[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3146 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3146

     To provide additional tools and resources to combat terrorism 
                               financing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 2007

Mr. Davis of Kentucky introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Financial Services, 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 provide additional tools and resources to combat terrorism 
                               financing.

    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 ``Combating Terrorism Financing Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDS AND ``REVERSE'' 
              MONEY LAUNDERING.

    (a) In General.--Section 1957(a) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a)(1) Whoever, in any of the circumstances set forth in 
subsection (d)--
            ``(A) conducts or attempts to conduct a monetary 
        transaction involving property of a value greater than $10,000 
        that is derived from specified unlawful activity, knowing that 
        the property is derived from some form of unlawful activity; or
            ``(B) conducts or attempts to conduct a monetary 
        transaction involving property of a value greater than $10,000, 
        with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified 
        unlawful activity,
shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
    ``(2) Whoever, in the any of the circumstances set forth in 
subsection (d), transports, attempts to transport, or conspires to 
transport more than $10,000 in currency in interstate commerce--
            ``(A) knowing that the currency was derived from some form 
        of unlawful activity; or
            ``(B) knowing that the currency was intended to be used to 
        promote some form of unlawful activity,
shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).''.
    (b) Penalty.--Section 1957(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and 
        inserting ``paragraphs (2) and (3)''; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
    ``(3) The maximum period of incarceration for a person convicted of 
an offense under subsection (a)(1)(B) must not exceed the statutory 
maximum for the offense being promoted.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1957(f) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2) by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting at the end the following:
            ``(4) the term `conducts' has the same meaning as it does 
        for purposes of section 1956 of this title.''.
    (d) Heading.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1957 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended in the heading by inserting ``or in support of 
        criminal activity'' after ``specified unlawful activity''.
            (2) Chapter analysis.--The item relating to section 1957 in 
        the chapter analysis for chapter 95 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended to read as follows:

``1957. Conducting monetary transactions in property derived from 
                            specified unlawful activity or in support 
                            of criminal activity.''.

SEC. 3. FREEZING BANK ACCOUNTS OF PERSONS ARRESTED FOR OFFENSES 
              INVOLVING THE MOVEMENT OF MONEY ACROSS INTERNATIONAL 
              BORDERS.

    Section 981(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(5)(A) If a person is arrested or charged in connection 
        with an offense described in subparagraph (C) involving the 
        movement of funds into or out of the United States, the 
        Attorney General may apply to any Federal judge or magistrate 
        judge in the district in which the arrest is made or the 
        charges are filed for an ex parte order restraining any account 
        held by the person arrested or charged for not more than 30 
        days, except that the time may be extended for good cause shown 
        at a hearing conducted in the manner provided in rule 43(e) of 
        the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court may receive and 
        consider evidence and information submitted by the Government 
        that would be inadmissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence.
            ``(B) The application for the restraining order referred to 
        in subparagraph (A) shall--
                    ``(i) identify the offense for which the person has 
                been arrested or charged;
                    ``(ii) identify the location and description of the 
                accounts to be restrained; and
                    ``(iii) state that the restraining order is needed 
                to prevent the removal of the funds in the account by 
                the person arrested or charged, or by others associated 
                with such person, during the time needed by the 
                Government to conduct such investigation as may be 
                necessary to establish whether there is probable cause 
                to believe that the funds in the accounts are subject 
                to forfeiture in connection with the commission of any 
                criminal offense.
            ``(C) A restraining order may be issued pursuant to 
        subparagraph (A) if a person is arrested or charged with any 
        offense for which forfeiture is authorized under this title, 
        title 31, or the Controlled Substances Act.
            ``(D) For purposes of this paragraph--
                    ``(i) the term `account' includes any safe deposit 
                box and any account (as defined in section 5318A(e)(1) 
                and (e)(2)) at any financial institution;
                    ``(ii) the term `account held by the person 
                arrested or charged' includes an account held in the 
                name of such person, and any account over which such 
                person has effective control as a signatory or 
                otherwise.
            ``(E) Restraint pursuant to this paragraph shall not be 
        deemed a seizure for purposes of subsection 983(a) of this 
        title.
            ``(F) A restraining order issued pursuant to this paragraph 
        may be executed in any district in which the subject account is 
        found, or transmitted to the central authority of any foreign 
        state for service in accordance with any treaty or other 
        international agreement.''.

SEC. 4. USING BLANK CHECKS IN BEARER FORM TO SMUGGLE MONEY.

    Section 5316 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(e) Monetary Instruments With Amount Left Blank.--For purposes of 
this section, a monetary instrument that has the amount left blank 
shall be considered to have a value in excess of $10,000 if the 
instrument was drawn on an account that contained or was intended to 
contain more than $10,000 at the time the instrument was being 
transported, or at the time it was negotiated or was intended to be 
negotiated.''.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITING MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH HAWALAS, OTHER INFORMAL 
              VALUE TRANSFER SYSTEMS, AND CLOSELY RELATED TRANSACTIONS.

    Section 1956(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``For purposes of this paragraph, a financial transaction'' 
and inserting ``For purposes of this paragraph and section 1957, a 
financial transaction or a monetary transaction''.

SEC. 6. SECTION 1957 VIOLATIONS INVOLVING COMMINGLED FUNDS AND 
              STRUCTURED TRANSACTIONS.

    Section 1957 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding 
after subsection (f) the following:
    ``(g) The Government may satisfy the $10,000 requirement in 
subsection (a)(1) by showing that--
            ``(1) the monetary transaction involved the transfer, 
        withdrawal, encumbrance, or other disposition of more than 
        $10,000 from an account in which more than $10,000 in proceeds 
        of specified unlawful activity was commingled with other funds; 
        or
            ``(2) the defendant conducted a series of monetary 
        transactions in amounts under $10,000 that exceeded $10,000 in 
        the aggregate and that were closely related to each other in 
        terms of such factors as time, the identity of the parties 
        involved, the nature or purpose of the transactions or the 
        manner in which they are conducted.''.
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