[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1993 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1993

  To improve the delivery of counterterrorism financing training and 
technical assistance by providing for greater interagency coordination 
                and cooperation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 23, 2007

 Ms. Moore of Wisconsin (for herself, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, and 
Mr. Scott of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
    to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 improve the delivery of counterterrorism financing training and 
technical assistance by providing for greater interagency coordination 
                and cooperation, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Counterterrorism Financing 
Coordination Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) In an October 2005 report to the Congress, the 
        Comptroller General reviewed the United States Government's 
        interagency efforts to coordinate the delivery of training and 
        technical assistance to countries vulnerable to terrorist 
        financing, and issues of accountability in the blocking of 
        terrorist assets held in the United States by the Secretary of 
        the Treasury.
            (2) In April 2006, the Comptroller General of the United 
        States testified before the Congress on the findings of the 
        October 2005 report and, among other things, the Comptroller 
        General testified that ``Although the United States Government 
        provides a range of training and technical assistance to 
        countries it deems vulnerable to terrorist financing, it does 
        not have a strategic and integrated plan to coordinate the 
        delivery of this assistance.''.
            (3) The Terrorist Financing Working Group, an interagency 
        entity established by the National Security Council and chaired 
        by the Secretary of State, coordinates the delivery of training 
        and technical assistance to nearly two dozen countries the 
        Working Group considers to be priority countries, as well as to 
        other countries the Working Group considers to be nonpriority 
        countries, that are vulnerable to terrorist financing.
            (4) The Comptroller General testified that the Secretary of 
        State and the Secretary of the Treasury disagree about the 
        roles and procedures of each agency within the Terrorist 
        Financing Working Group for the delivery of counterterrorism 
        financing training and technical assistance, thereby causing 
        the overall effort to lack effective leadership.
            (5) An example of how this disagreement has impacted the 
        delivery of training and technical assistance to countries 
        vulnerable to terrorist financing is as follows:
                    (A) In May 2005, the Department of State denied a 
                Department of the Treasury employee official entry into 
                a priority country in response to a request from the 
                central bank of that country to set up a financial 
                intelligence unit.
                    (B) The Secretary of State told the Comptroller 
                General that the Department wanted to conduct a 
                Terrorist Financing Working Group assessment before 
                allowing the Department of the Treasury to continue its 
                work.
                    (C) According to the report of the Government 
                Accountability Office, the United States Ambassador to 
                the country requested a delay in the assessment and the 
                work of the Department of the Treasury was allowed to 
                proceed.
                    (D) However, as a result of this disagreement, the 
                entry of the Department of the Treasury official into 
                the country and the work itself was delayed by several 
                months.
            (6) The Comptroller General testified that the interagency 
        coordinating effort on terrorist financing training and 
        technical assistance lacked other key elements that are 
        critical to effective strategic planning, such as the strategic 
        alignment of resources with needs and risks, and a process to 
        measure results.
            (7) The October 2005 report of the Comptroller General 
        found that the Attorney General, who provides technical 
        assistance in the drafting of anti-terrorist financing 
        legislation for priority countries, concluded that ``having 
        procedures and practices for Terrorist Financing Working Group 
        priority countries that differ from those for other vulnerable 
        countries creates problems''.
            (8) The October 2005 report of the Comptroller General 
        cited several instances of interagency disagreements on whether 
        it is appropriate for contractors for the United States to 
        provide legislative drafting assistance for counterterrorism 
        financing legislation.
            (9) In connection with this disagreement, the Secretary of 
        State and the Attorney General believe that legislative 
        drafting should be conducted by officials of the Department of 
        Justice, while the Secretary of the Treasury, in some 
        instances, advocated the use of contractors for nonpriority 
        countries.
            (10) The Attorney General objected to the use of 
        contractors and indicated that previous contractor work on 
        legislative drafting did not meet international standards for 
        effective counterterrorism financing legislation, citing as an 
        example the work of a contractor to the Agency for 
        International Development who assisted in drafting legislation 
        which officials of the Department of Justice had to complete 
        because the draft included substantial deficiencies, in the 
        opinion of the Attorney General.
            (11) In April 2006, officials representing the Secretary of 
        State and the Secretary of the Treasury testified before the 
        Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives 
        that they did not act on the Comptroller General's 
        recommendations to develop a strategic and integrated plan for 
        the delivery of counterterrorism financing training and 
        technical assistance and to enter into an interagency 
        Memorandum of Agreement that clarifies each agency's roles and 
        responsibilities.
            (12) The officials testified that both the Secretary of 
        State and the Secretary of the Treasury believe that an 
        integrated strategic plan already exists and that ``There is no 
        desire among the Terrorist Financing Working Group agencies to 
        reinvent a process that has worked well for several years and 
        worked even better since the issuance of the General 
        Accountability Office report.''.
            (13) The Comptroller General recommended in his 
        congressional testimony that Congress require ``the Secretary 
        of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to submit an annual 
        report to Congress showing the status of interagency efforts to 
        develop and implement an integrated strategic plan and 
        Memorandum of Agreement to ensure Terrorist Financing Working 
        Group's seamless functioning, particularly with respect to 
        Terrorist Financing Working Group roles and procedures''.

SEC. 3. MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT REQUIRED.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall negotiate and enter into a Memorandum of Agreement 
(hereafter in this section referred to as the ``Agreement'') specifying 
the role of each of the Secretaries' respective Departments in the 
delivery of counterterrorism financing training and technical 
assistance provided to countries abroad (without regard to whether any 
country is designated as a priority country or a nonpriority country by 
the Terrorist Financing Working Group).
    (b) Specific Subject To Be Included.--In addition to such other 
matters as the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury 
determine to be appropriate for inclusion in the Agreement, the 
Agreement shall include the following:
            (1) Leadership and role.--The specific designation of 
        leadership, and the role of each agency, in the delivery of 
        counterterrorism financing training and technical assistance to 
        all countries (without regard to whether any country is 
        designated as a priority country or a nonpriority country by 
        the Terrorist Financing Working Group).
            (2) Dispute resolution methodology.--A methodology and 
        procedures for resolving interagency disputes over the delivery 
        of counterterrorism financing training and technical 
        assistance, which shall include specific and reasonable 
        timeframes for seeking such resolution before elevating 
        unresolved disagreements to the next level of decision-making, 
        up to and including the Secretaries, and a process for 
        submitting any disputes the Secretaries are unable to resolve 
        within a specific and reasonable timeframe to the National 
        Security Council for resolution.
            (3) Coordination of funding and resources.--The 
        coordination of funding and resources for counterterrorism 
        financing and anti-money laundering training and technical 
        assistance delivered to all countries (without regard to 
        whether any country is designated as a priority country or a 
        nonpriority country by the Terrorist Financing Working Group), 
        including the means for providing a transparent assessment of 
        United States Government resources and a method for aligning 
        those resources with the needs of vulnerable countries.
            (4) Private contractors.--A procedure for determining the 
        appropriateness of any use of contractors by the Secretary of 
        the Treasury in the delivery of counterterrorism financing 
        training and technical assistance in any country (without 
        regard to whether the country is designated as a priority 
        country or a nonpriority country by the Terrorist Financing 
        Working Group), including a system for evaluating, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General 
        and other appropriate officers, the quality of work performed 
        by such contractors.
            (5) Performance evaluation.--A process to measure the 
        performance and results of counterterrorism training and 
        technical assistance.

SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall include in the 
annual report to the Congress on terrorist assets complete information 
on the nature and extent of activities, during the period covered by 
the report, in blocking access of owners or account holders to 
financial assets due to the connection of such owners or accountholders 
to terrorism.
    (b) Contents.--The report under subsection (a) shall include the 
following:
            (1) The results of the performance evaluation under 
        Memorandum of Agreement entered into pursuant to section 3 for 
        the period covered by the report.
            (2) Differences in amounts blocked between the period 
        covered by the report and preceding periods.
            (3) When and why blocks were removed from financial assets 
        during period covered by the report.
            (4) The achievements and obstacles faced by the United 
        States Government with respect to locating and blocking 
        terrorist assets or in the delivery of counterterrorism 
        financing training and technical assistance.
            (5) A classified index.
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