Remarks by Secretary Tim Geithner at Treasury's Counter-Terrorist Financing Symposium

Statement

Thank you, David, for that introduction. It's great to be here today with so many people who have made -- and continue to make -- tremendous contributions to our national security.

Our discussion today takes place in the shadow of a tragedy ten years past. On September 11, 2001, our nation suffered a terrorist attack that killed thousands and shook the nation. Let us observe a moment of silence in remembrance.

The attacks of September 11 were brutal, they were sophisticated, and they were well-funded.

In the aftermath of the attacks, our government revamped its national security structure to address terrorism more effectively. And as we began to fully understand the complexity of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations, it became increasingly clear that it was crucial to disrupt terrorists' ability to fund their operations.

While terrorism is very different from conventional military threats, it has something significant in common with them: it needs cash.

Two and a half thousand years ago, the Greek historian Thucydides wrote of a Spartan king who said, "War is a matter not so much of arms as of money."

Two and half years ago, in a chilling echo of these words, a senior al-Qaida leader in Afghanistan explained, "Without money, jihad stops."

And that is why the work of the people in this room and the topic of this symposium are so important.

The long arc of Treasury's efforts to counter terrorist financing began before 9/11, with work by Secretaries Rubin, Summers, and O'Neill to combat money laundering.

After 9/11, it was evident that we needed a dedicated office to disrupt the funding networks to terrorist organizations. Secretary Snow established Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, or TFI, and President Bush named Stuart Levey its first Under Secretary.

Stuart, together with a remarkably talented group of individuals, built a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorist financing, armed with an innovative, powerful set of tools. Their accomplishments have fundamentally changed and strengthened the way we fight terrorism.

That team -- which is led today by David Cohen, Danny Glaser, Leslie Ireland, Adam Szubin and Jim Freis -- continues to carry on the work that Stuart and Secretary Paulson were instrumental in establishing.

Let me explain how this office works. It brings together four key things -- intelligence, targeted sanctions, international cooperation, and private-sector engagement -- in order to identify the donors, financiers and facilitators supporting terrorist organizations and to disrupt their ability to fund them.

We are obtaining, analyzing and acting on intelligence in order to constrain the activities of those who would fund terrorism and to hold them accountable through sanctions. The harsh consequences of funding terrorism have succeeded in deterring donors across the globe.

International cooperation reinforces the effectiveness of this work, whether we are providing intelligence that a partner can act on or receiving intelligence that we can use.

And multilateral bodies, including the G-20, have institutionalized this focus on combating terrorist financing -- both through the adoption of new standards and through public support for increased financial transparency.

Finally, the private sector also plays an important role in combating terrorist financing and acts as a key partner to national governments. The vigilance of financial institutions to identify and block money for terrorist activities reinforces the ability of regulators and law enforcement to target funders.

Thanks to this strategy, donors, financial institutions, and facilitators across the world are no longer free to fund and facilitate terrorism with impunity. The pool of money for terrorism is shrinking, and it is has grown harder and harder to hide and move funds.

This is no small accomplishment. Ten years ago, al-Qaida's ability to access a large network of deep-pocketed donors and move money through the formal financial system allowed it to carry out the deadliest terrorist attacks in our nation's history.

Today, however, al-Qaida struggles to secure steady financing. It can no longer rely on a thick Rolodex and a simple bank transfer. And in May, its leader and most effective advocate for donations -- Usama bin Laden -- was killed by U.S. forces.

But al-Qaida is a determined and sophisticated organization, and it will continue to find ways to access funding. So as al-Qaida and other terrorist groups look for new methods to raise and move money, we will continue to develop creative and effective strategies to stop them. Today's forum, appropriately, provides an opportunity for us to reflect on the state of the terrorist financing threat, and to discuss the best ways to defeat it as it evolves.

The effectiveness of our efforts over the past decade has proven the value of a sharp focus on funding. Through the work of TFI, Treasury has become an integral part of the U.S. national security architecture and has expanded the options available to the President to respond to threats.

TFI's success -- and the recognition it has received -- helps make sure that combating terrorist financing continues to be a central part of our nation's, and other nations', counter-terrorism strategies. As we all move forward over next decade, increasing international cooperation will be essential, including the establishment of offices like TFI in finance ministries around the world.

The progress we have made so far in disrupting the financing of terrorism is owed to many of the people in this room today and to hundreds of other dedicated and talented individuals here at Treasury and across the U.S. government. They have helped keep our nation safe, and they will continue to do so in the years to come. We owe them our gratitude, but it is a solemn gratitude.

Thank you. ​

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