[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2969 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2969

   To establish an Independent Financial Technology Working Group to 
    Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2023

 Mr. Nunn of Iowa (for himself and Mr. Himes) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish an Independent Financial Technology Working Group to 
    Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing, 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 ``Financial Technology Protection Act 
of 2023''.

SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP TO COMBAT 
              TERRORISM AND ILLICIT FINANCING.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established the Independent Financial 
Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing (in 
this section referred to as the ``Working Group''), which shall consist 
of the following:
            (1) The Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the Under 
        Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, who shall 
        serve as the chair of the Working Group.
            (2) A senior-level representative from each of the 
        following:
                    (A) Each of the following components of the 
                Department of the Treasury:
                            (i) The Financial Crimes Enforcement 
                        Network.
                            (ii) The Internal Revenue Service.
                            (iii) The Office of Foreign Assets Control.
                    (B) The Department of Justice and each of the 
                following components of the Department:
                            (i) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
                            (ii) The Drug Enforcement Administration.
                    (C) The Department of Homeland Security and the 
                United States Secret Service.
                    (D) The Department of State.
                    (E) The Central Intelligence Agency.
            (3) Five individuals appointed by the Under Secretary for 
        Terrorism and Financial Intelligence to represent the 
        following:
                    (A) Financial technology companies.
                    (B) Blockchain intelligence companies.
                    (C) Financial institutions.
                    (D) Institutions or organizations engaged in 
                research.
    (b) Duties.--The Working Group shall--
            (1) conduct research on terrorist and illicit use of new 
        financial technologies, including digital assets; and
            (2) develop legislative and regulatory proposals to improve 
        anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist, and other counter-
        illicit financing efforts in the United States.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and annually for the 3 years 
        thereafter, the Working Group shall submit to the Secretary of 
        the Treasury, the heads of each agency represented in the 
        Working Group pursuant to subsection (a)(2), and the 
        appropriate congressional committees a report containing the 
        findings and determinations made by the Working Group in the 
        previous year and any legislative and regulatory proposals 
        developed by the Working Group.
            (2) Final report.--Before the date on which the Working 
        Group terminates under subsection (e)(1), the Working Group 
        shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        final report detailing the findings, recommendations, and 
        activities of the Working Group.
    (d) Travel Expenses.--Members of the Working Group shall serve 
without pay, but shall receive travel expenses in accordance with 
sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
    (e) Sunset.--
            (1) In general.--The Working Group shall, subject to 
        paragraph (3), terminate on the date that is 4 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Expiration and return of appropriated funds.--On the 
        date on which the Working Group terminates under paragraph 
        (1)--
                    (A) all authorities granted to the Working Group 
                under this section shall expire, subject to paragraph 
                (3); and
                    (B) any funds appropriated for the Working Group 
                that are available for obligation as of that date shall 
                be returned to the Treasury.
            (3) Authority to wind up activities.--The termination of 
        the Working Group under paragraph (1) and the expiration of 
        authorities under paragraph (2) shall not affect any 
        investigations, research, or other activities of the Working 
        Group ongoing as of the date on which the Working Group 
        terminates under paragraph (1). Such investigations, research, 
        and activities may continue until their completion.

SEC. 3. PREVENTING ROGUE AND FOREIGN ACTORS FROM EVADING SANCTIONS.

    (a) Report and Strategy With Respect to Digital Assets and Other 
Related Emerging Technologies.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President, acting through the 
        Secretary of the Treasury and in consultation with the head of 
        each agency represented on the Independent Financial Technology 
        Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing 
        pursuant to section 2(a)(2), shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees a report that describes--
                    (A) the potential uses of digital assets and other 
                related emerging technologies by States, non-State 
                actors, foreign terrorist organizations, and other 
                terrorist groups to evade sanctions, finance terrorism, 
                or launder monetary instruments, and threaten United 
                States national security; and
                    (B) a strategy how the United States will mitigate 
                and prevent the illicit use of digital assets and other 
                related emerging technologies.
            (2) Form of report; public availability.--
                    (A) In general.--The report required by paragraph 
                (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 
                include a classified annex.
                    (B) Public availability.--The unclassified portion 
                of each report required by paragraph (1) shall be made 
                available to the public and posted on a publicly 
                accessible website of the Department of Treasury--
                            (i) in precompressed, easily downloadable 
                        versions, in all appropriate formats; and
                            (ii) in machine-readable format, if 
                        applicable.
            (3) Sources of information.--In preparing the reports 
        required by paragraph (1), the President may utilize any 
        credible publication, database, or web-based resource, and any 
        credible information compiled by any government agency, 
        nongovernmental organization, or other entity that is made 
        available to the President.
    (b) Briefing.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall brief the 
appropriate congressional committees on the implementation of the 
strategy required by subsection (a)(2).

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs, the Committee on Finance, the Committee on 
                Foreign Relations, the Committee on Homeland Security 
                and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on the 
                Judiciary, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of 
                the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Financial Services, the 
                Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Homeland 
                Security, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee 
                on Way and Means, and the Permanent Select Committee on 
                Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Blockchain intelligence company.--The term ``blockchain 
        intelligence company'' means any business providing software, 
        research, or other services (such as blockchain tracing tools, 
        geofencing, transaction screening, the collection of business 
        data, and sanctions screening) that--
                    (A) support private and public sector 
                investigations and risk management activities; and
                    (B) involve cryptographically secured distributed 
                ledgers or any similar technology or implementation.
            (3) Digital asset.--The term ``digital asset'' means any 
        digital representation of value that is recorded on a 
        cryptographically secured digital ledger or any similar 
        technology.
            (4) Foreign terrorist organization.--The term ``foreign 
        terrorist organization'' means an organization that is 
        designated as a foreign terrorist organization under section 
        219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
            (5) Illicit use.--The term ``illicit use'' includes fraud, 
        darknet marketplace transactions, money laundering, the 
        purchase and sale of illicit goods, sanctions evasion, theft of 
        funds, funding of illegal activities, transactions related to 
        child sexual abuse material, and any other financial 
        transaction involving the proceeds of specified unlawful 
        activity (as defined in section 1956(c) of title 18, United 
        States Code).
            (6) Terrorist.--The term ``terrorist'' includes a person 
        carrying out domestic terrorism or international terrorism (as 
        such terms are defined, respectively, under section 2331 of 
        title 18, United States Code).
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