[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2697-H2701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ACKNOWLEDGING LACK OF TRANSPARENCY IN FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS POSES A
THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 206) acknowledging that the lack of sunlight and
transparency in financial transactions and corporate formation poses a
threat to our national security and our economy's security and
supporting efforts to close related loopholes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 206
Whereas money laundering and other financial crimes are
serious threats to our national and economic security;
Whereas the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has
reported ``The estimated amount of money laundered globally
in one year is 2 - 5% of global GDP, or $800 billion - $2
trillion in current US dollars'';
Whereas the scale, efficiency, and complexity of the U.S.
financial system make it a prime target for those who seek to
conceal, launder, and move the proceeds of illicit activity;
Whereas money launderers, terrorist financiers, corrupt
individuals and organizations, and their facilitators have
proven to adapt quickly in order to avoid detection;
Whereas given the global nature of money laundering and
terrorist financing, and the increasing interrelatedness
within the financial system, a secure national and
multilateral framework is essential to the integrity of the
U.S. financial system;
Whereas extensive collaboration among financial regulators,
the Department of the Treasury, law enforcement, and the
private sector is required to curtail the illicit flow of
money throughout the United States;
Whereas despite how extensive and effective these efforts
are in the United States, there is still substantial room for
improvement;
Whereas financial compliance, reporting, investigation, and
collaboration, as well as courageous whistleblowers and
investigative reporting have had significant impact in
shining sunlight on the people and institutions behind dark
money and markets;
Whereas in 2016, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),
the international standards setting body, evaluated the
United States' anti-money laundering/combating the financing
of terrorism measures and determined the United States has
significant gaps in its framework;
Whereas in 2016, the FATF found that in the United States,
``Minimal measures are imposed on designated non-financial
businesses and professions (DNFBPs), other than casinos and
dealers in precious metals and stones'';
Whereas in 2016, the FATF recommended, ``The U.S. should
conduct a vulnerability analysis of the minimally covered
DNFBP sectors to address the higher risks to which these
sectors are exposed, and consider what measures could be
introduced to address them'';
Whereas dealers in arts and antiquities are not, by
definition, covered ``financial institutions'' required to
comply with the Bank Secrecy Act;
Whereas Federal authorities have cautioned that art
collectors and dealers to be particularly careful trading
Near Eastern antiquities, warning that artifacts plundered by
terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant are entering the marketplace;
Whereas, according to the Antiquities Coalition, ``because
the United States is the largest destination for
archaeological and ethnological objects from around the
world, the discovery of recently looted and trafficked
artifacts in our country not only makes Americans and our
institutions accessories to crimes, but also threatens our
relations with other countries'';
Whereas the real-estate industry, both commercial and
residential, is exempt from having to develop and implement a
four-pillar anti-money laundering program pursuant to the
Bank Secrecy Act;
Whereas it was asserted in a 2018 Conference Report by the
Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at the
Schar School of Policy and Government of George Mason
University, money laundering in real estate (MLRE) has
damaging effects on local economies by negatively impacting
property prices and dislocating residents;
Whereas in 2017, in response to evidence about significant
money laundering through real estate in the United States,
the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued
Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) requiring limited
beneficial ownership disclosure in certain transactions
involving high-end luxury real estate and ``found that about
30 percent of the transactions covered by the GTOs involve a
beneficial owner or purchaser representative that is also the
subject of a previous suspicious activity report'';
Whereas the influx of illicit money, including from Russian
oligarchs, has flowed largely unimpeded into the United
States through these anonymous shell companies and into U.S.
investments, including luxury high-end real estate;
Whereas the United States has not fulfilled the recommended
steps to address the money-laundering loopholes that the FATF
has identified with DNFBP sectors;
Whereas high-profile enforcement actions against some of
the largest and most sophisticated financial institutions
raise troubling questions about the effectiveness of U.S.
domestic anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing
regulatory, compliance, and enforcement efforts;
Whereas there are financial institutions and individuals
employed therein which continue to engage in egregious
violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and enter into deferred
prosecution agreements and non-prosecution agreements rather
than facing convictions and sentences corresponding to the
severity of their violations;
Whereas effective anti-money laundering programs must
emphasize sound corporate governance, including business-line
accountability and clear lines of legal responsibility for
individuals; and
Whereas anti-money laundering examinations in recent years
at times failed to recognize the cumulative effect of the
violations they cited, instead narrowly focusing their
attention on individual banking units, thus permitting
national banks to avoid and delay correcting problems, which
allowed massive problems to occur before serious enforcement
actions were taken: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) acknowledges that the lack of sunlight and transparency
in financial transactions poses a threat to our national
security and our economy's security;
(2) supports efforts to close loopholes that allow
corruption, terrorism, and money laundering to infiltrate our
country's financial system;
(3) encourages transparency to detect, deter, and interdict
individuals, entities, and networks engaged in money
laundering and other financial crimes;
(4) urges financial institutions to comply with the Bank
Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering laws and regulations;
and
(5) affirms that financial institutions and individuals
should be held accountable for money laundering and terror
financing crimes and violations.
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 may
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.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 206, a resolution I
have introduced to inform the Congress and the American people about
the persistent
[[Page H2698]]
money laundering loopholes and problems that continue to plague the
American financial system.
I am pleased to bring this resolution to the floor in recognition of
Sunshine Week. As part of Sunshine Week, the Financial Services
Committee is shining a bright light on money laundering and discussing
ways to strengthen our country's anti-money laundering and
counterterrorism finance efforts.
Criminals like drug traffickers, human traffickers, fraudsters,
kleptocrats, rogue governments, and other corrupt individuals and
organizations know our financial system well and work hard to find ways
to circumvent our anti-money laundering laws.
Congress has enacted numerous laws to improve the transparency of
financial transactions that touch institutions in the United States and
those on each end of a financial transaction. We have created reporting
mechanisms, strengthened law enforcement and intelligence capacities,
and promoted responsible, privacy-protecting information regimes to
ensure that both the industry and the government have the tools needed
to rid the economy of these illicit funds. However, there are still
glaring problems and loopholes in our system that Congress must
address.
The resolution that I have introduced highlights two significant
loopholes that remain: the lack of transparency in, number one, the
arts and antiquities industry and, number two, the real estate
industry.
First, we know that ethnic and cultural artifacts are stolen and
traded to garner funds for bad actors. According to the Antiquities
Coalition: ``The United States is the largest destination for
archeological and ethnological objects from around the world.'' We
know, too, that terror groups like ISIS have looted and sold these
treasures to fund their operations, which the head of UNESCO, the
United Nations' cultural heritage agency, said was worth millions of
dollars and conducted on an ``industrial scale.'' However, today,
dealers in arts and antiquities are exempt from the Bank Secrecy Act,
creating a huge loophole for bad actors to launder funds.
Second, the significance of the real estate loophole in the United
States was acknowledged in 2017 by the Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network, FinCEN, when it issued Geographic Targeting Orders, GTOs,
requiring limited ownership information to be disclosed and reported in
some high-end real estate transactions. In fact, FinCEN has noted that
``about 30 percent of the transactions covered by the GTOs involve a
beneficial owner or purchaser representative that is also the subject
of a previous suspicious activity report.''
The movement of illicit funds throughout the global financial system
raises numerous questions regarding the actors who are involved in
these money laundering schemes and where the money is going. This is
precisely why the Financial Services Committee is investigating the
questionable financing provided to President Trump and The Trump
Organization by banks like Deutsche Bank to finance its real estate
properties. The committee is also concerned that Trump-branded and
managed condo buildings, for example, have taken millions from suspect
Russians or individuals from former Soviet states through cash
transactions, some well above the market value and many through shell
companies.
Congress must close these loopholes, and financial institutions,
including the biggest banks, also must do their part and fully comply
with our BSA/AML laws. Although most do, we can continue to see not
only failures in compliance, but also egregious acts where money
laundering and terror finance are facilitated.
Further, many of our largest financial institutions have facilitated
money laundering through our U.S. financial system from abroad. One
scheme was carried out in Deutsche Bank's Moscow and London branches
using mirror trading, in which corrupt traders in Russia managed to
move $10 billion in illicit funds out of Russia by buying blue chip
stocks in rubles and selling them for U.S. dollars in London. Deutsche
Bank was fined nearly $630 million for allowing this mirror trading
scheme to take place.
Another scheme involved Danske Bank, wherein $230 billion in
suspicious funds moved from Russia and other former Soviet states
through one of Danske Bank's small Estonian branches to several U.S.
financial institutions.
We also know that real estate is frequently used to launder dirty
money. Bad actors like Russian oligarchs and kleptocrats often use
anonymous shell companies and all-cash schemes to buy and sell
commercial and residential real estate to hide and clean their money.
Today, these all-cash schemes are exempt from the Bank Secrecy Act.
This must stop. In passing this resolution today, we also remind our
colleagues in the banking industry of their responsibilities.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, this resolution has benefited from the
comments of the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, Mr.
McHenry, and other members of the committee, and I thank them for their
thoughtful consideration of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution
that recognizes the need to close these loopholes and to urge financial
institutions to comply with the law.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters of the House Financial
Services Committee for offering this resolution.
I rise in support of this resolution, and I look forward to working
with the gentlewoman from California to incorporate its basic
principles into future legislation produced by our committee to tackle
the illicit drug trade, international financing that moves around the
globe that is illicit in nature, as well as combating human trafficking
and using the financial system to traffic in human beings, which I
think is absolutely abhorrent.
This resolution reflects the Financial Services Committee's
longstanding emphasis that we have on protecting our national security
and ensuring the integrity of the financial system. The size and scope
of that system, along with the preeminent role of the U.S. dollar in
global trade, requires us to remain vigilant against illicit finance,
money laundering, and other significant threats.
Already this Congress, the House has passed several of our
committee's bills designed to identify new risks in illicit finance and
to strengthen our banks' cooperation with law enforcement authorities.
We are also looking forward to addressing a more comprehensive reform
of processes under the Bank Secrecy Act in order to crack down on money
laundering much more effectively.
We believe technology can be a great driver of those reforms and more
efficiently and effectively enforce those laws. We are working together
to achieve that bipartisan outcome and update to that very important
piece of legislation. This, I think, represents a down payment,
rhetorically, on that interest that we have of combating illicit
finance wherever it may be.
I hope that we can continue to engage in a meaningful way in that
bipartisan dialogue to achieve reforms to the Bank Secrecy Act, with
the understanding it is important to safeguard our national security,
while upholding a financial system that is open, transparent, and
efficient and that is, in many ways, the envy of the rest of the world,
without unduly burdening businesses in a manner that ends up turning
away legitimate trade and commerce. Striking that balance is obviously
that fine art that this Congress seeks to do, and we hope to do that
well coming out of our committee.
Now, Republicans and Democrats should also be able to agree that
these laws and regulations require us to strike a balance. That has to
be a stated objective, and I am hopeful that the chairwoman will
continue to work with us based on that principle. I am encouraged by
that opportunity on the Bank Secrecy Act and Illicit Finance for us to
tackle those items.
I thank the chairwoman for sponsoring this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I
ask my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H2699]]
{time} 1315
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. David Scott), who is a senior member of the Financial
Services Committee.
Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this is a very important and
timely resolution because, in recent years, the lack of sunlight and
transparency in financial transactions and corporate formation has
brought us to the forefront of the very dangerous role that dark money
plays in our financial system.
Money laundering; loopholes in markets like real estate, the arts,
and antiquities can be taken advantage of by criminals who facilitate
their nefarious deeds. And, Mr. Speaker, according to the Financial
Action Task Force, real estate alone accounted for one-third of all the
criminal assets confiscated worldwide between 2011 and 2013, in that 3-
year period.
Even more concerning, Mr. Speaker, is this: some of these
transactions are conducted by anonymous shell companies who are
exploiting loopholes in our financial system, creating a lack of
transparency for who really is the beneficial owner of the assets.
This is very important, Mr. Speaker.
This critical resolution offered by my colleague and chairwoman, Ms.
Maxine Waters, recognizes how important this issue is not only to the
stability of our financial system but to the national security of our
great Nation.
It urges that much more be done with these loopholes and lets us
shine a bright light into the darkest corners of our financial system.
That is why, Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage my colleagues to
support this resolution that will protect our financial system from
abuse and corruption. I am hopeful that it will be unanimous, with all
of our colleagues supporting this important resolution.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Gooden), my colleague and a new member of the House
Financial Services Committee, for the purposes of a statement.
Mr. GOODEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 206,
legislation that acknowledges the grave threat that terrorist
organizations and international drug cartels pose to our Nation's
financial system and economic system.
Introduced in the Financial Services Committee, this resolution
reaffirms that the House of Representatives supports efforts currently
under way in American and international financial institutions to
identify bad actors and hold them accountable for their crimes.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Just as financial transparency has
already helped us combat weapons of mass destruction, traffickers,
corrupt foreign actors, and terrorist financiers, it also serves as a
powerful weapon against organized criminal networks.
When criminals like El Chapo seek to exploit a complex and
interconnected financial system, we must seek to untangle and bring
clarity.
As we enhance financial transparency, we diminish a criminal's
ability to commit crimes. In fact, I would consider this an important
part of President Trump's efforts to secure our borders from those who
are actively trying to infiltrate our country to finance drug
trafficking and other criminal or terrorist activities.
Just as we need to build the wall at our southern border to keep out
drug cartels and gangs, we need to be securing our economy from those
who use the United States to conceal, launder, and move money generated
from illegal activity.
Given the global nature of money laundering and terrorist financing,
a secure national and multilateral framework is essential to the
integrity of our financial system here at home.
Simply put, we should be doing all that we can to give financial
institutions the tools they need to catch those who support the drug
cartels that infiltrate our southern border or illegally engage in
money laundering and terrorism financing.
For those reasons, I support this resolution and would like to thank
the ranking member and Chairwoman Waters for the time this afternoon.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Green), the chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations on the Financial Services Committee.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join the chorus of
persons who are complimenting the chairwoman for many jobs well done.
This, of course, is just another of the many wonderful things that she
is doing to help people across the globe.
Mr. Speaker, I support H. Res. 206 because it addresses the
launderability of money at the foundation of criminality.
When it comes to arts and antiquities, according to an Art Basel
report by UBS, the United States remains the largest art market, valued
at $26.6 billion, and it accounts for 42 percent of the global total in
2017.
This means, of course, that the United States is likely to be the
largest destination for stolen ethnic and cultural arts--black market,
black market art, black market money. That is why we have to find a way
to prevent the laundering of this money.
The United States of America should not allow ourselves to be the
financier for those who perpetrate dastardly deeds in many countries
around the world. An example might be Syria, where you have terrorists
who will take stolen artifacts, find a way to put them into commerce,
and use that money to support terrorist activities.
That is not what we are about. We must find a way to close the
loopholes that allow persons in this country to purchase these
artifacts and allow that money to get back to those who would perform
these dastardly deeds. I call them dastards. That is with a ``D,''
dastards.
These dastards must be stopped. This resolution is a great step in
the right direction to prevent the perpetration and perpetuation of
this activity.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), a longtime member of the Financial Services
Committee.
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from
California for her leadership on this issue and also for yielding me
this time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 206, a resolution
that acknowledges the threat to our national security posed by
loopholes in our financial transaction laws.
Today, our anti-money laundering and antiterrorism finance laws are
dangerously outdated. Billions of dollars in bribes are paid around the
world every year, and the amount of money laundered globally is
estimated to be 2 to 5 percent of global GDP. Far too much of this cash
flow comes through the United States financial institutions.
The international community agrees. The Financial Action Task Force--
the global standard-setting body--has said that we have significant
gaps in our security laws.
By passing this resolution, Congress can show it understands that
illicit financing networks are the root and branch of any terrorist or
criminal organization's operations.
We can also show that we understand by addressing those gaps and
loopholes in our laws. We can move toward a safer society and a safer
world.
Money laundering and other financial crimes support human
trafficking, terrorism, and corruption around the world. These crimes
endanger Americans every day, and we need to do more.
I strongly urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support
H. Res. 206. I want to thank the chairwoman, again, for her kindness.
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to note for the House that the original draft of
this resolution that was put forward and made public by committee
Democrats was not one that committee Republicans had vetted. And, in
that conversation, we had revised the text of this resolution.
So, out there today is the original text Chairwoman Waters had
offered. She undertook, through her staff and through my staff, and we
worked out the changes, so the language here is something that should
receive unanimous approval of the House of Representatives.
In fact, it states some very important things that we find important
in
[[Page H2700]]
the House Financial Services Committee.
Now, if there is illicit financing and our laws are not detecting it,
that is a problem, is it not? And we should address that problem,
however it manifests itself.
And we have two examples here, using artwork and using real estate;
but we also would use money in order to possess that artwork, that real
estate. So we want to make sure that we are getting at that money, that
flow, within our financial markets and getting at that.
There is bipartisan agreement, and the language here is not the
original language Chairwoman Waters offered and maybe, perhaps, the one
that she would want to pass. But, in her effort at bipartisanship, she
worked with committee Republicans, changed the resolution, and now
before us we have a new resolution.
This new resolution should meet the approval of everyone in this
House.
I want to state that very clearly. This is not a Democrat product.
Actually, it is because Chairwoman Waters did author it, but she was
willing to hear our feedback on the Republican side. That is helpful.
What this would be is the fifth bill that we have passed out of the
House Financial Services Committee that has received bipartisan
support. That is a good sign. That is a good sign, in a broken
Washington, that we can actually do some sensible things.
And outlined here, this resolution got out of, really, prescriptive
positions that we are still negotiating on on this idea of beneficial
ownership, which our colleague, Subcommittee Chair Maloney, has been
working on intensely, as have French Hill from Arkansas and Blaine
Luetkemeyer from Missouri on the Republican side.
And they are still working through the contents of that, and we are
still not in agreement. So we removed that language, and I think that
is a very hopeful thing.
I didn't really want to get into the mechanics of how we came to
this, but I think it is important for the House to note that that work
has been done. Before us is a new resolution that should be able to
meet the support of the House.
Mr. Speaker, I want to finish by saying this, that Chairwoman Waters
said she would work with us on this; she worked with us on this. I am
grateful for that.
Recognizing that there are more Democrats than Republicans in the
House, the gentlewoman could have passed this resolution if she saw
fit, on a partisan basis, but she thought it was important to actually
have a bipartisan outcome so we can have bipartisan legislating
following this.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I cannot describe how pleased I am working
with Mr. McHenry and the way that he has expressed to you in his
presentation how we have worked together, and I thank him for that. I
am very appreciative of that, and I will continue to work on those
issues that the gentleman alluded to.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs.
Carolyn B. Maloney), the chair of the Subcommittee on Investor
Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the
chairwoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this very important resolution.
For too long, criminals and terrorists have used our financial system
to launder their dirty money and to hide all of their assets.
This issue is incredibly important to me because I have been working
on legislation to crack down on anonymous shell companies for about 10
years, and Chairwoman Waters has always been a strong supporter and is,
in fact, an original cosponsor of my legislation.
So I want to highlight one particular passage from this resolution
which talks about the pilot program that FinCEN conducted in 2016 where
they collected beneficial ownership information in certain real estate
transactions in Manhattan and Miami.
The findings from the pilot program were shocking. They found that
about 30 percent of the transactions involved a beneficial owner that
had previously been the subject of a suspicious activity report from a
bank, which strongly suggests that criminals and other bad actors are
using anonymous shell companies to launder or hide money.
Requiring companies to disclose their beneficial owners would provide
transparency to law enforcement. It would also protect Americans from
terrorism financing by cracking down on the ability of terrorists to
get financing in our country. And it would also help financial
institutions keep the bad actors out of the financial system.
That is why I have been working so hard to pass my beneficial
ownership bill, and I look forward to continuing to work in a
bipartisan way with Ranking Member McHenry and others to address this
important issue.
I must say that this issue was brought to me by law enforcement, and
they told me they will be tracking money that they think is terrorism
financing. They hit an LLC; they cannot get any more information about
who owns this real estate or company in our country. We have to stop
that.
So I strongly urge support for the chairwoman's resolution, and I
urge my colleagues to support it as well and to support the bipartisan
beneficial ownership bill which will shortly be on the floor.
{time} 1330
Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to reiterate that what my colleague, Mrs. Maloney, the chair
of the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and
Capital Markets outlined, outlined is an ongoing conversation we are
having on her piece of legislation around beneficial ownership. We are
still working through that process. I think the talks have been
productive, but there is a lot of work to do. There is not quite
consensus yet on how we achieve that right balance.
Notwithstanding that, you have to look at the contents of the
resolution before us. I think this is, while not perfect--if I had
drafted the resolution, I would have also included the international
drug trade and human trafficking as two highly important areas that
need our attention and focus as policymakers. But that is a sin of
omission rather than commission.
I would also target a broader set of regimes. ISIS is targeted in
this, and I think that is strong. We have bipartisan agreement that we
have to fight this terrorism network and evil ideology that they have
put upon the world, and how they act out in this, and we have to have a
concerted effort, as Americans, in a bipartisan way, to fight them.
I would also add to that the regimes in China, Russia, and North
Korea as other state actors that are doing really horrible things in
terms of cyber threats, but also through money laundering--not just a
regime, but there are a lot of regimes around the world.
So this is not a complete resolution, but I think it is worthy of our
support. I think this is a first step in that longer conversation about
modernizing the Bank Secrecy Act and making sure that we are targeting
illicit financing.
I ask my colleagues to vote for this resolution, and I look forward
to continuing the conversation with my Democratic colleagues on more
bipartisan outcomes.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I include in the Record the following letter of general support for
H. Res. 206 from the Fraternal Order of Police.
National Fraternal
Order of Police
Washington, DC, March 13, 2019.
Hon. Maxine M. Waters,
Chairman, Committee on Financial Services,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Hon. Emanuel Cleaver II,
Chairman, Subcommittee on National Security, International
Development and Monetary Policy, Committee on Financial
Services, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Hon. Patrick T. McHenry,
Ranking Member, Committee on Financial Services, House of
Representatives, Washington, DC.
Hon. Steven E. Stivers,
Ranking Member, Subcommittee on National Security,
International Development and Monetary Policy, Committee
on Financial Services, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Madam Chairman, Mr. Chairman and Representatives
McHenry and Stivers: I am writing on behalf of the members of
the Fraternal Order of Police to advise you of our continued
support for the collection of beneficial ownership
information to
[[Page H2701]]
combat terrorist financing, money laundering and other
criminal activities. We strongly agree with many of the
points raised in H. Res 206 as they pertain to the collection
of this information and we look forward to working with the
Committee on Financial Services and the Subcommittee on
National Security, International Development and Monetary
Policy to address these issues, in the months ahead.
For years, the FOP has supported the collection of
beneficial ownership information and we've been proud to
partner with Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and
Peter T. King (R-NY) on legislation entitled the ``Corporate
Transparency Act `` A discussion draft sharing that same
title is being considered by the committee today and the FOP
is once again prepared to support this important legislation.
Transnational criminal organizations and terrorist
operations are using our banks, financial institutions and
other means to profit from their illegal activity This is a
well-documented problem for our financial institutions and
for law enforcement as we work together to shut down these
sophisticated criminal enterprises.
Congress and this committee have played a leadership role
in identifying the problem and working with law enforcement
to develop legislation like the ``Corporation Transparency
Act.'' In addition, this Administration also agrees with this
approach--last July U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven T.
Mnuchin testified before this committee and stated that there
is a real need to ``have access to beneficial ownership
information for law enforcement and for combating terrorist
financing.''
The Secretary's remarks were very clear that this is a
pressing issue and the vulnerability of our financial
institutions poses a genuine threat to public safety and
national security. Under current laws, shell corporations may
be used as front organizations by criminals conducting
illegal activity such as money laundering, fraud, and tax
evasion. Legislation like the ``Corporation Transparency
Act'' and other measures identified in H. Res. 206, propose
to combat this misuse of U.S. corporations by requiring the
U.S. Department of the Treasury, specifically the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), to collect beneficial
ownership information for corporations and limited liability
companies formed under State laws unless the State is already
collecting this information. It is vital that such
information, once collected, be available to law enforcement
at every level--local, State, tribal and Federal--upon a
lawful request. The sharing of this information will help
speed the ability of law enforcement to investigate any
possible connection between these corporations and terrorist
funding.
All too often, investigations will hit a dead end when we
encounter a company with hidden ownership. Just as robbers or
burglars wear masks to hide their faces and make identifying
them more difficult; the criminals we are chasing in these
cases use shell corporations as masks, concealing themselves
while still profiting from their crimes. When we are able to
expose the link between shell companies and drug trafficking,
corruption, organized crime and terrorist finance, law
enforcement will be able to bring these criminals to justice
and make our citizens and our nation safer.
We would also like to raise our concerns about proposals
that would increase the monetary threshold for filing
Currency Transaction Reports and Suspicious Activity Reports,
thereby reducing the information law enforcement currently
receives. It is not clear what policy or public safety aim
such a change is intended to accomplish. Organized criminal
enterprises are already aware of the current thresholds and
often take steps to avoid triggering these alerts and
bringing scrutiny to their operations. Increasing these
thresholds may negatively impact law enforcement and
investigations into money laundering and other financial
crimes.
On behalf of the more than 345,000 members of the Fraternal
Order of Police, I want to thank this committee for its
leadership on this issue and most of all, for its willingness
to engage and work with the law enforcement community on the
collection of beneficial ownership information. By working
together, I believe we can make our financial system and our
nation safer from criminal and terrorist organizations. If I
can provide any additional information on this matter, please
do not hesitate to contact me or my Executive Director, Jim
Pasco, in my Washington office.
Sincerely,
Chuck Canterbury,
National President.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, as we join together during this Sunshine
Week to highlight the importance of transparency in our economy and our
national security, and the preservation of our rule of law, we cannot
ignore the insidious harm that is being done by institutions like
Deutsche Bank, Danske Bank, and others that facilitate money laundering
and financial crime.
Kleptocracy and corruption around the world and here at home, as the
Trump family and its companies have proven, can only thrive with the
cooperation or willful blindness from financial institutions that move,
hide, and launder their ill-gotten money, money that can come in and
out of the financial system through investments in real estate, art,
and other luxury markets across America.
I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would agree that we
need to close loopholes that allow criminals and terrorists to hide
from sunlight and scrutiny, and I urge the House to support H. Res.
206, as amended.
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 agree to the resolution, H. Res. 206, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
The title of the resolution was amended so as to read:
``Acknowledging that the lack of sunlight and transparency in financial
transactions poses a threat to our national security and our economy's
security and supporting efforts to close related loopholes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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