Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2710) to increase transparency with respect to financial services benefitting state sponsors of terrorism, human rights abusers, and corrupt officials, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 2710

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 ``Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2021''. SEC. 2. REPORT ON FINANCIAL SERVICES BENEFITTING STATE SPONSORS OF TERRORISM, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS, AND CORRUPT OFFICIALS.

(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to the Committees on Financial Services and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Foreign Relations of the Senate that includes a copy of any license issued by the Secretary in the preceding 180 days that authorizes a United States financial institution (as defined under section 561.309 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations) to provide financial services benefitting--

(1) a state sponsor of terrorism; or

(2) a person sanctioned pursuant to any of the following:

(A) Section 404 of the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-208).

(B) Subtitle F of title XII of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act).

(C) Executive Order No. 13818.

(b) Form of Report.--The report required under subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex. SEC. 3. SUNSET.

The reporting requirement under this Act shall terminate on the date that is the end of the 7-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2710, the Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2021.

This legislation requires the Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress semiannually with a copy of any license Treasury issues in the preceding 180 days that authorizes a U.S. financial institution to provide services benefiting a state sponsor of terrorism and certain other sanctioned entities, including human rights abusers and corrupt officials. It would sunset 7 years after enactment of the act.

I am supportive of the disclosure requirements in this bill because I believe that this after-the-fact reporting to congressional committees regarding these specific licenses can serve as a useful oversight tool.

When the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, issues a specific license, it allows a particular individual or entity to engage in a transaction that would otherwise be prohibited under a United States sanctions program. Typically, specific licenses are granted by OFAC when the person or entity requesting such a license makes clear that allowing for the permitted transactions serves a compelling public policy goal. But currently, Treasury does not release specific licenses granted to individuals or entities or any information about them.

OFAC's licensing authority is an important part of an effective administration of United States sanctions, and disclosure is an important part of Congress' ability to conduct effective oversight.

Now, there is a risk that if some licenses were to become public, they would disclose commercially sensitive information to potential market competitors, introducing issues of corporate theft and unfair competition. That is why the bill allows for sensitive information in these licenses to be included in a classified annex to the report. Moving forward, we may want to examine whether this provides sufficient protection for proprietary or commercially sensitive information submitted by private-sector representatives which may not be classified and, if publicly released, would allow potential market competitors to gain an unfair competitive advantage. We certainly do not want to create a chilling effect and a wariness on behalf of companies about continuing to file for licenses moving forward, and we should guard against that.

Mr. Speaker, ultimately, I support the underlying goal and the disclosure requirements of H.R. 2710 because I believe they will increase congressional oversight of United States' sanctions activity. I urge my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, the Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2021 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.

I thank Mr. Steil for bringing this measure forward, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

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