing law enforcement authority and the criminal proscriptions in the area. For instance, it authorizes the Attorney General to use administrative subpoenas in sex trafficking investigations and to seek preventive detention of those charged with such offenses. It clarifies the reach of earlier prohibitions and outlaws anew obstructing anti-trafficking enforcement efforts, conspiring to traffic, as well as reaping any benefit from trafficking.
This is an abridged version of CRS Report R40190, The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-457): Criminal Law Provisions, by [author name scrubbed] Criminal Provisions, without the footnotes, appendices, or most citations to authority found in the longer report.