[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 59 (Friday, May 10, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E778-E779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE STOLEN ASSET RECOVERY ACT OF 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 9, 2002

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce The Stolen Asset 
Recovery Act of 2002. This bill would facilitate the identification of 
assets that have been stolen by dictators and other corrupt officials 
in developing countries and laundered in American financial 
institutions.

[[Page E779]]

  Many developing countries have been ruled by dictators and corrupt 
officials who have stolen millions of dollars from their people, 
laundering these stolen assets in banks and financial institutions in 
the developed world. Numerous dictators, such as Sani Abacha of 
Nigeria, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, Mobutu Sese Seko of 
Zaire, Jean-Claude ``Baby Doc'' Duvalier of Haiti, Slobodan Milosevic 
of Yugoslavia, Suharto of Indonesia and the Taliban of Afghanistan, 
have plundered their countries' resources and left their people deeply 
impoverished and oppressed. When these corrupt officials leave their 
countries, the new governments typically lack the resources to 
thoroughly investigate the theft and identify the laundered assets.
  The Stolen Asset Recovery Act of 2002 would require the Secretary of 
the Treasury to submit annual reports to the Congress on the laundering 
of stolen assets in American financial institutions. The reports would 
include an explanation of U.S. Government efforts to identify stolen 
assets, mechanisms available to the U.S. Government to identify stolen 
assets and legislation that could be enacted to facilitate the return 
of stolen assets to the people of the countries from which the assets 
were stolen. The legislation would also require the Secretary of the 
Treasury to urge international financial institutions, including the 
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to provide to the 
United States copies of all audits regarding the use of funds loaned to 
governments where corruption has been a serious problem.
  The United States should support efforts to identify assets stolen by 
corrupt foreign officials and facilitate their return to the people who 
rightfully own them. I urge my colleagues to support The Stolen Asset 
Recovery Act of 2002.

                          ____________________