Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1037, the Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act.

This legislation requires the Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress every 6 months a list of the licenses that it issues to financial institutions to provide services to countries and persons subject to certain U.S. sanctions. It also provides Congress with information about foreign financial firms that similarly provide support to those same countries and persons.

I support this bill because I believe its disclosure requirements will serve as a useful oversight tool for Congress. Today, when the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, issues a license to a company that allows them to engage in an activity that would otherwise be prohibited by U.S. sanctions, OFAC does not disclose those licenses.

I support the bill's other reporting requirement related to foreign financial firms. These lists of foreign financial institutions can provide a useful basis for Congress to review the administration's overall sanction strategy and to press the administration to impose restrictions on these institutions to change their behavior.

When a nearly identical version of this bill was considered by the Financial Services Committee last Congress, I supported the bill's disclosure requirements, but I thought it would be counterproductive to have the information revealed publicly.

For example, OFAC licenses often contain commercially sensitive information. If companies could no longer expect licenses to remain private, they would be less likely to apply for them, which would be detrimental to humanitarian efforts.

I didn't think the public identification of these foreign financial firms would serve a useful policy purpose and could otherwise move legal activity into a shade of gray. For these reasons, a Democratic amendment was adopted in committee by voice vote to allow for Congress to review the lists confidentially.

I believe H.R. 1037, which includes this critical change from last Congress, would increase congressional oversight of U.S. sanctions activity appropriately, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1037, the Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2019, will help ensure that Members of Congress have the information they need to provide more effective oversight of the decisions made by Treasury and OFAC and the impact that those decisions have on sanctioned persons.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Riggleman for bringing this bill forward, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important piece of legislation.

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