[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 17 (Monday, January 28, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H1227-H1231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY PROTECTION ACT
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 56) to establish an Independent Financial Technology Task
Force to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing, to provide rewards for
information leading to convictions related to terrorist use of digital
currencies, to establish a Fintech Leadership in Innovation and
Financial Intelligence Program to encourage the development of tools
and programs to combat terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies,
and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 56
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 ``Financial Technology
Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Government
should prioritize the investigation of terrorist and illicit
use of new financial technology, including digital
currencies.
SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE TO COMBAT
TERRORISM AND ILLICIT FINANCING.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the Independent
Financial Technology Task Force to Combat Terrorism and
Illicit Financing (the ``Task Force''), which shall consist
of--
(1) the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall serve as the
head of the Task Force;
(2) the Attorney General;
(3) the Director of National Intelligence;
(4) the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network;
(5) the Director of the Secret Service;
(6) the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
and
(7) 6 individuals appointed by the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the members of the Task Force
described under paragraphs (2) through (6), to represent the
private sector (including the banking industry, nonprofit
groups, and think tanks), with at least 2 of such individuals
having experience in the Fintech industry.
(b) Duties.--The Task Force shall--
(1) conduct independent research on terrorist and illicit
use of new financial technologies, including digital
currencies; and
[[Page H1228]]
(2) develop legislative and regulatory proposals to improve
counter-terrorist and counter-illicit financing efforts.
(c) Annual Congressional Report.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually
thereafter, the Task Force shall issue a report to the
Congress containing the findings and determinations made by
the Task Force in the previous year and any legislative and
regulatory proposals developed by the Task Force.
SEC. 4. REWARDS FOR INFORMATION RELATED TO TERRORIST USE OF
DIGITAL CURRENCIES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation with the Attorney General, shall establish a
fund to pay a reward, not to exceed $450,000, to any person
who provides information leading to the conviction of an
individual involved with terrorist use of digital currencies.
(b) Use of Fines and Forfeitures.--With respect to fines
and forfeitures related to the conviction of an individual
involved with terrorist use of digital currencies, the
Secretary of the Treasury shall, subject to the availability
of appropriations made in advance--
(1) use such amounts to pay rewards under this section
related to such conviction; and
(2) with respect to any such amounts remaining after
payments are made under paragraphs (1) and (2), deposit such
amounts in the Fintech Leadership in Innovation and Financial
Intelligence Program.
SEC. 5. FINTECH LEADERSHIP IN INNOVATION AND FINANCIAL
INTELLIGENCE PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--There is established a program to be
known as the ``Fintech Leadership in Innovation and Financial
Intelligence Program'', which shall be funded as provided
under section 4(b)(2).
(b) Innovation Grants.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall make
grants for the development of tools and programs to detect
terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies.
(2) Eligible recipients.--The Secretary may make grants
under this subsection to entities located in the United
States, including academic institutions, companies, nonprofit
institutions, individuals, and any other entities located in
the United States that the Secretary determines appropriate.
(3) Eligible projects.--With respect to tools and programs
described under paragraph (1), in addition to grants for the
development of such tools and programs, the Secretary may
make grants under this subsection to carry out pilot programs
using such tools, the development of test cases using such
tools, and research related to such tools.
(4) Preferences.--In making grants under this subsection,
the Secretary shall give preference to--
(A) technology that is nonproprietary or that is community
commons-based;
(B) computer code that is developed and released on an open
source basis;
(C) tools that are proactive (such as meeting regulatory
requirements under ``know your customer'' and anti-money
laundering requirements for any entity that has to comply
with U.S. Government regulations) vs. reactive (such as
aiding law enforcement organizations in catching illegal
activity after the fact); and
(D) tools and incentives that are on decentralized
platforms.
(5) Other requirements.--
(A) Use of existing global standards.--Any new technology
developed with a grant made under this subsection shall be
based on existing global standards, such as those developed
by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
(B) Supporting existing laws or regulations.--Tools and
programs developed with a grant made under this subsection
shall be in support of existing laws or regulations,
including the Bank Secrecy Act, and make efforts to balance
privacy and anti-money laundering concerns.
(C) Open access requirement.--Tools and programs developed
with a grant made under this subsection shall be freely
accessible and usable by the public. This requirement may be
fulfilled by publicly availing application programming
interfaces or software development kits.
SEC. 6. PREVENTING ROGUE AND FOREIGN ACTORS FROM EVADING
SANCTIONS.
(a) Report and Strategy With Respect to Digital Currencies
and Other Related Emerging Technologies.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President, acting through the
Secretary of Treasury and in consultation with the Attorney
General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget, and the appropriate
Federal banking agencies and Federal functional regulators,
shall--
(A) submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report that identifies and describes the potential uses of
digital currencies and other related emerging technologies by
states, non-state actors, and foreign terrorist organizations
to evade sanctions, finance terrorism, or launder monetary
instruments, and threaten United States national security;
and
(B) develop and submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a strategy to mitigate and prevent such illicit
use of digital currencies and other related emerging
technologies.
(2) Form; public availability.--
(A) Form.--The report and strategy required under paragraph
(1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain
a classified annex.
(B) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of such
report and strategy shall be made available to the public and
posted on the internet website of the Department of
Treasury--
(i) in pre-compressed, easily downloadable versions that
are made available in all appropriate formats; and
(ii) in machine-readable format, if applicable.
(3) Sources of information.--In preparing the report and
strategy required under paragraph (1), the President may
utilize any credible publication, database, web-based
resource, and any credible information compiled by any
government agency, nongovernmental organization, or other
entity that is made available to the President.
(b) Briefing.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
brief the appropriate congressional committees on the
implementation of the strategy required under subsection (a).
SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall
be determined by reference to the latest statement titled
``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act,
submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the
Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on
the Judiciary, the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs,
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
the Committee on the Judiciary, the Select Committee on
Intelligence, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate.
(2) Appropriate federal banking agencies.--The term
``appropriate Federal banking agencies'' has the meaning
given the term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).
(3) Bank secrecy act.--The term ``Bank Secrecy Act''
means--
(A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act;
(B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508; and
(C) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States
Code.
(4) Digital currency.--The term ``digital currency''--
(A) means a digital representation of value that--
(i) is used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or
store of value; and
(ii) is not established legal tender, whether or not
denominated in established legal tender; and
(B) does not include--
(i) a transaction in which a merchant grants, as part of an
affinity or rewards program, value that cannot be taken from
or exchanged with the merchant for legal tender, bank credit,
or digital currency; or
(ii) a digital representation of value issued by or on
behalf of a publisher and used solely within an online game,
game platform, or family of games sold by the same publisher
or offered on the same game platform.
(5) Federal functional regulator.--The term ``Federal
functional regulator'' has the meaning given that term in
section 509 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6809).
(6) Foreign terrorist organization.--The term ``foreign
terrorist organization'' means an organization that is
designated as a foreign terrorist organization under section
219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
(7) Terrorist.--The term ``terrorist'' includes a person
carrying out domestic terrorism or international terrorism
(as such terms are defined, respectively, under section 2331
of title 18, United States Code).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Waters) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr.
McHenry) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
{time} 1745
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
[[Page H1229]]
Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased that this body will vote on H.R. 56, the
Financial Technology Protection Act, which passed the House in the
115th Congress. This bill would strengthen and expand efforts to deter
terrorists and illicit abuses of financial technology through
interagency coordination and research through collaboration with
private institutions and citizens.
As stated in last year's National Money Laundering Risk Assessment
from the United States Department of the Treasury, many
cryptocurrencies are being designed to make virtual currency
transactions untraceable and are increasingly being used by bad actors.
The talent and technological capabilities to track these transactions
must keep up so the government can identify terrorists, hackers, and
other criminals who try to hide their activities and proceeds using
cryptocurrencies and related exchanges.
This bill would establish a public-private sector task force, a grant
program to encourage the development of largely open-source tracking
technology, and a whistleblower reward program to counter terrorist
uses of digital currencies. Also, it would require the government to
examine how state and nonstate actors, including foreign terrorist
organizations, use these cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions, finance
terrorism, and launder money.
I thank Congressmen Budd and Lynch for reintroducing this bipartisan
legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 56, the Financial Technology
Protection Act.
Our number one priority is to ensure the safety of the American
people, especially from terrorists and terror organizations seeking to
take away the freedoms we hold dear. This bipartisan legislation is a
prime example of how we can reach across the aisle and find common
ground in the fight against terrorism as well as illicit finance.
H.R. 56 establishes an Independent Financial Technology Task Force,
which will improve coordination between the private and public sectors
in order to research and develop tools to combat terrorism and the
illicit use of financial technologies, including digital currencies.
Recent studies have found evidence that terrorists, especially lone-
wolf actors, use digital currencies. A public-private task force as
established through this legislation can inform Congress on the
legislative and regulatory steps needed to stop these bad actors.
Furthermore, this bipartisan bill would incentivize individuals to
come forward with knowledge of possible terrorist and illicit financing
involving digital currencies by offering monetary rewards for
information that leads to successful convictions. A reward program is
just the kind of innovation in policymaking that we need to stay a step
ahead of terrorists.
Last Congress, the Treasury Department informed our committee that
using such unconventional tools could be critical in generating useful
intelligence, and I applaud Mr. Budd and Mr. Lynch for thinking
creatively in this process and listening to testimony and taking that
and putting that in legislative form.
The threat of illicit use of digital currencies is evolving, and
policymakers must work together to find best practices and solutions.
That is why this bipartisan bill is so important.
Furthermore, I would add that digital currencies have enormous
potential benefits. We want to understand those benefits, but we also
want to understand those costs involved, as policymakers. We want to be
smart about it. I think it is useful and helpful for us to begin with
understanding how we stamp out bad actors and their use of digital
currencies before we move into that next set of conversation about how
we properly enhance their utility in our society.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank, again, my colleague from Massachusetts
(Mr. Lynch) for his work here and my colleague from North Carolina, the
great north State, Mr. Budd, first for their relationship on this
important policymaking, and also their willingness to work across the
aisle in order to get good legislation that is ensuring the safety of
the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 56 as a
commonsense, forward-looking approach to combating terrorism, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), who is a strong leader and a strong voice on
the Financial Services Committee and the lead Democratic cosponsor of
this bill.
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 56.
First, I would like to thank our chairwoman, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Waters), for her outstanding leadership in bringing
this bill to the floor. I would also like to thank the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. McHenry) for his energetic support as well. In
addition, I would like to thank my distinguished colleague, the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Budd), a colleague of ours on the
Financial Services Committee, for working in a bipartisan fashion with
me to get this bill to the floor in a better way to safeguard our
emerging financial technology sector against its illicit use by
terrorists and their financiers, money launderers, computer hackers,
and other criminal actors.
I would also like to point out, as evidenced in the course of our
ongoing committee investigation to examine terrorist and money
laundering activities, that continued innovations in digital
currencies, peer-to-peer financing, mobile payments, and other emerging
financial technologies--or in today's lingo, fintech--have been met
with increasing efforts by malign actors to exploit these digital
platforms and services for terrorist and other criminal purposes.
According to the Combating Terrorism Center At West Point: ``Given the
interest that terrorist organizations have shown in leveraging digital
currencies, their use of such mediums for conducting financial
transactions will only increase in the future.''
So the growing reliance on digital currency for terrorist financing
recently manifested itself in the U.S. in the form of a complex bank
fraud scheme perpetrated by a Long Island woman, Zoobia Shahnaz, who
pleaded guilty in November of 2018 to providing material support to a
terrorist organization.
In an attempt to raise funds for the Islamic State, Ms. Shahnaz
fraudulently obtained credit cards which she used to purchase more than
$62,000 in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. After converting the
currency to U.S. dollars and transferring the funds to her checking
account, she proceeded to execute wire transactions totaling over
$150,000 directed to top Islamic State-affiliated individuals and shell
entities in Pakistan, China, and Turkey.
The illicit use of digital currency systems has also extended to
other criminal enterprises, including cybercrime. According to a six-
count indictment returned by a Federal grand jury in Newark, New
Jersey, two Iranian nationals engaged in a nearly 3-year international
extortion and computer crime scheme involving the deployment of so-
called sam sam ransomware against U.S. public and private entities.
Acting from inside Iran, these cybercriminals forcibly encrypted the
computer systems of more than 200 hospitals, municipalities, and public
institutions in the United States, including the city of Atlanta, the
city of Newark, and the Colorado Department of Transportation. In
exchange for decryption keys, they demanded ransom to be paid in
bitcoin. In total, the men collected over $6 million in ransom
payments, to date, while causing more than $30 million in losses to
their U.S. victims.
Moreover, in July of last year, Special Counsel Bob Mueller indicted
12 Russian intelligence officers stemming from their involvement in
cyber attacks against U.S. individuals and entities leading up to the
2016 Presidential election. According to the 11-count indictment, in
order to ``facilitate the purchase of infrastructure used in their
hacking activity . . . the defendants conspired to launder the
equivalent of more than $95,000 through a web of transactions
structured to capitalize on the perceived anonymity of cryptocurrencies
such as bitcoin.''
[[Page H1230]]
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Massachusetts an
additional 1 minute.
Mr. LYNCH. So as we continue to witness and embrace rapid digital
innovation in the traditional banking and finance sector, it is urgent
that government and industry work together to adopt and deploy
regulatory protocols such as blockchain technologies to protect the
integrity of digital financial systems against abuse.
To this end, our legislation, the Financial Technology Protection
Act, would establish an independent task force consisting of both
public and private stakeholders to address the threat of exploitation
of new financial technologies by terrorists and other malign actors.
It would also authorize innovative fintech grants to enhance the
ability of U.S. companies, academic institutions, nonprofit
organizations, and other private-sector entities to develop new tools
designed to protect against criminal use of cryptocurrencies and
enhance U.S. competitiveness in global financial markets.
Moreover, the bill would authorize a rewards program for individuals
who provide information leading to the conviction of those who use
digital currency systems for terrorist purposes.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to
support H.R. 56.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Budd), who is from the great metropolis of Advance
in Davie County and who is a leader in fintech.
Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend, the ranking member,
for yielding, and I want to start by congratulating him on his new role
on the Financial Services Committee. Certainly, he makes our home
State, the Old North State, proud.
I also want to congratulate the new chair on her position as chair of
our committee, and I look forward to working with her in a bipartisan
fashion whenever I can.
I also have to thank my colead on H.R. 56, the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), for his leadership on illicit financing
issues, and this bill in particular. I always enjoy teaming up with
him, and I value his input and expertise on these issues. I am hopeful
we will see some movement on his kleptocracy legislation soon, and I am
proud to be coleading that bill with the gentleman.
Today, Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bipartisan
legislation, the Financial Technology Protection Act. I have said this
many times before, but I will say it again because it bears repeating:
Illicit financing networks are the linchpin of any terrorist group,
criminal organization, or rogue state's operations.
As we move into an increasingly digital and virtual world, criminals
and terrorists will start to use new technologies that are available to
them. This shouldn't shock anyone. Of course, we all recognize the good
that comes with innovation and new technology, but there will always be
bad actors as well.
The bottom line is that the Federal Government has to be one step
ahead of the illicit actors in this new space without threatening
technological innovation, and that is what this bill will do. It will
do this by giving the private sector additional tools to protect their
new technology, hence the name for the bill, the Financial Technology
Protection Act.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 56 is a culmination of months of work with outside
groups all over the political spectrum, from national security groups
that appreciate the task force to trade and industry groups that
appreciate the new tools being given to them that will help them
better protect their industry and livelihood.
I think that this bill strikes an impressive balance and is an
example of some bipartisan areas that we can work together on in the
116th Congress. Specifically, Mr. Speaker, my legislation will do the
following things:
First, and perhaps most importantly, H.R. 56 establishes the Fintech
Leadership in Innovation and Financial Intelligence Program, which will
be used for grants and rewards in the fintech space for ideas and
programs to combat terrorist use of digital currencies. These
technologies would be open access and open source. Experts in the
private sector can track illicit use of these currencies and perhaps do
a better job of leveraging their talent to create tools and programs
through the Fintech Leadership and Financial Intelligence Program. We
need to give them the ability to try, and that is exactly what this
bill does.
Secondly, it establishes the Independent Financial Technology Task
Force to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing, which will improve
coordination and start conversations between the private and public
sectors for new ways to combat illicit use. In my view, industry and
the Federal Government should be coming together to find best practices
and solutions to stop this new terrorist funding threat.
H.R. 56 includes language from H.R. 5227, the Preventing Rogue and
Foreign Actors from Evading Sanctions Act, introduced last Congress by
my friend, Mark Meadows of North Carolina. This language directs the
Treasury Department to develop a strategy that identifies and describes
the potential uses of virtual currencies and other related emerging
technologies by states and nonstate actors, terrorist organizations to
evade sanctions, finance terrorism, or launder monetary instruments and
threaten the United States' national security. Again, the development
of a national strategy to combat illicit use strikes me as common
sense; therefore, we are excited to have it included in the bill and to
have Mr. Meadows' support.
Finally, this Budd-Lynch legislation establishes a targeted rewards
program for information leading to the capture of terrorists or illicit
actors involved with terror digital currency networks. The government
should be encouraging individuals with knowledge of illicit use of
virtual currencies to come forward through the offerings of rewards for
successful convictions.
Here is the bottom line: H.R. 56 is legislation that sparks private-
sector innovation to deal with terror and illicit financing when it
comes to virtual currencies, which ultimately benefits the underlying
technology, the blockchain.
{time} 1800
I think that Congress should be promoting programs and technologies
that give industry the tools they need to save their technology and
industry from illicit use and, hopefully, save them from further
negotiation down the road.
I am very excited that this bill is up for a vote in the House today
and has such strong bipartisan support.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of my bipartisan legislation and, once
again, thank everyone who has had a hand in bringing this to the floor.
It is an exciting day when we can focus on fintech, and I am hopeful
for the future of this committee and the 116th Congress.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to close.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, three for three--the House Financial Services Committee
comes out with the first three bills, and they are bipartisan. I would
hope the House would adopt them tonight.
I think this is a great first step in this long road of legislating
that I think we can be about in the Financial Services Committee. The
chairwoman has shown that will, that interest, that inclination to work
together where we can, where we can achieve consensus across the aisle.
I mean that as a compliment. In the politics of today, when you are
working across the aisle, it seems as though that is dealt as an insult
in some factions.
I know that Chairwoman Waters has worked intently to get to the
position of chairing this committee, for a little longer than I have to
be the ranking member of the committee; but, as she will show me on
opening day of the House Financial Services Committee, she has the
gavel and I do not, but where we can work together, I am honored to be
able to do so.
I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Budd, for working so intently on
financial innovation and on fintech as well as cryptocurrencies, which
are of great interest to him, and I appreciate Mr. Lynch being engaged
in this subject matter as well.
[[Page H1231]]
I look forward to more bipartisan legislating coming out of this
committee as well as a number of more interesting activities that I am
sure will be a part of this.
I am now informed that we do have one Member to close. Mr. Speaker, I
yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Riggleman), a new
Member who has a great deal of experience in national security.
Mr. RIGGLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, special thanks to the chair and to the
ranking member for their leadership on this. I would also like to thank
Representative Budd for sponsoring this bipartisan legislation and
thank my colleagues across the aisle, Representatives Lynch and Soto,
for their important work on this bill as well.
While I may be new to Congress, I am all too familiar with terrorist
threats and the danger they pose to the safety and security of our
Nation. I served my country in the Air Force as an intelligence officer
and worked to track down terrorists after 9/11. I also supported
``follow the money'' analysis and operations related to terrorist
financing.
One of the key components that allows terrorists to organize and
execute their missions is financing. As financial technology, or
fintech, evolves, so do the opportunities for criminals to take
advantage of the financial system.
H.R. 56 calls for financial regulators, law enforcement, and private-
sector experts to come together to create the Fintech Task Force to
Combat Terrorism and Illicit Finance. This task force is charged with
developing innovative methods to track, prevent, and prosecute
terrorists that use digital currencies and other financial technologies
to advance their agenda.
Technology is integral to everyday life for consumers, businesses,
and governments, which is why it is critical that experts from law
enforcement and the private sector come together to protect our
financial system from terrorists and other bad actors.
Mr. Speaker, for these reasons and many others, I strongly support
this bill.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Representative Budd and
Representative Lynch for the work that they have put forth on this
legislation, and I would like to take a moment to thank Mr. Lynch for
not only this legislation, but all of the efforts that he has put forth
on the Financial Services Committee that have benefited this Congress
and our country.
Let me just say that I rise again to encourage my colleagues on both
sides of the aisle to vote for H.R. 56, the Financial Technology
Protection Act. This bipartisan bill aims to improve our efforts to
deter terrorists and criminal abusers of financial technology,
including cryptocurrencies, through its support of interagency
coordination and research and through collaboration with private
institutions and citizens.
The measure created by this legislation will give the U.S. a better
understanding of how bad actors, including terrorists, use
cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions, finance terrorism, and launder
money. These state and nonstate actors are always looking for new ways
to get around our protective and investigative measures, and this bill
will help us to stay at least one step ahead.
So, again, my sincere gratitude and thanks to Congressmen Budd and
Lynch for reintroducing this bill, which was passed by this body in the
last Congress.
I would like to, again, follow up on statements that were made by the
ranking member, Mr. McHenry, to remind everyone that the first three
bills of this Congress that have been introduced by the Financial
Services Committee are bipartisan bills where we have shown that we are
willing to provide leadership and send a message to all of the Members
of Congress that we have to work hard to try and get good, viable,
strong legislation through this Congress, working together in ways that
perhaps we have not done before.
I am very pleased and proud to stand here as the chairperson of the
Financial Services Committee, helping to make sure that the first three
bills that we introduce are bipartisan and urging my support for these
bills and this bill now that it is before you.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 56, 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.
____________________