Traffickers generally lure their victims -- many of whom suffer from poverty, unemployment, and gender discrimination in their home countries -- to the United States with false promises of employment opportunities. Once these victims reach the United States, however, traffickers force them to work as "sweatshop" laborers, domestic servants, agricultural workers, or prostitutes. The Act aims to address this problem both in the United States and at its sources. After months of conference debate over competing House and Senate versions of the Act, the House dropped its insistence that mandatory sanctions be imposed on countries that fail to cooperate in efforts to combat trafficking. By focusing on the needs of domestic law enforcement rather than attempting to dictate foreign policy, the House avoided a threatened presidential veto and allowed the legislation to become law. The Act directly addresses the problems law enforcement officials currently face in their efforts to combat trafficking. It increases the maximum penalty to 20 years imprisonment for those who force a person to perform labor through the use of physical restraint, threats of serious harm, or abuse of the legal system. It also lowers the standard of proof required to convict a defendant for forced commercial sex acts or crimes involving minors. Moreover, it raises the penalty to a maximum of life in prison if the trafficking involves kidnapping or aggravated sexual abuse; results in death; is effected by coercion fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation against a minor; or if the victim is under the age of 14. The Act also offers various forms of assistance to victims of trafficking. To address the problem on a global level, the Act calls for the establishment of an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking. 92 footnotes