[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3384 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3384

 To combat illicit cross-border financial activity and to improve the 
    Trade Transparency Unit program of U.S. Immigration and Customs 
                  Enforcement, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 30, 2023

Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Cassidy, and Mr. King) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To combat illicit cross-border financial activity and to improve the 
    Trade Transparency Unit program of U.S. Immigration and Customs 
                  Enforcement, 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 ``Combating Cross-border Financial 
Crime Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF CROSS-BORDER FINANCIAL CRIME CENTER.

    The Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after section 631 (19 U.S.C. 1631) the following:

``SEC. 632. ESTABLISHMENT OF CROSS-BORDER FINANCIAL CRIME CENTER.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting 
through the Executive Associate Director of Homeland Security 
Investigations, shall--
            ``(1) establish the Cross-Border Financial Crime Center (in 
        this section referred to as the `Center'), which shall be 
        located in the National Capital region (as defined in section 
        8702 of title 40, United States Code); and
            ``(2) appoint a Director to serve as the head of the Center 
        (in this section referred to as the `Director').
    ``(b) Duties.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Center shall--
                    ``(A) support, through the provision of analysts, 
                equipment, and other resources, the investigation and 
                seizure of assets and proceeds (as defined in section 
                981 of title 18, United States Code) related to trade-
                based money laundering and other illicit cross-border 
                financial activity or attempted illicit cross-border 
                financial activity, to, from, or through the United 
                States, including such activity conducted by actors 
                determined by the Secretary of State, the Attorney 
                General, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the 
                Secretary of Homeland Security to be the highest 
                priority threats, including--
                            ``(i) transnational criminal organizations;
                            ``(ii) kleptocrats and oligarchs with 
                        respect to whom the United States has imposed 
                        sanctions;
                            ``(iii) professional money laundering 
                        organizations; and
                            ``(iv) persons knowingly enabling criminal 
                        or corrupt activity, including designated non-
                        financial businesses and professions;
                    ``(B) coordinate with the Deputy Directors 
                appointed under subsection (c) and the heads of other 
                relevant Federal agencies to better ensure uniform 
                training is provided to United States Federal, State, 
                local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies and foreign 
                law enforcement agencies to address the vulnerabilities 
                outlined in the National Money Laundering Risk 
                Assessment, published by the Department of the Treasury 
                in February 2022, or any successor document;
                    ``(C) coordinate with such agencies to develop 
                metrics to assess whether the training described in 
                subparagraph (B) improved enforcement of anti-money 
                laundering laws;
                    ``(D) leverage existing, lawfully obtained, 
                government data sources to establish a means to 
                receive, collect, track, analyze, and deconflict 
                information regarding illicit cross-border financial 
                activity from United States and foreign law enforcement 
                agencies and other non-Federal sources;
                    ``(E) coordinate with the Deputy Directors 
                appointed under subsection (c) and relevant components 
                of their agencies, including the Financial Crimes 
                Enforcement Network, to disseminate information, on a 
                rolling basis, regarding trends and techniques involved 
                in illicit cross-border financial activity to other 
                Federal agencies, private sector stakeholders, and 
                foreign law enforcement partners, as appropriate;
                    ``(F) coordinate with the offices of United States 
                attorneys in order to develop expertise in, and assist 
                with, the investigation and prosecution of crimes 
                involving trade-based money laundering and other 
                illicit cross-border financial activity; and
                    ``(G) carry out such other duties as the Executive 
                Associate Director may assign.
            ``(2) Supplement not supplant.--The duties described in 
        paragraph (1) shall supplement, not supplant, the work of 
        existing Federal agencies, task forces, and working groups.
    ``(c) Deputy Directors.--The Attorney General, the Secretary of the 
Treasury (acting through the Director of the Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network), and the Secretary of State shall each appoint a 
Deputy Director to assist the Director.
    ``(d) Coordination With Other Agencies.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out the duties described in 
        subsection (b), the Director shall coordinate with the Federal 
        entities specified in paragraph (2), and to the extent 
        practicable, with the State, local, and Tribal entities 
        specified in paragraph (3) to ensure at least part-time 
        representation, in the form of detailees, in the Center of at 
        least one agent or analyst with expertise in countering cross-
        border illicit finance, including trade-based money laundering, 
        from each such entity.
            ``(2) Federal entities specified.--The Federal entities 
        specified in this paragraph are the following:
                    ``(A) The Department of the Treasury and the 
                following components of the Department:
                            ``(i) The Financial Crimes Enforcement 
                        Network.
                            ``(ii) The Office of Foreign Assets 
                        Control.
                            ``(iii) The Office of the Comptroller of 
                        the Currency.
                            ``(iv) The Office of Technical Assistance.
                            ``(v) Internal Revenue Service Criminal 
                        Investigation.
                            ``(vi) The Small Business/Self Employed 
                        Division of the Internal Revenue Service.
                    ``(B) The Department of Justice and the following 
                components of the Department:
                            ``(i) The Criminal Division.
                            ``(ii) The Drug Enforcement Administration.
                            ``(iii) The Federal Bureau of 
                        Investigation.
                            ``(iv) Task Force KleptoCapture.
                    ``(C) The Department of State and the following 
                components of the Department:
                            ``(i) The Bureau of International Narcotics 
                        and Law Enforcement Affairs.
                            ``(ii) The Bureau of Western Hemisphere 
                        Affairs.
                            ``(iii) The Bureau of African Affairs.
                            ``(iv) The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific 
                        Affairs.
                            ``(v) The Bureau of European and Eurasian 
                        Affairs.
                            ``(vi) The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
                            ``(vii) The Bureau of South and Central 
                        Asian Affairs.
                            ``(viii) The Bureau of Economic and 
                        Business Affairs.
                            ``(ix) The Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
                    ``(D) The following components of the Department of 
                Homeland Security:
                            ``(i) U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
                            ``(ii) The United States Secret Service.
                            ``(iii) The National Intellectual Property 
                        Rights Coordination Center.
                            ``(iv) The Trade Transparency Units program 
                        of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
                            ``(v) The Bulk Cash Smuggling Center of 
                        U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
                            ``(vi) The Cyber Crimes Center of Homeland 
                        Security Investigations.
                    ``(E) The National Security Agency.
                    ``(F) The United States Postal Inspection Service.
                    ``(G) The Department of Commerce.
                    ``(H) The Department of Defense.
                    ``(I) The Office of the United States Trade 
                Representative.
                    ``(J) The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
                System.
                    ``(K) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
                    ``(L) The Securities and Exchange Commission.
                    ``(M) The Federal Trade Commission.
                    ``(N) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
                    ``(O) The National Credit Union Administration.
            ``(3) State, local, and tribal entities specified.--The 
        State, local, and Tribal entities specified in this paragraph 
        are the following:
                    ``(A) Any State bank supervisor (as that term is 
                defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance 
                Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)) that the Executive Associate 
                Director considers appropriate.
                    ``(B) Any State credit union supervisor (as that 
                term is used in the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 
                1751 et seq.)) that the Executive Associate Director 
                considers appropriate.
                    ``(C) Any State, local, and Tribal law enforcement 
                agency that the Executive Associate Director considers 
                appropriate.
            ``(4) Supplement not supplant.--The coordination described 
        in paragraph (1) shall supplement, not supplant, the work of 
        existing Federal agencies, task forces, and working groups.
    ``(e) Private Sector Outreach.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director, in coordination with the 
        Deputy Directors appointed under subsection (c) by the Attorney 
        General and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall work with the 
        Federal entities specified in subsection (d)(2) to conduct 
        outreach to private sector entities in the United States in 
        order to exchange information, in real-time or as soon as 
        practicable, with respect to tactics and trends being used to 
        conduct illicit cross-border financial activity, including such 
        activity that involves corruption, international commercial 
        trade and counterfeit products, bulk cash smuggling, the 
        illicit use of digital assets or digital currencies and the 
        dark web, and financial institutions and designated 
        nonfinancial businesses and professions.
            ``(2) Training and technical assistance.--In order to 
        coordinate public and private sector efforts to combat the 
        tactics and trends described in paragraph (1), the Director, in 
        coordination with the Deputy Directors appointed under 
        subsection (c) by the Attorney General and the Secretary of the 
        Treasury, shall provide training and technical assistance, as 
        appropriate, regarding best practices for--
                    ``(A) identifying, reporting, and protecting 
                against money laundering; and
                    ``(B) maintaining sensitive financial information, 
                which may include suspicious activity reports and 
                currency transaction reports.
            ``(3) Supplement not supplant.--The activities described in 
        paragraphs (1) and (2) shall supplement, not supplant, the work 
        of existing Federal agencies, task forces, and working groups.
    ``(f) International Outreach.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of State, acting through 
        the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics 
        and Law Enforcement Affairs, shall coordinate with the Director 
        of the Center and the Deputy Directors of the Center appointed 
        under subsection (c) by the Attorney General and the Secretary 
        of the Treasury to facilitate capacity building and perform 
        outreach to law enforcement agencies of countries that are 
        partners of the United States and foreign private industry 
        stakeholders by developing and providing specialized training 
        and information-sharing opportunities regarding illicit cross-
        border financial activity, including such activity that 
        involves corruption, international commercial trade and 
        counterfeit products, bulk cash smuggling, the illicit use of 
        digital assets or digital currencies and the dark web, and 
        financial institutions and designated nonfinancial businesses 
        and professions.
            ``(2) Coordination.--In carrying out paragraph (1) in a 
        country, the Secretary of State, acting through the Assistant 
        Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law 
        Enforcement Affairs, and in coordination with the Director of 
        the Center and the Deputy Directors of the Center appointed 
        under subsection (c) by the Attorney General and the Secretary 
        of the Treasury, shall establish and maintain relationships 
        with--
                    ``(A) officials from law enforcement agencies, 
                regulatory authorities, customs authorities, financial 
                intelligence units, and ministries of finance in that 
                country; and
                    ``(B) private industry stakeholders in that 
                country, including commercial and financial industry 
                stakeholders most commonly impacted by illicit cross-
                border financial activity.
            ``(3) Supplement not supplant.--The activities described in 
        paragraph (1) shall supplement, not supplant, international 
        training conducted by other Federal agencies.
            ``(4) Information sharing.--To the extent practicable and 
        consistent with other provisions of law, the Secretary of 
        State, acting through the Assistant Secretary of State for 
        International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, shall work 
        with the Director and, as appropriate, the Deputy Directors 
        appointed under subsection (c), to strengthen international 
        cooperation and information-sharing agreements with law 
        enforcement agencies of countries that are partners of the 
        United States regarding combating illicit cross-border 
        financial activity, including through the enhancement and 
        expansion of Trade Transparency Units under section 633.
    ``(g) Report Required.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not less frequently than annually, the 
        Director shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
        committees a report detailing the latest trends and techniques 
        utilized to facilitate illicit cross-border financial activity.
            ``(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall 
        include--
                    ``(A) an assessment of the training provided to 
                United States and foreign law enforcement agencies 
                under subsection (b)(1)(B), based upon the metrics 
                developed under subsection (b)(1)(C);
                    ``(B) a summary of the activities conducted 
                pursuant to subsections (d), (e), and (f);
                    ``(C) the number and status of investigations 
                supported by the Center, unless the disclosure of such 
                information would reveal information protected by rule 
                6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or a 
                court order;
                    ``(D) the amount of money and other assets of value 
                in various forms that the United States Government 
                seized as a result of such investigations; and
                    ``(E) the countries with which the Center has 
                established information-sharing agreements.
            ``(3) Form.--Each report required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        submitted in unclassified form, but may include information 
        that is classified or law enforcement sensitive in an annex.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
        to the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish and maintain 
        the Center--
                    ``(A) $6,200,000 for fiscal year 2024; and
                    ``(B) such sums as may be necessary for each of 
                fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
            ``(2) Prohibition on use of funds.--None of the funds 
        authorized to be appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 
        appropriations under paragraph (1) may be obligated or expended 
        to carry out civil immigration enforcement or removal 
        activities.
    ``(i) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        `appropriate congressional committees' means--
                    ``(A) the Caucus on International Narcotics 
                Control, the Committee on Finance, the Committee on 
                Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on 
                the Judiciary, and the Committee on Foreign Relations 
                of the Senate; and
                    ``(B) the Committee on Ways and Means, the 
                Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on the 
                Judiciary, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
                House of Representatives.
            ``(2) Trade-based money laundering.--The term `trade-based 
        money laundering' means the process of disguising the proceeds 
        of crime by moving such proceeds through the use of trade 
        transactions in an attempt to legitimize the illegal origin of 
        such proceeds or to finance criminal activities.
            ``(3) United states.--The term `United States' means the 
        several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
        Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, and any 
        federally recognized tribe (as defined in section 4(3)(B) of 
        the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination 
        Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103(13)(B)).''.

SEC. 3. TRADE TRANSPARENCY UNITS PROGRAM.

    The Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304 et seq.), as amended by 
section 2, is further amended by inserting after section 632 the 
following:

``SEC. 633. TRADE TRANSPARENCY UNITS PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary of Homeland 
Security, acting through the Executive Associate Director of Homeland 
Security Investigations, shall establish a program under which Trade 
Transparency Units are established with foreign countries.
    ``(b) Purposes.--The purposes of Trade Transparency Units are--
            ``(1) to combat transnational criminal organizations, 
        kleptocrats and oligarchs with respect to whom the United 
        States has imposed sanctions, professional money laundering 
        organizations, and other criminal or corrupt actors or enablers 
        of criminal or corrupt activity; and
            ``(2) to prevent such persons from exploiting the 
        international trade and financial infrastructures to finance 
        criminal acts, evade sanctions or export controls, evade taxes, 
        tariffs, or customs duties, or launder criminal or corrupt 
        proceeds, by--
                    ``(A) developing relationships with foreign law 
                enforcement agencies and customs authorities; and
                    ``(B) working through the Department of State to 
                strengthen international cooperation and facilitate 
                information-sharing agreements with foreign countries 
                that provide for the exchange of import and export data 
                with agencies of those countries, and as appropriate, 
                other United States agencies, which can be used to 
                investigate and prosecute international money 
                laundering and illicit trade cases.
    ``(c) Establishment and Composition of Units.--
            ``(1) Establishment of units.--The Executive Associate 
        Director, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may 
        establish Trade Transparency Units in--
                    ``(A) countries in which money laundering is 
                prevalent;
                    ``(B) countries in which corruption is prevalent;
                    ``(C) countries that conduct a high volume of trade 
                with the United States;
                    ``(D) countries that have inconsistent trade 
                figures or high incidences of illicit trade;
                    ``(E) trade corridors in which one country that has 
                a currency restriction in place;
                    ``(F) countries that have been identified as having 
                substantial volumes of suspicious financial 
                transactions, based on data obtained under subchapter 
                II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code; or
                    ``(G) countries for which the Executive Associate 
                Director, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 
                determines that a Trade Transparency Unit would support 
                the purposes of the Trade Transparency Units program 
                under this section.
            ``(2) Requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Before establishing a Trade 
                Transparency Unit in a country after the date of the 
                enactment of the Combating Cross-border Financial Crime 
                Act of 2023, the Executive Associate Director shall--
                            ``(i) ensure the United States and the 
                        government of the country have an active 
                        Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement in place;
                            ``(ii) conduct a risk-based assessment to 
                        determine whether the country meets the 
                        criteria described in any of subparagraphs (A) 
                        through (F) of paragraph (1); and
                            ``(iii) work with the United States embassy 
                        in the country to establish a trade data 
                        exchange agreement or memorandum of 
                        understanding with the government of the 
                        country that includes, to the greatest extent 
                        practicable, language to provide for the 
                        sharing of foreign import and export data with 
                        relevant United States agencies.
                    ``(B) Transition rule.--The requirements under 
                subparagraph (A) do not apply with respect to a Trade 
                Transparency Unit established before the date of the 
                enactment of the Combating Cross-border Financial Crime 
                Act of 2023.
            ``(3) Composition.--A Trade Transparency Unit may be 
        comprised of personnel from--
                    ``(A) Homeland Security Investigations;
                    ``(B) other Federal agencies, as appropriate; and
                    ``(C) foreign law enforcement agencies, as 
                appropriate and pursuant to a trade data exchange 
                agreement or memorandum of understanding described in 
                paragraph (2)(C).
    ``(d) Operation.--After a trade data exchange agreement or 
memorandum of understanding described in subsection (c)(2)(A)(iii) is 
signed with a country, the Executive Associate Director, in 
consultation with the Secretary of State, may assign Homeland Security 
Investigations criminal investigators to the country to provide 
training and technical assistance to the country in order to 
operationalize and maintain a Trade Transparency Unit in that country.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
        to the Secretary of Homeland Security $4,100,000 for each of 
        fiscal years 2024 through 2029 to establish and maintain Trade 
        Transparency Units.
            ``(2) Prohibition on use of funds.--None of the funds 
        authorized to be appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 
        appropriations under paragraph (1) may be obligated or expended 
        to carry out civil immigration enforcement or removal 
        activities.''.

SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW OF BARRIERS TO 
              HARMONIZING DATA SYSTEMS OF CERTAIN LAW ENFORCEMENT 
              AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
detailing the statutory, technical, and security barriers to 
harmonizing the data systems of relevant law enforcement agencies, 
including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, 
the United States Secret Service, the Diplomatic Security Service, the 
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection, to improve data access necessary to facilitate trade-based 
money laundering investigations.
    (b) Assessment of New Technologies.--The report required by 
subsection (a) shall include an assessment of the benefits and 
feasibility of integrating new technologies, including distributed 
ledger technology and quantum ledger technology, into the processes of 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the customs services of foreign 
jurisdictions with which the United States has trade agreements in 
effect in order to facilitate the immediate, secure, and complete 
transfer between jurisdictions of lists of goods and related invoices 
and bills of lading.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Caucus on International Narcotics Control, 
                the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Banking, 
                Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on the 
                Judiciary of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee 
                on Financial Services, and the Committee on the 
                Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Trade-based money laundering.--The term ``trade-based 
        money laundering'' means the process of disguising the proceeds 
        of crime by moving such proceeds through the use of trade 
        transactions in an attempt to legitimize the illegal origin of 
        such proceeds or to finance criminal activities.
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