[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9065-H9067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        BANKING TRANSPARENCY FOR SANCTIONED PERSONS ACT OF 2018

  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6751) to increase transparency with respect to financial 
services benefitting state sponsors of terrorism, human rights abusers, 
and corrupt officials, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6751

       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 ``Banking Transparency for 
     Sanctioned Persons Act of 2018''.

     SEC. 2. REPORT ON FINANCIAL SERVICES BENEFITTING STATE 
                   SPONSORS OF TERRORISM, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS, 
                   AND CORRUPT OFFICIALS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the 
     Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to the 
     Committees on Financial Services and Foreign Affairs of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, 
     Housing, and Urban Affairs and Foreign Relations of the 
     Senate that includes--
       (1) a copy of any license issued by the Secretary in the 
     preceding 180 days that authorizes a financial institution to 
     provide financial services benefitting a state sponsor of 
     terrorism; and
       (2) a list of any foreign financial institutions that, in 
     the preceding 180 days, knowingly conducted a significant 
     transaction or transactions, directly or indirectly, for a 
     sanctioned person included on the Department of the 
     Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons 
     List who--

[[Page H9066]]

       (A) is owned or controlled by, or acts on behalf of, the 
     government of a state sponsor of terrorism; or
       (B) is designated pursuant to any of the following:
       (i) Section 404 of the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik 
     Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 
     2012 (Public Law 112-208).
       (ii) Subtitle F of title XII of the National Defense 
     Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328, 
     the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act).
       (iii) Executive Order 13818.
       (b) Form of Report.--The report required under subsection 
     (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a 
     classified annex.

     SEC. 3. WAIVER.

       The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the requirements of 
     section 2 with respect to a foreign financial institution 
     described in paragraph (2) of such section--
       (1) upon receiving credible assurances that the foreign 
     financial institution has ceased, or will imminently cease, 
     to knowingly conduct any significant transaction or 
     transactions, directly or indirectly, for a person described 
     in subparagraph (A) or (B) of such paragraph (2); or
       (2) upon certifying to the Committees on Financial Services 
     and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate that the waiver is important to the 
     national interest of the United States, with an explanation 
     of the reasons therefor.

     SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

       For purposes of this Act:
       (1) Financial institution.--The term ``financial 
     institution'' means a United States financial institution or 
     a foreign financial institution.
       (2) Foreign financial institution.--The term ``foreign 
     financial institution'' has the meaning given that term under 
     section 561.308 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations.
       (3) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'' with respect to 
     conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has 
     actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the 
     circumstance, or the result.
       (4) United states financial institution.--The term ``United 
     States financial institution'' has the meaning given the term 
     ``U.S. financial institution'' under section 561.309 of title 
     31, Code of Federal Regulations.

     SEC. 5. SUNSET.

       The reporting requirement under this Act shall terminate on 
     the date that is the end of the 7-year period beginning on 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tipton) and the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Kihuen) 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 material 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 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Utah (Mrs. Love).
  Mrs. LOVE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6751, the Banking 
Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act, which is a commonsense 
reporting requirement that will allow our Congress to better oversee 
financial sanctions against state sponsors of terrorism, human rights 
abusers, and perpetrators of corruption around the world.
  This bill is simple but important. Every 180 days, the Treasury 
Department would be required to send Congress a report with two sets of 
information. The first is a copy of any license issued by Treasury's 
Office of Foreign Assets Control that authorizes a financial 
institution to provide services benefitting a state sponsor of 
terrorism--such as Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Sudan--that would 
otherwise be prohibited.

                              {time}  1830

  Second, Treasury would have to provide a list of any foreign banks 
that conduct significant transactions for persons we have sanctioned 
for serious human rights abuses and corruption, a group that includes 
Russian Government officials behind the imprisonment and death of 
Sergei Magnitsky, Burmese military officers responsible for ethnic 
cleansing, and individuals in Latin America responsible for beating and 
killing of peaceful protesters.
  Such a report would be a tremendous asset for Congress, and sharing 
this kind of information with Congress should be automatic, because 
licenses represent exemptions to our sanction programs. Some of those 
exemptions may be controversial, while others may enjoy broad support. 
The point is that congressional oversight of sanctions is limited 
without visibility into transactions Treasury is authorizing.
  As for foreign banks' dealings with perpetrators of corruption and 
human rights abuses, Congress can use this information not only to 
better oversee existing sanctions, but to design a more effective 
program in the future.
  Some of the questions we can begin to answer by having greater 
awareness of sanctioned persons' access to foreign financial services 
include: Are foreign banks exposing themselves to money laundering risk 
or facilitating activities that run counter to our national interests? 
And should our diplomats be exerting stronger pressure on those banks' 
governments in order to cut off bad actors?
  Finally, I would like to note that we have been very deliberate in 
ensuring that the reporting required by this bill is as easy to 
administer as possible because we don't want to impose reporting 
requirements that could keep Treasury from the day-to-day work of 
designating bad actors. Therefore, this is a twice-a-year submission 
that entails no analysis and no narrative. It is as straightforward as 
scanning licenses and assembling a list to Treasury that that they 
already have components of, after which we could then follow up with 
questions in hearings, briefings, and the like.
  I would like to thank the chairman for his support on this bill and 
thank all the members of the Financial Services Committee on both sides 
of the aisle for supporting this.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6751.
  Mr. KIHUEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation requires the Secretary of the Treasury 
to report to Congress every 6 months a list of the licenses it issues 
to financial institutions to provide services to countries and persons 
subject to certain U.S. sanctions. It also provides Congress with 
information about foreign financial firms that similarly provide 
support to those same countries and persons.
  I very much support the goal of this bill because I believe it is a 
disclosure requirement that will serve as a useful oversight tool for 
Congress. For example, today, when the Office of Foreign Assets 
Control, OFAC, issues a specific license to a company or other entity 
that allows them to engage in activity that otherwise would be 
prohibited by the U.S. sanctions, those licenses are not currently 
disclosed by OFAC.
  I also support the bill's other reporting requirement related to 
foreign financial firms. These lists of foreign financial institutions 
can provide a useful basis around which to discuss with the 
administration its overall strategy with respect to its sanctions 
programs; and these lists can also provide Members the opportunity to 
press the administration to impose restrictions on these institutions 
to change their behavior, if warranted.
  The bill allows for the classification of these disclosures to 
Congress, which is important because I think it will be 
counterproductive to have this information revealed publicly. For 
example, OFAC licenses often contain commercially sensitive 
information, so if these licenses were publicly released, potential 
market competitors could gain an unfair competitive advantage; and if 
companies could no longer expect licenses to remain private, they would 
be less likely to apply for them, which, generally, would not be a good 
thing.
  With respect to the lists of foreign financial institutions, it is 
important to remember that these institutions are not bound by U.S. 
sanctions or other designations, and they haven't necessarily violated 
any particular laws or prohibitions.
  While Congress should know about how these sanctions are being 
implemented, including how effective they are at stopping the financing 
of activities, I don't think the public identification of these foreign 
firms would serve a useful policy purpose and could otherwise move 
legal activity into a shade of gray.
  The bill does allow for a classified annex with the reporting 
requirements, and, as I said, I think this is a good bill

[[Page H9067]]

that will increase congressional oversight of U.S. sanction activities 
appropriately.
  Mr. Speaker, I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support it.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TIPTON. 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. 6751, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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