[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1952 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1952

To require that certain measures be taken with respect to countries of 
                 concern regarding terrorist financing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2005

   Mrs. Kelly (for herself, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Royce, and Mr. Feeney) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on International 
 Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require that certain measures be taken with respect to countries of 
                 concern regarding terrorist financing.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than March 1 of each year, the Secretary 
of the Treasury shall submit to the Congress a report that identifies 
each country that is a country of concern because the government of 
that country is not complying with the requirements of the 
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of 
Terrorism, regardless of whether the country is a State party to the 
Convention. The report shall include the information on which the 
Secretary relied in determining whether or not each country is such a 
country of concern. The report shall also include the efforts made by 
the United States to provide to that government technical assistance to 
comply with such requirements.
    (b) Application.--For purposes of subsection (a), paragraph 1(a) of 
article 2 of the Convention shall be applied to a country as if that 
country were a party to each of the treaties listed in the annex to the 
Convention.

SEC. 2. WITHHOLDING OF ASSISTANCE; WITHHOLDING OF ACCESS TO FINANCIAL 
              INSTITUTIONS; SPECIAL MEASURES.

    (a) Withholding of Bilateral Assistance; Opposition to Multilateral 
Development Assistance; Special Measures.--
            (1) Bilateral assistance.--Fifty percent of the United 
        States assistance allocated each fiscal year in the report 
        required by section 653 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
        for each country of concern listed in the report submitted to 
        Congress under section 1 shall be withheld from obligation and 
        expenditure, except as provided in subsection (c).
            (2) Multilateral assistance.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall instruct the United States Executive Director of each 
        multilateral development bank to vote, on and after March 1 of 
        each year, against any loan or other utilization of the funds 
        of their respective institution to or for any country of 
        concern listed in the report submitted under section 1(a), 
        except as provided in subsection (c). For purposes of this 
        paragraph, the term ``multilateral development bank'' means the 
        International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the 
        International Development Association, the Inter-American 
        Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African 
        Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and 
        Development.
            (3) Special measures.--Except as provided in subsection 
        (c), the Secretary of the Treasury may require domestic 
        financial agencies to take 1 or more of the special measures 
        described in section 5318A(c) of title 31, United States Code, 
        with respect to a country of concern identified in the most 
        recent report submitted under section 1(a), including financial 
        institutions operating outside the United States engaging in 
        financial transactions in that country with nationals or 
        entities of that country, to the same extent as if such country 
        or financial institution were of primary money laundering 
        concern under such section 5318A.
    (b) Certification Procedures.--
            (1) What must be certified.--Subject to subsection (c), the 
        assistance withheld from a country pursuant to subsection 
        (a)(1) may be obligated and expended, the requirement of 
        subsection (a)(2) to vote against multilateral development bank 
        assistance to a country shall not apply, and subsection (a)(3) 
        shall not apply, if the Secretary of the Treasury determines 
        and certifies to the Congress, at the time of the submission of 
        the report required by section 1(a), that--
                    (A) during the previous year--
                            (i) the United States offered technical 
                        assistance to the country to assist the country 
                        in complying with the requirements of the 
                        Convention; and
                            (ii) the country has taken adequate steps 
                        to comply with the requirements of the 
                        Convention and to cooperate fully with the 
                        United States in efforts to comply with such 
                        requirements, including by--
                                    (I) establishing laws and 
                                regulations to prohibit offenses under 
                                the Convention and enforcing those laws 
                                and regulations;
                                    (II) identifying and freezing or 
                                seizing assets used in the commission 
                                of offenses referred to in subclause 
                                (I);
                                    (III) investigating, prosecuting, 
                                or extraditing persons committing, or 
                                suspected of committing, any such 
                                offense; and
                                    (IV) regulating and monitoring 
                                public an private charitable entitie, 
                                transmissions of funds, formal and 
                                informal financial systems and 
                                institutions such as banks, financial 
                                markets, the insurance sector, 
                                financial and high-value commodity 
                                markets, and remittance services, for 
                                purposes of identifying persons 
                                committing any such offense; or
                    (B) for a country that would not otherwise qualify 
                for certification under subparagraph (A), the vital 
                national security interests of the United States 
                require that the assistance withheld pursuant to 
                subsection (a)(1) be provided, that the United States 
                not vote against multilateral development bank 
                assistance for that country pursuant to subsection 
                (a)(2), and that subsection (a)(3) not apply to that 
                country, except that any such determination shall not 
                take effect until at least 15 days after the Secretary 
                of the Treasury submits written notification of that 
                determination to the appropriate congressional 
                committees in accordance with the procedures applicable 
                to reprogramming notifications under section 634A of 
                the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
            (2) Information to be included in national interest 
        certification.--If the President makes a certification with 
        respect to a country pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), the 
        President shall include in such certification--
                    (A) a full and complete description of the vital 
                national security interests placed at risk if United 
                States bilateral assistance to that country is 
                terminated pursuant to this section, multilateral 
                development bank assistance is not provided to such 
                country, and special measures are imposed under 
                subsection (a)(3) with respect to that country; and
                    (B) a statement weighing the risk described in 
                subparagraph (A) against the risks posed to the vital 
                national security interests of the United States by the 
                failure of such country to meet the requirements of 
                paragraph (1)(A).
    (c) Congressional Review.--Subsection (d) shall apply if, within 30 
calendar days after receipt of a certification submitted under 
subsection (b) at the time of submission of the report required by 
section 1(a), the Congress enacts a joint resolution disapproving the 
determination of the President contained in such certification.
    (d) Consequences for Countries Decertified.--If the Secretary of 
the Treasury does not make a certification under subsection (b) with 
respect to a country or the Congress enacts a joint resolution 
disapproving such certification, then until such time as the conditions 
specified in subsection (e) are satisfied--
            (1) funds may not be obligated for United States assistance 
        for that country, and funds previously obligated for United 
        States assistance for that country may not be expended for the 
        purpose of providing assistance for that country;
            (2) the requirement to vote against multilateral 
        development bank assistance pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall 
        apply with respect to that country, without regard to the date 
        specified in that subsection; and
            (3) subsection (a)(3) shall apply with respect to that 
        country.
    (e) Recertification.--Subsection (d) shall apply to a country 
described in that subsection until--
            (1) the Secretary of the Treasury, at the time of 
        submission of the report required by section 1(a), makes a 
        certification under subsection (b)(1)(A) or (b)(1)(B) with 
        respect to that country, and the Congress does not enact a 
        joint resolution under subsection (d) disapproving the 
        determination of the President contained in that certification; 
        or
            (2) the Secretary of the Treasury, at any other time, makes 
        the certification described in subsection (b)(1)(B) with 
        respect to that country, except that this paragraph applies 
        only if either--
                    (A) the Secretary also certifies that--
                            (i) that country has undergone a 
                        fundamental change in government; or
                            (ii) there has been a fundamental change in 
                        the conditions that were the reason--
                                    (I) why the Secretary had not made 
                                a certification with respect to that 
                                country under subsection (b)(1)(A); or
                                    (II) if the Secretary had made such 
                                a certification and the Congress 
                                enacted a joint resolution disapproving 
                                the determination contained in the 
                                certification, why the Congress enacted 
                                that joint resolution; or
                    (B) the Congress enacts a joint resolution 
                approving the determination contained in the 
                certification under subsection (b)(1)(B).
Any certification under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) shall discuss 
the justification for the certification.
    (f) Senate Procedures.--Any joint resolution under this section 
shall be considered in the Senate in accordance with the provisions of 
section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export 
Control Act of 1976.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Convention.--The term ``Convention'' means the 
        International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing 
        of Terrorism.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Treasury.
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