[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9052-H9056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EMPOWERING FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT OF 
                                  2018

  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6729) to allow nonprofit organizations to register with the 
Secretary of the Treasury and share information on activities that may 
involve human trafficking or money laundering with financial 
institutions and regulatory authorities, under a safe harbor that 
offers protections from liability, in order to better identify and 
report potential human trafficking or money laundering activities.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6729

       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 ``Empowering Financial 
     Institutions to Fight Human Trafficking Act of 2018''.

     SEC. 2. ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING INFORMATION PROVIDERS.

       (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``Sec. 5333. Anti-money laundering information providers

       ``(a) Cooperation Among Financial Institutions and Sources 
     of Information on Human Trafficking and Money Laundering.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than the end of the 120-day 
     period beginning on the date of enactment of this section, 
     the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue regulations to 
     allow nonprofit organizations that the Secretary determines 
     to be qualified to share information with financial 
     institutions, associations of financial institutions, their 
     regulatory authorities, and law enforcement agencies 
     regarding individuals, entities, organizations, and countries 
     suspected of possible human trafficking or related money 
     laundering activities.
       ``(2) Cooperation and information sharing procedures.--The 
     regulations required under paragraph (1) may include or 
     create procedures for cooperation and information sharing 
     focused on--
       ``(A) matters specifically related to those benefitting 
     directly and indirectly from human trafficking, the means by 
     which human traffickers transfer funds within the United 
     States and around the world, and the extent to which 
     financial institutions, including depository institutions, 
     asset managers, and insurers in the United States, are 
     unwittingly involved in such matters or transfers and the 
     extent to which such entities are at risk as a result; and
       ``(B) means of facilitating the identification of accounts 
     and transactions involving human traffickers and facilitating 
     the exchange of information concerning such accounts and 
     transactions between nonprofit organizations, financial 
     institutions, regulatory authorities, and law enforcement 
     agencies.
       ``(3) Method of regulation.--The regulations required under 
     paragraph (1) may--
       ``(A) be made coextensive with the regulations adopted 
     pursuant to other programs, regulated by the Secretary, for 
     sharing information on unlawful activities between financial 
     institutions;
       ``(B) establish a registration process overseen by the 
     Secretary that--

[[Page H9053]]

       ``(i) requires a nonprofit organization to demonstrate that 
     they meet certain qualifications that the Secretary 
     determines appropriate, including the establishment of 
     policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure the 
     prompt identification and correction of inaccurate 
     information shared under paragraph (1);
       ``(ii) allows the Secretary to disqualify nonprofit 
     organizations that do not meet such qualifications; and
       ``(iii) allows the Secretary to terminate the registration 
     of a nonprofit organization at any point if the Secretary 
     determines such termination is appropriate and provides 
     sufficient notice of such termination to the applicable 
     nonprofit organization;
       ``(C) require a nonprofit organization to register with the 
     Secretary before sharing information that will be subject to 
     the safe harbor provided under subsection (b); and
       ``(D) ensure that financial institutions, associations of 
     financial institutions, their regulatory authorities, law 
     enforcement authorities, and any other appropriate entities 
     are made aware of those nonprofit organizations that are 
     registered with the Secretary.
       ``(4) Recipients of information.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall determine those 
     financial institutions which are eligible to be recipients of 
     information from nonprofit organizations made in compliance 
     with the regulations issued under subsection (a). Such 
     eligible financial institutions may include those already 
     participating in existing information sharing programs 
     regulated by the Secretary regarding unlawful activity.
       ``(B) No safe harbor for information provided to other 
     financial institutions.--If a nonprofit organization shares 
     information with a financial institution that is not eligible 
     under subparagraph (A), such sharing of information shall not 
     be subject to the safe harbor provided under subsection (b).
       ``(5) Information sharing between financial institutions.--
     The regulations adopted pursuant to this section--
       ``(A) may be coextensive with other regulations governing 
     the sharing of information between financial institutions on 
     suspected unlawful activities; and
       ``(B) shall allow financial institutions that receive 
     information in compliance with the regulations issued under 
     subsection (a) to share such information with other financial 
     institutions through existing information sharing programs.
       ``(b) Safe Harbor for Information Providers.--
       ``(1) In general.--A nonprofit organization, financial 
     institution, association of financial institutions, 
     regulatory authority of a financial institution, or law 
     enforcement agency in compliance with the regulations issued 
     under subsection (a) that transmits or shares information 
     described under subsection (a) for the purposes of 
     identifying or reporting activities that may involve human 
     trafficking acts or related money laundering activities shall 
     not be liable to any person under any law or regulation of 
     the United States, any constitution, law, or regulation of 
     any State or political subdivision thereof, or under any 
     contract or other legally enforceable agreement (including 
     any arbitration agreement), for such disclosure or for any 
     failure to provide notice of such disclosure to the person 
     who is the subject of such disclosure, or any other person 
     identified in the disclosure, except where such transmission 
     or sharing violates this section or regulations issued 
     pursuant to this section.
       ``(2) No good faith requirement.--A nonprofit organization, 
     financial institution, association of financial institutions, 
     regulatory authority of a financial institution, or law 
     enforcement agency that transmits or shares information 
     described under paragraph (1) shall not be required to 
     demonstrate that such transmission or sharing was made on a 
     good faith basis in order to receive the benefit of the safe 
     harbor provided by paragraph (1).
       ``(c) Non-Mandatory Compliance With This Section.--This 
     section may not be construed as requiring a nonprofit 
     organization to comply with the regulations issued under 
     subsection (a) before sharing information with a financial 
     institution, association of financial institutions, 
     regulatory authority of a financial institution, or law 
     enforcement agency.
       ``(d) Reports to the Financial Services Industry on 
     Suspicious Financial Activities.--Beginning 10 months after 
     the date of the enactment of this section, and at least 
     semiannually thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall--
       ``(1) publish a report containing a detailed analysis 
     identifying patterns of suspicious activity and other 
     investigative insights derived from the regulations issued 
     under this section and investigations conducted by Federal, 
     State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies to the 
     extent appropriate;
       ``(2) distribute such report to financial institutions; and
       ``(3) provide such report upon publication to the Committee 
     on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
     Senate.
       ``(e) Nonprofit Organization Defined.--For purposes of this 
     section, the term `nonprofit organization' means an 
     organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 
     501(a) of such Code.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for chapter 
     53 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
     after the item relating to section 5332 the following:

``5333. Anti-money laundering information providers.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tipton) and the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous materials on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Colorado?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner).
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Tipton. I rise today 
to speak on behalf of the bipartisan Empowering Financial Institutions 
to Fight Human Trafficking Act.
  The International Labor Organization estimates that, globally, over 
40 million people were victims of human trafficking in 2016. It is 
obvious that in order to deter the criminals who enslave and sell human 
beings, we need to hit them where it hurts: their bank accounts.
  Right now, financial institutions are attempting to identify human 
trafficking activity, but many suspicious activity reports are based on 
false flags. Financial institutions are largely left alone to determine 
what information is valid. Without good, specific, verifiable, targeted 
information, financial institutions may wrongly identify people, 
overrespond, and overtarget, or fail to recognize criminal activity.
  Finding the traffickers who take advantage of our financial system 
can be a daunting task. We need to figure out how to do it better. This 
legislation is an opportunity to help financial institutions wade 
through the muck and locate bad actors.
  This summer, the Financial Action Task Force released a report that 
identified significant challenges in detecting, investigating, and 
prosecuting laundering related to human trafficking, including, 
``incomplete domestic information sharing among stakeholders.''
  That is why I was proud to introduce the Empowering Financial 
Institutions to Fight Human Trafficking Act with my colleague and 
fellow advocate, Congresswoman Maloney, along with Congresswoman Love, 
Congresswoman Tenney, and Congresswoman Sinema.
  Over the past year, I have worked in the Financial Services Committee 
to explore how human traffickers exploit U.S. financial markets. In 
January, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which I 
chaired, held a hearing to examine how financial institutions monitor 
accounts and identify trafficking. We know that if traffickers can't 
finance their operations, they can't profit from their crimes.
  This bill creates a pathway for registered nonprofits to safely 
provide valuable information on trafficking crimes to financial 
institutions, without the threat of defamation suits that could end 
their organizations.
  Throughout the process of crafting this bill, I have found that banks 
are increasingly seeking actionable information from the nonprofits 
that specialize in gathering it. It is incredibly challenging for 
financial institutions to pinpoint trafficking crimes that are 
happening far away in mines, in fields, in factories, hotels, or boats, 
obscured from analysts who are trying to practice good customer due 
diligence.
  Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker. This legislation instructs the 
Secretary of the Treasury to develop a process that will make civil 
society experts more available to financial institutions and establish 
transparent standards for information sharing.
  The bill guides the Secretary to register only NGOs that have the 
rigor and expertise to substantiate their claims and correct any 
inaccurate information.
  I am excited that we are finding ways to connect those who have good 
intelligence with those who are seeking it without exposing nonprofits 
to devastating lawsuits they can ill afford.

[[Page H9054]]

This system will target verified traffickers and reduce reliance on 
nonspecific information that can target innocent people.
  I look forward to casting my vote to prevent human traffickers from 
using the U.S. financial system to exploit victims around the world. 
Together, this Congress can disrupt the networks that make modern-day 
slavery profitable and free vulnerable people around the world who have 
been enslaved.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6729 is a well-intentioned bill aimed at countering 
human trafficking. My first concern with the bill, however, is the lack 
of a deliberative process surrounding the measure, which could lead to 
a number of serious unintended consequences as currently drafted.
  The bill will give a sweeping safe harbor to nonprofits that share 
information with financial institutions regarding the involuntary 
trafficking of children, women, and men that will nullify all State and 
local defamation, libel, and privacy laws.
  This means eligible nonprofits could share personally identifiable 
information about any person the nonprofit merely suspects of human 
trafficking with any financial institution, even if their information 
is false or misleading. Such sharing of information could, in turn, 
lead financial institutions to close an individual's account and deny 
them access to the financial system, even if the individual has not 
been arrested or indicted for a crime.
  Importantly, this bill also explicitly states that the Treasury 
Department may not impose a requirement that the nonprofits share the 
information in good faith. Therefore, this bill doesn't protect against 
malicious or negligent reporting. In fact, the Due Process Institute 
has stated: `` . . . Surely not every suspicion or accusation that 
would come through a nonprofit will be accurate or truthful. Some 
suspicions or accusations might even be motivated by personal, 
political, ethnic, racial, cultural, or religious animus.''
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record two letters of 
opposition to the bill from two coalitions of civil liberty and privacy 
advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Due 
Process Institute, Freedom Works, the National Association of Criminal 
Defense Lawyers, the Project On Government Oversight, Defending Rights 
and Dissent, and New America's Open Technology Institute, among others.

                                               September 25, 2018.
       Dear Representatives: We urge you to vote against H.R. 6729 
     when the measure is considered later this week. The 
     legislation would allow the Treasury Department to expand the 
     surveillance and sharing of Americans' financial records 
     beyond what is provided for by the USA PATRIOT Act. The 
     government has previously sought and Congress has rightly 
     voted to reject such an expansion. Similar legislation in the 
     114th Congress, H.R. 5606, drew opposition from 177 members 
     and failed on a suspension vote.
       The legislation has broad applicability and significantly 
     harmful effects that go far beyond its stated purpose of 
     allowing financial institutions to combat human trafficking.
       H.R. 6729 contains an overly broad provision that prohibits 
     Treasury from requiring nonprofit organizations to show that 
     they are sharing information in good faith and preempts 
     liability for organizations under privacy laws. While the 
     measure is described as allowing nonprofits to report 
     suspicions of human trafficking or money laundering to 
     financial institutions, it risks our privacy and raises 
     concerns about the misuse of information.
       In addition, H.R. 6729 allows a wide range of institutions 
     to communicate with each other about ``suspicious'' 
     activities regardless of the basis for the suspicion and 
     despite other applicable laws and consumer agreements. The 
     concerns need not be rooted in reality. Moreover, the safe 
     harbor provision does not merely encompass traditional 
     financial institutions like banks and financial services 
     providers, but extends more broadly. This legislation also 
     fails to establish any legal recourse for negligent or 
     malicious acts.
       H.R. 6729 would create the risk of financial institutions 
     closing accounts of people they deem too risky to do business 
     with on the basis of meritless or otherwise unsupported 
     claims from nonprofit organizations. Every financial 
     institution already has a legal obligation to file a 
     ``Suspicious Activity Report'' with the government whenever 
     it ``knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect that an 
     individual, entity, or organization is involved in or may be 
     involved in terrorist activity or money laundering.'' It is 
     an unfortunate fact that suspicions and accusations can be 
     based on or motivated by personal, political, ethnic, racial, 
     cultural, or religious animus. It is unacceptable to expand 
     the scope of entities that can submit this information in a 
     process that is broadly immunized from legal recourse.
       This legislation goes far beyond the goal of combating 
     human trafficking and significantly expands governmental 
     surveillance, the impact of which falls most heavily and 
     relentlessly on those who are the least able to defend 
     themselves. Now is not the time to rush this legislation, 
     introduced a mere two weeks ago, through a legislative 
     procedure intended for uncontroversial bills.
           Sincerely yours,
       American Civil Liberties Union, American-Arab Anti-
     Discrimination Committee, Color Of Change, Defending Rights & 
     Dissent, Demand Progress Action, Free Press Action, Freedom 
     of the Press Foundation, Government Information Watch, New 
     America's Open Technology Institute, Project On Government 
     Oversight, X-Lab.
                                  ____



                                        Due Process Institute,

                                               September 25, 2018.
     Re Bipartisan Concerns Regarding H.R. 6729 on Suspension 
         Calendar

     Hon. Paul Ryan,
     Speaker of the House,
     U.S. House of Representatives.
     Hon. Kevin McCarthy,
     Majority Leader,
     U.S. House of Representatives.
     Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
     Minority Leader,
     U.S. House of Representatives.
     Hon. Steny Hoyer,
     Minority Whip,
     U.S. House of Representatives.
       Dear Speaker Ryan, Leader Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, and Whip 
     Hoyer: The Due Process Institute, FreedomWorks, the National 
     Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and 
     Defending Rights and Dissent write to raise concerns with 
     several aspects of H.R. 6729 (``Empowering Financial 
     Institutions to Fight Human Trafficking Act of 2018''). There 
     is an effort to put this bill, which was introduced just two 
     weeks ago, on the suspension calendar this week even though 
     it contains controversial expansions of regulatory power that 
     could have serious unintended consequences for innocent 
     people. We urge leadership to ensure this bill not be placed 
     on the suspension calendar and instead allow deliberate 
     consideration of the serious changes it seeks to make. We 
     urge Members to vote NO on this bill.
       On its face, H.R. 6729 would protect nonprofits wishing to 
     report suspicions of human trafficking or money laundering 
     activities to law enforcement. Importantly, there are no 
     known legal impediments to nonprofits who wish to engage in 
     such reporting. Anyone can report credible suspicions of 
     criminal activity to law enforcement. However, it is possible 
     that a reporter could potentially face civil liability if the 
     report was false and led to reputational damage, or if the 
     report violated a privacy law. This bill offers a very broad 
     ``safe harbor'' from such liability. In conflict with the 
     principle of federalism, it would nullify any and all 
     federal, state, or local laws that might otherwise allow 
     someone to seek damages in the instance of damaging or 
     malicious reporting or for otherwise invading their privacy. 
     This powerful and all-encompassing ``safe harbor'' does not 
     require good faith on behalf of the reporting organization 
     yet it would invalidate all defamation, libel, or privacy 
     laws in existence. The undersigned organizations recognize 
     the importance of preventing and appropriately investigating 
     human trafficking related crimes but have grave concerns 
     about aspects of this bill that go far beyond the purpose of 
     preventing human trafficking.
       Importantly, H.R. 6729 does much more than provide a safe 
     harbor from civil liability for nonprofits wishing to share 
     information with law enforcement and it is those aspects of 
     the bill that might not be readily apparent but cause 
     concern. The bill also sets up a structure to encourage 
     nonprofits to share their suspicions with ``financial 
     institutions,'' and also creates a related structure by which 
     financial institutions will be encouraged to then share these 
     suspicions with each other. Importantly, the term ``financial 
     institution'' is not confined to entities like traditional 
     banks and financial services providers, but also applies to 
     insurance companies, real estate firms, casinos, jewelers, 
     and even car dealers. (Again, there is nothing that prevents 
     such reporting but the ``safe harbor'' protection discussed 
     above would also apply to any financial institution, thus 
     preventing customers of a wide array of businesses who would 
     otherwise have legal recourse under privacy laws or tort law 
     to seek relief for the negligent or even malicious acts of 
     others.) Importantly, the ``information sharing'' at stake in 
     this bill is not based on provable criminal acts, or even 
     criminal accusations brought by law enforcement. The types of 
     information subject to this extraordinary ``safe harbor'' 
     protection are mere suspicions that could be based on 
     purposefully malicious information or stem from improper 
     motivations.
       Unfortunately, the harm that is likely to result to 
     innocent Americans is very real and not just because of the 
     safe harbor provision. Current banking regulations already 
     require financial institutions to file ``Suspicious Activity 
     Reports'' (SARs) with the government any time it ``knows, 
     suspects, or has reason to suspect that an individual, 
     entity, or organization is involved in, or may be involved in 
     terrorist activity or money laundering,'' because of shared 
     information

[[Page H9055]]

     it has received. Because a financial institution can face 
     criminal prosecution for failing to investigate or file SARs 
     after receiving such information, these institutions 
     invariably err on the side of over-filing. This bill would 
     add a broad swath of new suspected activity to the SARs 
     regime, causing the overall amount of SARs to increase--
     despite the fact that over one million SARs are already filed 
     each year--the vast majority of which never lead to a formal 
     investigation of any kind.
       But even more importantly, one of the stated purposes for 
     information-sharing between financial institutions is to 
     allow these businesses to determine ``whether to establish or 
     maintain an account, or to engage in a transaction.'' Thus, 
     the filing of a SAR frequently leads to a person being ``de-
     banked'' or deemed ``too risky to do business with.'' This 
     bill would dramatically increase the number of SARs filed on 
     the basis of unproven suspicions passed to financial 
     institutions, not from law enforcement agencies but from 
     nonprofits. Stories already abound regarding instances of 
     innocent consumers having their accounts closed or 
     transactions prohibited as a result of unproven suspicions. 
     See Emily Flitter & Stacy Cowley, ``Wells Fargo Accused of 
     Harming Fraud Victims by Closing Accounts,'' New York Times, 
     Feb. 28, 2018; Rick Jones, ``Closing the Door on Closing 
     Accounts: Ending the Damaging Impact of De-Banking,'' The 
     Champion, March 2018; and Alex Morrell, ``Banks are keeping 
     closer tabs on your reputation than ever before--and it may 
     explain why one . . . cardholder mysteriously had his account 
     shut down. . . .'', Business Insider, Sept. 14, 2018. While 
     the threat of human trafficking is real and law enforcement 
     should continue to engage in best efforts to prevent such 
     crimes, surely not every suspicion or accusation that would 
     come through a nonprofit will be accurate or truthful. Some 
     suspicions or accusations might even be motivated by 
     personal, political, ethnic, racial, cultural, or religious 
     animus. But by encouraging nonprofits to share their 
     ``suspicions'' with financial institutions, and to encourage 
     financial institutions to in turn share these suspicions with 
     each other, law-abiding customers could be improperly de-
     banked, preventing them from engaging in critical financial 
     activities like home buying, investing, or even having a bank 
     account on the basis of unproven hearsay.
       Another concerning aspect of H.R. 6729 is that it contains 
     multiple authorizations for the Treasury Department to 
     promulgate an unlimited number of additional regulations 
     regarding the ``sharing of information between financial 
     institutions on suspected unlawful activities.'' These 
     incredibly broad strokes of authority--not limited to the 
     context of the subject matter of the bill [human trafficking] 
     but applying to any ``suspected unlawful activity''--are 
     deeply concerning given that the regulatory state is already 
     out of control and given previous recent attempts by the 
     Treasury Department to increase the use of warrantless 
     surveillance through ``information-sharing'' programs and 
     other extraordinary powers it was previously granted only for 
     the purposes of preventing terrorist activities. The blanket 
     authorization in this bill would allow unelected regulators 
     to enact changes in the law to expand surveillance and the 
     access and sharing of Americans' financial records under 
     Section 314 of the USA PATRIOT Act that they have been unable 
     to get authorized in bills such as H.R. 5606 (``Anti-
     Terrorism Information Sharing is Strength Act''), H.R. 3439 
     (the ``Financial Institution Security Act'') and the November 
     2017 draft ``Counter Terrorism and Illicit Finance Act''--
     efforts that were widely opposed by a diverse group of 
     concerned organizations. For all the reasons listed herein, 
     we urge leadership to ensure this bill not be placed on the 
     suspension calendar and instead be subjected to a full and 
     fair law-making process that will allow for deliberate 
     consideration of the serious changes it seeks to make and we 
     urge Members to vote NO on this bill.
           Respectfully,
     Due Process Institute.
     FreedomWorks.
     National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).
     Defending Rights and Dissent.

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I remain committed to fighting against 
human trafficking, but this bill may result in serious unintended 
consequences for innocent people, including losing access to their 
money and to the financial system based on the mere accusation from a 
nonprofit. For this reason, I oppose this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume 
to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney).
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good 
friend and colleague from New York, who is the ranking member on Small 
Business, as an outstanding leader on Puerto Rico, on business, on 
women, and in so many areas. I rise today and join my colleague on the 
other side of the aisle, Ann Wagner, in strong support of H.R. 6729, 
the Empowering Financial Institutions to Fight Human Trafficking Act.
  This bill cracks down on human traffickers and human trafficking in 
general, which is one of the worst crimes imaginable. This bill will 
save lives by cracking down on human trafficking.
  Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the 
world. It already generates over $150 billion in profits every year. 
There are only two crimes that generate more revenue, and those are 
selling drugs and selling guns. But in human trafficking, you can sell 
the body over and over again, usually until they die.
  The $150 billion is an astonishing amount of money, and that is why 
it is so important to make sure that financial institutions have access 
to high-quality, up-to-date information on human traffickers and the 
companies and individuals involved in this terrible trade.
  This bill would ensure that financial institutions get the 
information they need about trafficking so that they can take 
appropriate action to protect both themselves and the sufferers of 
human trafficking.
  The bill would give qualified nonprofits a legal safe harbor when 
they share information about human trafficking with financial 
institutions.

                              {time}  1645

  And it is not-for-profits that have been the most successful in 
combating and stopping this horrible crime.
  The nonprofits would have to be registered with Treasury in order to 
qualify for the safe harbor and would have to abide by any safeguards 
Treasury establishes to ensure that the information they are providing 
is credible and accurate.
  So the bill would not open the door to blatantly false or malicious 
accusations being made. To the contrary, it would help nonprofits who 
are actively engaged in stopping human trafficking around the world.
  Without this safe harbor, these nonprofits would be afraid to share 
the information they have about traffickers with banks out of fear of 
being sued.
  This bill is supported by law enforcement. This bill will allow a 
cracking down on this terrible, terrible crime that costs the lives of 
thousands of our young people. It is important.
  This bill will save lives. That is why I support it, and I urge my 
colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema).
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, every day, I hear from Arizonans who are 
sick and tired of the dysfunction in Washington. They know that the 
partisan fights and name-calling keeps Congress from delivering the 
results that Arizona families expect from their leaders.
  Arizonans deserve leaders who come together and find solutions on 
issues that matter, like keeping our families safe, protecting our 
Nation, and honoring our commitment to veterans.
  We can still get things done for Arizona families if we would stop 
the political games and work across the aisle. We have an opportunity 
to prove that today by passing three bipartisan bills that will make a 
difference for Arizonans.
  I am lucky to have worked closely with my Republican colleagues on 
these three commonsense solutions that improve our ability to fight 
human trafficking, protect our country from weapons of mass 
destruction, and support Arizona veterans.
  We have a moral obligation to fight human trafficking, stand up for 
victims, and bring traffickers to justice. That is why I cosponsored 
the Empowering Financial Institutions to Fight Human Trafficking Act 
with Congresswoman Wagner, Congresswoman Maloney, Congresswoman Love, 
and Congresswoman Tenney.
  This legislation helps nonprofits share valuable intelligence and 
collaborate with institutions in real time. Nonprofits are frequently 
on the front lines of this fight, combating trafficking and supporting 
victims. They see what is happening on the ground,

[[Page H9056]]

and our bill ensures we can freeze money and stop those traffickers in 
their tracks. This is good policy that will protect families, and I 
urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
  Keeping Arizonans safe is my top priority. We are also set to pass a 
bipartisan bill I introduced with Congressman Tipton to protect America 
from terrorists and rogue states like North Korea and Iran.
  This week, the President has addressed the United Nations to call for 
action to stop weapons proliferation and other threats in Iran. In 
Congress, we are taking bipartisan action to combat these same threats.
  Our bill, the Improving Strategies to Counter Weapons Proliferation 
Act, makes it harder for America's enemies to get their hands on the 
world's most deadly weapons by helping choke off the financing of 
terrorist activity. This bill makes our country safer and our 
communities safer, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
  Finally, we must always ensure that our support for veterans is 
worthy of their sacrifice, and that is why I worked across the aisle 
with Congressman Zeldin and Congresswoman Tenney to introduce and pass 
the Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act. This bill fixes the 
law and protects veterans from higher costs to refinance their homes. 
Our actions help more Arizona veterans achieve the American Dream of 
homeownership, and, again, I would urge my colleagues to support this 
bipartisan fix that helps America's heroes.
  These three bills show that we can get things done and deliver for 
everyday Arizonans if we just work together and find common ground, and 
I will continue to work across the aisle to keep Arizona families safe 
and ensure we honor our commitment to our veterans and military 
families.
  In particular, I want to thank Congresswoman Wagner, Congressman 
Tipton, and Congresswoman Tenney for working together on these 
important bills, and I urge my colleagues to support these bipartisan 
bills.
  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), and I ask unanimous consent 
that she be allowed to control that time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Colorado?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  In closing, I would like to reiterate, despite what some have said 
about this piece of legislation, that this legislation requires NGOs to 
register with Treasury in order to create a process that protects only 
rigorous, credible organizations that can offer verifiable information 
to financial institutions. This process will safeguard innocent people 
and entities that may currently be targeted by the broad, general 
patterns that are reported to financial institutions.
  At present, there is no way for financial institutions to wade 
through all the tips and information they receive and use it to prevent 
traffickers from using our financial systems. We need a meaningful 
system that can actually identify traffickers and allow banks to verify 
those IDs. That is what this bill does.
  I would also like to make clear that this piece of legislation does 
not amend or touch the PATRIOT Act and does not create any new 
structures for banks to share information with each other.
  This legislation is supported by organizations, including, Mr. 
Speaker, Western Union, MoneyGram, and Liberty Asia. It also happens to 
be one of the key recommendations from Polaris' groundbreaking new 
report: ``A Road Map for Systems and Industries to Prevent and Disrupt 
Human Trafficking.''
  Mr. Speaker, I include the report in the Record.

       2. Pass legislation to provide safe harbor to facilitate 
     information sharing between civil society and financial 
     institutions
       NGOs that work with survivors and vulnerable populations 
     often have access to critical information about bad actors. 
     Regulations focused on the sharing of information between 
     financial institutions or between financial institutions and 
     government agencies, such as Section 314(a) and (b) of the 
     USA Patriot Act or the regulations for filing Suspicious 
     Activity Reports (SARs), provide appropriate protections for 
     such sharing. No such protections are currently available to 
     NGOs for sharing critical information that may assist in the 
     detection, deterrence or prevention of trafficking.
       While NGO's are currently able to report tips directly to 
     law enforcement, the information may be too limited to 
     realistically spur law enforcement action--often because the 
     information is obtained from confidential sources who cannot 
     be contacted by law enforcement. However, if these leads were 
     provided to financial institutions, the financial 
     institutions may be able to assist in providing additional, 
     relevant, and actionable information to law enforcement.
       Addressing the liability concerns of NGO's which wish to 
     participate in information exchanges is an important first 
     step in actualizing this process. Legislation is required to 
     provide these protections to NGOs. Once this barrier is 
     removed, law enforcement, NGO's, and financial institutions 
     can work together to develop agreed upon processes and 
     protocols that govern appropriate information sharing.

  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, Dow Jones has said that the information 
provided to it from NGOs like Liberty Asia and others is relevant and 
actionable in its anti-money laundering work.
  This bill enables FinCEN and financial institutions to gather hard 
intelligence that can be verified or disproven, rather than rely on, as 
I said, general, useless, or even faulty tips from nonprofits, private 
citizens, and other sources without technical experience that could 
lead to false identifications and persecution of innocent actors.
  It is the lack of verifiable specificity and the lack of regulated 
accreditation that allows for the targeting of innocent groups.
  This bill creates a process, run by Treasury, where responsible 
nonprofits that professionally analyze information and create 
intelligence products that help financial institutions better identify 
these crimes can share information without worrying about whether 
sharing this information is going to end their organizations.
  I could go on and on, but Members of this body should never forget 
what we are doing today is protecting the 40 million victims of 
trafficking around the world.
  Human trafficking is a horrific crime that represents $150 billion 
per year, and it is far too often funded by the U.S. financial system. 
This is preventable, and today, we are taking steps towards ending 
America's financing of exploitation of our most vulnerable.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6729.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. AMASH. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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