National Strategy for Combating the Financing of Transnational Criminal Organizations Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the National Strategy for Combating the Financing of Transnational Criminal Organizations Act.

On February 9 of 2017, last year, President Trump issued an executive order directing the Federal Government to combat international drug trafficking. Now, before I go any further, I want to take note that this executive order was issued in the third week of the Trump administration. This early action gives us an idea of how seriously we must take this issue. The executive order recognizes that illegal drugs are pouring into our country and they are threatening American safety, primarily at the hands of cartels and other transnational criminal organizations.

These criminal organizations are responsible, in large part, for the rising opioid epidemic sweeping across our Nation. Take my district of west Tennessee, where we continue to see a rise in the deaths caused by opioid overdoses. From heroin to fentanyl, and the more potent synthetic opioid known as carfentanil, we must continue to use every available resource to prevent the further destruction of our communities. We have got to say enough is enough.

The important legislation that we are discussing today will create a plan to track illicit money channels and cut them off at the source. Specifically, it directs the United States Treasury Department to develop a national strategy aimed at disrupting these financial crimes. The Treasury Department will work hand in hand with the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the State Department, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to produce a yearly report outlining a strategy and detailing ways that the United States Government can continue to prevent these financial crimes.

For far too long, these criminal organizations have used illicit business ventures to further finance their activities, which range from money laundering and cybercrime to the trafficking of drugs, human trafficking, weapons trafficking, and trafficking in endangered species.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that these cartel and transnational criminal organizations generate nearly $870 billion a year. This money is used to directly threaten the security and the prosperity of the United States of America and other countries in the Western Hemisphere. Our legislation is a critical step in disrupting this illicit finance and putting an end to the needless crimes committed by cartels.

As we have seen, these organizations have evolved in a continued effort to evade law enforcement. Therefore, in an effort to stay one step ahead of these bad actors, we have also got to evolve. These transnational organizations have developed interstate networks to and from the border in which drugs come up from Central America and the cash returns back to the country of origin. We simply cannot stand idly by as these activities continue. We must keep money out of the hands of those who intend to cause harm to our Nation.

I think this legislation does exactly that. I greatly appreciate the hard work done by my colleagues from the Financial Services Committee on this very important legislation. I urge all my colleagues to support its passage.

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