[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 5, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E7]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE NEED TO TAKE ACTION TO ENSURE THAT ASSETS OF NATIONAL BANKS IN CIS 
       COUNTRIES ARE NOT USED TO BENEFIT TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

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                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 5, 2016

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House of an 
ongoing problem in the former CIS countries involving the banking 
industry that requires the attention of the Congress and the 
Administration.
  In the aftermath of 9/11 the United States took decisive action to 
implement stronger financial controls to disrupt, impede, and prevent 
the flow of funds to terrorists around the world.
  But recent events indicate the need for sustained vigilance and 
additional action.
  One example of this involves the countries of Moldova and Latvia, two 
members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) formed in 1991 
upon the dissolution of the former Soviet Union in 1991.
  In Moldova more than $1 billion was stolen from the Moldovan national 
treasury and a large portion of that money appears to have ended up in 
three EU banks in Latvia: ``ABLV, Latvijas Pasta Banka, and 
Privatbank.''
  Mr. Speaker, these banks appear to be financial institutions 
controlled by associates and friends of Russian President Vladimir 
Putin who have a demonstrated history of plundering the national 
treasuries of the former CIS countries.
  I call upon the Administration and the Congress to investigate 
whether assets of the national banks of countries of the former Soviet 
Union are not being plundered and used, knowingly or unknowingly, to 
benefit terrorist organizations.

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