National Strategy for Combating Terrorist, Underground, and Other Illicit Financing Act
Floor Speech
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I am very pleased to rise, along with my colleagues Chairman Michael Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania; our vice chair, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Pittenger); the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez); and also the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), in support of H.R. 5594, a bill that will build on the administration's commendable efforts to counter the financing of terrorism.
I would note that the proposal before us today, of which I am a cosponsor, also builds off of previous bipartisan legislation, led by the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), and former Financial Services Committee Chairman, Spencer Bachus. Together, their legislation, enacted in 1998, called for the creation of a national anti-money laundering strategy and laid the groundwork for the legislation that we present here today.
Thanks to the continued leadership of Representative Velazquez and the work of members of the Financial Services Committee's Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing, which was created by the full committee chairman, Mr. Hensarling of Texas, and joined by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Maxine Waters), our government will be required to continue its efforts to stay ahead of the evolving methods that terrorists and other bad actors use to conceal the movement of illicit funds.
Specifically, the national strategy that will be developed as part of this legislation will require a comprehensive assessment of the threats, goals, objectives, and priorities for preventing and disrupting illicit finance, and it will promote efforts to detect and prosecute the financing of terrorism.
Moreover, this legislation includes a requirement to assess the ways in which we can strengthen the role of the private sector, enhance public-private partnerships to disrupt illicit finance, and most effectively enhance intergovernmental coordination.
Our legislation also calls on the administration to assess the adequacy of funding dedicated to meeting anti-money laundering/ counterterrorist financing challenges, and assess how best to leverage technology and other data to fight against the financing of terror.
As the Islamic State and other terrorist groups continue to demonstrate their capacity and willingness to export heinous acts of violence to every corner of the globe and inspire attacks here in the United States, the need to have an effective strategy to counter the financing of these activities is now more important than ever.
In closing, I would like to thank House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling and Ranking Member Maxine Waters for the creation of the Financial Services Committee's Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing.
I would also like to again thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick; the gentleman from North Carolina, Vice Chair Robert Pittenger; and the rest of my colleagues on the Financial Services Committee for the enthusiasm and energy with which they have carried out the mandate of the task force. Our work has been a truly bipartisan effort, and I look forward to the opportunity to build on these efforts in the future.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas, and I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), one of our lead cosponsors on this legislation.
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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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