[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5594 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5594

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To require the establishment of a national strategy for combating the 
  financing of terrorism and related financial crimes, 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 ``National Strategy for Combating 
Terrorist, Underground, and Other Illicit Financing Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The financing of terrorism and related forms of illicit 
        finance present a direct threat to national security and a 
        threat to global stability.
            (2) New terrorist groups or threats can form quickly, and 
        other groups change tactics to adapt, creating a constantly 
        changing terrorist environment, presenting ever-changing risks 
        and challenges to programs to disrupt the financing of 
        terrorism and related forms of illicit finance.
            (3) As demonstrated in hearings before the Task Force to 
        Investigate Terrorism Financing, terrorists in some instances 
        have formed symbiotic relationships with, or are taking over, 
        transnational crime syndicates, so that funding for both 
        terrorism and profits from crime flow in the same fashion and 
        often are indistinguishable.
            (4) Methods of concealing the movement of illicit funding 
        change quickly in a globalized economy, and rapid technological 
        changes and financial innovation pose new risks that may be 
        increasingly difficult for governments to stay abreast of 
        without an agile, constantly adjusted strategy to spot, 
        disrupt, and prevent the financing of terrorism and related 
        forms of illicit finance.
            (5) A bipartisan requirement to create a national anti-
        money laundering strategy enacted in 1998 expired in 2007. 
        Given the rapid globalization and rapid technology changes of 
        the financial sector, an updated strategy focused on the 
        financing of terrorism is necessary.
            (6) It is important for the Government to have a unified 
        strategy to fight financial crime and to update it annually, 
        both to accommodate new and developing threats and to help 
        Congress develop legislative and funding priorities.
            (7) An effective strategy to counter terrorism financing is 
        a critical component of the broader counter terrorism strategy 
        of the United States.

SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--The President, acting through the Secretary of the 
Treasury (the ``Secretary'') shall, in consultation with the Attorney 
General, the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, the 
Director of National Intelligence and the appropriate Federal banking 
agencies, develop a national strategy for combating the financing of 
terrorism and related forms of illicit finance.
    (b) Transmittal to Congress.--By June 1 each year following the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a national strategy developed in 
accordance with subsection (a).
    (c) Evaluation of Existing Efforts and Broader Strategy.--The 
President shall accompany each strategy submitted under subsection (b) 
with a report that--
            (1) describes the effectiveness of efforts to enforce 
        existing prohibitions against illicit finance;
            (2) describes how the United States is addressing the 
        highest levels of risk identified in the National Money 
        Laundering Risk Assessment and the National Terrorist Financing 
        Risk Assessment published by the Department of the Treasury;
            (3) evaluates the effectiveness of United States efforts to 
        fight illicit finance at actually preventing, discovering, and 
        countering terrorist financing and other forms of illicit 
        finance (and the effectiveness of those efforts that the United 
        States coordinates with foreign nations); and
            (4) describes how the strategy submitted under subsection 
        (b) is integrated into, and supports, the broader counter 
        terrorism strategy of the United States.
    (d) Separate Presentation of Classified Material.--Any part of the 
national strategy that involves information which is properly 
classified under criteria established by the President shall be 
submitted to the Congress separately in a classified annex and, if 
requested by the chairman or ranking Member of one of the appropriate 
congressional committees, as a briefing at an appropriate level of 
security.

SEC. 4. CONTENTS.

    (a) In General.--The strategy described under section 3 shall 
contain, at a minimum, the following:
            (1) Threats, goals, objectives, and priorities.--A 
        comprehensive, research-based, long-range, quantifiable 
        discussion of threats, goals, objectives, and priorities for 
        disrupting, preventing and reducing the number, dollar value, 
        and effects of illicit finance in the United States and foreign 
        countries that impact the security of the United States.
            (2) Coordination.--A discussion of methods to best 
        coordinate such efforts with international, State, and local 
        officials, law enforcement, regulators, and financial 
        institutions.
            (3) Reviews and proposed changes.--Reviews of enforcement 
        efforts, relevant regulations and relevant provisions of law 
        and, when appropriate, discussions of proposed changes 
        determined to be appropriate to ensure that the United States 
        pursues coordinated and effective efforts at all levels of 
        government in the fight against illicit finance and with 
        international partners.
            (4) Detection and prosecution initiatives.--A description 
        of efforts to improve detection and prosecution of illicit 
        finance, including efforts to ensure that--
                    (A) subject to legal restrictions, all appropriate 
                data collected by the Government that is relevant to 
                the efforts described in this Act be available in a 
                timely fashion to all appropriate Federal departments 
                and agencies and, as appropriate and consistent with 
                section 314 of the USA PATRIOT Act, to financial 
                institutions to assist them in efforts to comply with 
                laws aimed at curbing illicit finance; and
                    (B) appropriate efforts are undertaken to ensure 
                that Federal departments and agencies charged with 
                reducing and preventing illicit finance make thorough 
                use of publicly available data in furtherance of this 
                effort.
            (5) The role of the private financial sector in prevention 
        of illicit finance.--A discussion of ways to enhance 
        partnerships between the private financial sector and Federal 
        departments and agencies with regard to the prevention and 
        detection of illicit money laundering finance, including--
                    (A) efforts to facilitate compliance with laws 
                aimed at stopping such illicit finance while 
                maintaining the effectiveness of such efforts; and
                    (B) providing incentives to strengthen internal 
                controls and to adopt on an industry-wide basis more 
                effective policies.
            (6) Enhancement of intergovernmental cooperation.--A 
        discussion of ways to combat illicit finance by enhancing--
                    (A) cooperative efforts between Federal, State, and 
                local officials, including State and local prosecutors 
                and other law enforcement officials;
                    (B) to the extent possible, cooperative efforts 
                among States and between State and local officials, 
                including State and local regulators, prosecutors, and 
                law enforcement officials; and
                    (C) cooperative efforts with and between 
                governments of countries and with and between 
                multinational institutions with expertise in fighting 
                illicit finance.
            (7) Project and budget priorities.--A 3-year projection for 
        program and budget priorities and achievable projects for 
        reductions in illicit finance.
            (8) Assessment of funding.--A complete assessment of how 
        the proposed budget described under paragraph (7) is intended 
        to implement the strategy described in this Act and whether the 
        funding levels contained in the proposed budget are sufficient 
        to implement the strategy, including a discussion of the extent 
        to which funding for such efforts is or should be funded from 
        fines, settlements, seizures or forfeitures related to illicit 
        finance.
            (9) Trend analysis.--Data regarding trends in illicit 
        finance, with a special focus on the funding of terrorism.
            (10) Enforcement report.--A report containing an evaluation 
        of the enforcement of policies to combat illicit finance.
            (11) Enforcement.--A discussion of the current policies of 
        the United States to enforce the provisions of the Bank Secrecy 
        Act and related laws regarding the financing of terrorism and 
        other forms of illicit finance, together with recommendations 
        for improving enforcement.
            (12) Treasury attaches.--A discussion of the Department of 
        the Treasury attaches, including--
                    (A) a list of embassies where Department of the 
                Treasury attaches are posted and a discussion of their 
                effectiveness in the fight against illicit finance;
                    (B) a list of the United States embassies at which 
                a Department of the Treasury attache is assigned for 
                temporary duty, the length of such assignments, and the 
                reason why such assignments are not considered to be 
                permanent assignments;
                    (C) how the Department of the Treasury's interests 
                relating to economic and anti-terror finance issues are 
                handled at other embassies, including a discussion of 
                the reporting structure by which such issues are 
                brought to the direct attention of the ambassador; and
                    (D) the effect of not having more attaches in 
                embassies that are most vulnerable to illicit finance 
                threats and a discussion of whether the Department of 
                the Treasury's economic or anti-illicit finance issues 
                are thought to be under-represented in some embassies 
                or regions.
            (13) Illicit finance and cyber crime.--A discussion of 
        terrorist financing and other forms of illicit finance that 
        involve cyber attacks, evolving forms of value transfer, 
        including so-called ``crypto currencies'', and other methods 
        that are computer, telecommunications, or Internet-based.
            (14) Technology.--An analysis of current and developing 
        ways to leverage technology to improve the effectiveness of the 
        fight against the financing of terror and other forms of 
        illicit finance, including the use of ``big data'' analytics, 
        the merging of publicly sourced data with Bank Secrecy Act data 
        and with other forms of secure Government data to increase such 
        effectiveness, and ways to enhance the role of the private 
        sector in combating illicit finance.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Financial Services, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on 
        Armed Services, Committee on Homeland Security, and the 
        Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
        Urban Affairs, Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on 
        Armed Services, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
        Senate.
            (2) Appropriate federal banking agencies.--The term 
        ``appropriate Federal banking agencies'' has the meaning given 
        that term under section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act 
        (12 U.S.C. 1813).
            (3) Bank secrecy act.--The term ``Bank Secrecy Act'' 
        means--
                    (A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance 
                Act;
                    (B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508; and
                    (C) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United 
                States Code.
            (4) Illicit finance.--The term ``illicit finance'' means 
        the financing of terrorism, money laundering, and other forms 
        of illicit or underground financing or other illicit finance 
        domestically and internationally, as defined by the President.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, and each territory or 
        possession of the United States.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 11, 2016.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
114th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 5594

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 To require the establishment of a national strategy for combating the 
  financing of terrorism and related financial crimes, and for other 
                               purposes.