[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4292-4293]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  ISIS

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss briefly the fight 
against ISIS and the sources of its financial support. As the 
administration accelerates the coalition military campaign against 
ISIS, I believe the administration must continue to intensify efforts 
to dismantle the financial networks that support this vicious terrorist 
organization.
  We know that ISIS operates like a criminal syndicate and profits from 
the illicit sale of oil, antiquities, and other items through the black 
market, all while extorting civilians it has under its control. ISIS 
uses this funding to conduct terror attacks and control territory in 
both Iraq and Syria. They use it to buy more weapons, ammunition, and 
components for improvised explosive devices, which we know by the 
acronym IEDs.
  They also use this funding to pay for salaries for fighters and to 
develop propaganda materials to spread their hateful ideology. Already, 
we have seen evidence that both U.S. and coalition efforts against 
their financial networks, including airstrikes on oil trucks and cash 
storage sites, have had a meaningful impact on their finances--the 
finances of ISIS.
  There is evidence that ISIS has had to reduce the salaries they pay 
their fighters in recent months. That is good news. I believe that if 
we can cut off their money, we can significantly diminish their ability 
to operate. Members of Congress should support this effort in any way 
we can.
  Recently, during the month of February, I traveled to four countries 
to focus on part of this effort. I visited Israel, Saudi Arabia, 
Turkey, and Qatar to press the foreign leaders in those countries, 
especially the last three, to accelerate the fight against terrorist 
financiers and facilitators.
  Much more remains to be done to cut off the financing that ISIS 
receives. A recent report by the Culture Under Threat Task Force 
describes ISIS as ``industrial, methodical, and strictly controlled 
from the highest levels of the organization's leadership.'' This report 
further indicates the analysts' warning that ISIS may try to increase 
its antiquities trafficking activity as other revenue streams such as 
oil sales are, in fact, cut off.
  So we have to be on guard for this and take action against it. I 
sponsored the Senate version of the Protect and Preserve International 
Cultural Property Act of 2015. This is a bill that would restrict the 
importation into the United States of antiquities smuggled out of Syria 
since the beginning of the conflict. It also expresses the sense of 
Congress that the administration should better coordinate among the 
many agencies with expertise in counterterrorism finance and cultural 
heritage protection so there is better coordination within the 
administration. That is the aim of the legislation.
  This bill also sends a strong signal that the United States will not 
be a market for this illicit activity that only benefits terrorists and 
especially ISIS. It also will not be a market that funds any terrorist 
group that leads to the destruction of cultural heritage. So I want to 
thank Senators Perdue, Grassley, Coons, and Peters for their 
cosponsorship of this important legislation.

[[Page 4293]]

  I am pleased that the Senate passed the Protect and Preserve 
International Cultural Property Act. It passed just last night. It is 
urgent that we send this bill to the President's desk.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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