[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 502 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 502

To require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a 
  study on how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to 
buy, sell, or facilitate the financing of goods or services associated 
   with sex trafficking or drug trafficking, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 11, 2019

Mr. Vargas (for himself and Mrs. Wagner) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in 
 addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a 
  study on how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to 
buy, sell, or facilitate the financing of goods or services associated 
   with sex trafficking or drug trafficking, 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 ``Fight Illicit Networks and Detect 
Trafficking Act'' or the ``FIND Trafficking Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 
        2017 National Drug Threat Assessment, transnational criminal 
        organizations are increasingly using virtual currencies.
            (2) In its 2015 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment, 
        the Department of the Treasury concluded: ``The development of 
        virtual currencies is an attempt to meet a legitimate market 
        demand. According to a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago 
        economist, United States consumers want payment options that 
        are versatile and that provide immediate finality. No United 
        States payment method meets that description, although cash may 
        come closest. Virtual currencies can mimic cash's immediate 
        finality and anonymity and are more versatile than cash for 
        online and cross-border transactions, making virtual currencies 
        vulnerable for illicit transactions.''.
            (3) Virtual currencies have become a prominent method to 
        pay for goods and services associated with illegal sex 
        trafficking and drug trafficking, which are two of the most 
        detrimental and troubling illegal activities facilitated by 
        online marketplaces.
            (4) Online marketplaces, including the dark web, have 
        become a prominent platform to buy, sell, and advertise for 
        illicit goods and services associated with sex trafficking and 
        drug trafficking.
            (5) According to the International Labour Organization, in 
        2016, 4.8 million people in the world were victims of forced 
        sexual exploitation, and in 2014, the global profit from 
        commercial sexual exploitation was $99 billion.
            (6) In 2016, within the United States, the Center for 
        Disease Control estimated that there were 64,000 deaths related 
        to drug overdose, and the most severe increase in drug 
        overdoses were those associated with fentanyl and fentanyl 
        analogs (synthetic opioids), which amounted to over 20,000 
        overdose deaths.
            (7) According to the United States Department of the 
        Treasury 2015 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment, an 
        estimated $64 billion is generated annually from United States 
        drug trafficking sales.
            (8) Illegal fentanyl in the United States originates 
        primarily from China, and it is readily available to purchase 
        through online marketplaces.

SEC. 3. GAO STUDY.

    (a) Study Required.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct a study on how virtual currencies and online marketplaces 
are used to facilitate sex and drug trafficking. The study shall 
consider--
            (1) how online marketplaces, including the dark web, are 
        being used as platforms to buy, sell, or facilitate the 
        financing of goods or services associated with sex trafficking 
        or drug trafficking (specifically, opioids and synthetic 
        opioids, including fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and any 
        precursor chemicals associated with manufacturing fentanyl or 
        fentanyl analogs) destined for, originating from, or within the 
        United States;
            (2) how financial payment methods, including virtual 
        currencies and peer-to-peer mobile payment services, are being 
        utilized by online marketplaces to facilitate the buying, 
        selling, or financing of goods and services associated with sex 
        or drug trafficking destined for, originating from, or within 
        the United States;
            (3) how virtual currencies are being used to facilitate the 
        buying, selling, or financing of goods and services associated 
        with sex or drug trafficking, destined for, originating from, 
        or within the United States, when an online platform is not 
        otherwise involved;
            (4) how illicit funds that have been transmitted online and 
        through virtual currencies are repatriated into the formal 
        banking system of the United States through money laundering or 
        other means;
            (5) the participants (state and non-state actors) 
        throughout the entire supply chain that participate in the 
        buying, selling, or financing of goods and services associated 
        with sex or drug trafficking (through online marketplaces or 
        virtual currencies) destined for, originating from, or within 
        the United States;
            (6) Federal and State agency efforts to impede the buying, 
        selling, or financing of goods and services associated with sex 
        or drug trafficking through online marketplaces or virtual 
        currencies that are destined for, originating from, or within 
        the United States, including efforts to prevent the proceeds 
        from sex or drug trafficking from entering the United States 
        banking system through online marketplaces or virtual 
        currencies; and
            (7) to what extent can the immutable and traceable nature 
        of virtual currencies contribute to the tracking and 
        prosecution of illicit funding.
    (b) Scope.--For the purposes of the study required under subsection 
(a), the term ``sex trafficking'' means the recruitment, harboring, 
transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a 
person for the purpose of a commercial sex act that is induced by 
force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform 
such act has not attained 18 years of age.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives a report summarizing the results of the study required 
under subsection (a), together with any recommendations for legislative 
or regulatory action that would improve the efforts of Federal agencies 
to impede the use of virtual currencies and online marketplaces in 
facilitating sex and drug trafficking.
                                 <all>