Timely Delivery of Bank Secrecy Act Reports Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7734) to amend title 31, United States Code, to require the timely production of reports to Congress under the Bank Secrecy Act, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 7734

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Timely Delivery of Bank Secrecy Act Reports Act''. SEC. 2. TIMELY PRODUCTION OF BANK SECRECY ACT REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

Section 5319 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by striking ``The Secretary of the Treasury'' and inserting the following:

``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury''; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

``(b) Timely Production of Reports to Congress.--

``(1) Production by the secretary.--Upon the request of the congressional committees or subcommittees of appropriate jurisdiction for any report filed under this subchapter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deliver the requested report to the committee or subcommittee not later than 30 days after such request is made.

``(2) Production by a financial institution pursuant to a subpoena.--Upon subpoena by the congressional committees or subcommittees of appropriate jurisdiction, a financial institution shall deliver a report filed under this subchapter by the financial institution, and any information on which such report is based, to the committee or subcommittee not later than the return date specified for such report in the subpoena.''.

Mr. Speaker, suspicious activity reports and other materials, collectively known as ``BSA reports,'' are held by Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, and can be critical to congressional investigations. For example, this committee has requested documents related to our ongoing investigation into the flow of illicit funds from the former Soviet states into the United States.

There is a long history of cooperation on the proper exchange of these records, but in response to a recent Treasury-initiated reversal of decades-long practice, I have found it necessary to introduce this bill, H.R. 7734.

Unfortunately, Treasury has severely restricted congressional access to suspicious activity reports, or SARs, by requiring congressional staff to review all material in a reading room, prohibiting the copying of materials, and restricting information collection to notetaking alone. These limitations are not placed upon the Federal, State, and local agencies that have been granted access to review SARs.

Treasury has no statutory basis for imposing restrictions on congressional authority to obtain SARs. Neither legislative language, statutory provision, nor case law prohibits government personnel or the financial institutions from providing these materials to Congress.

I am very concerned that these restrictions and similar alternatives offered by Treasury will severely impede effective congressional oversight and investigations. In response to my committee's recent request to review SARs related to the flow of illicit funds from former Soviet states into the United States, FinCEN has informed the committee that it is withholding thousands of pages of responsive documents containing technical, detailed information about multiple transactions involving numerous parties. Given the restrictions imposed by Treasury, it is not possible for my staff to effectively capture and analyze needed information in such complex documents. It will be even more difficult for Members to review such materials.

Treasury's refusal to produce the documents in the manner requested has severely obstructed the committee's investigation of this important matter. To ensure that Congress can conduct effective oversight moving forward, I have introduced this bill, and I am pleased to say that it passed our committee on a bipartisan basis.

H.R. 7734 requires the Secretary of the Treasury to deliver BSA reports to a congressional committee or subcommittee of appropriate jurisdiction within 30 days of its request for such documents. The bill further requires a financial institution to deliver BSA reports by the return date specified in a subpoena issued by a committee or subcommittee of appropriate jurisdiction.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill to ensure that Congress can obtain access to BSA reports without cumbersome restrictions and can do so in a timely manner to support its investigatory work.

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Treasury's refusal to give Congress reasonable access to SARs is severely impeding our ability to effectively make use of the materials to conduct investigations.

Treasury has no statutory basis for imposing such restrictions and has offered no rationale for changing the current practice, which has been in place for over 20 years.

H.R. 7734 clarifies the existing statutory authority of Congress and ensures that Congress continues to obtain timely access to BSA reports without restrictions.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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