Financial Technology Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. WATERS.

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.

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to close.

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.

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