Financial Technology Protection Act of 2025

Floor Speech

I rise in support of H.R. 2384, the Financial Technology Protection Act sponsored by Representative Nunn and Representative Himes.

This bill seeks to establish the Independent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing, and for other purposes.

This group is made up of both Federal agencies, companies dealing with financial technology, and companies that engage in researching the impact of financial technologies in global markets.

It will be tasked with evaluating emerging financial technologies, including digital assets, to assess their potential use in combating terrorism and illicit activities. It will conduct research on how bad actors may exploit these technologies and recommend legal and regulatory improvements to Congress and relevant agencies. Additionally, the working group will develop a strategy to address sanctions, evasion, and other illicit finance concerns.

The bill mandates that the group issue an annual report for 4 years providing updates on its findings and recommendations.

Why is this needed? We know that Russia has used crypto exchanges and alternative payment platforms to try to bypass the sanctions imposed after its brutal and unlawful invasion of Ukraine. Hamas and other terrorist groups have turned to cryptocurrencies to funnel resources toward violent operations against innocent civilians as was exposed in the investigation following the violent October 7 attacks on Israel.

North Korean hackers, operating as arms of the regime, have stolen billions of dollars in cryptocurrency through cyberattacks, laundering those funds to bankroll their illegal weapons programs and bypass international sanctions.

These are not hypothetical risks. These are real, ongoing threats to our national and global security.

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

Mr. Speaker, cybercriminal syndicates, supported by North Korea and rogue states like Russia, are already exploiting financial technologies to evade sanctions, fund war and terrorism, and destabilize democracies. Ignoring these threats is not an option.

This working group is an initial robust approach to gain an understanding of how to address these terrorism threats and prepare to meet and predict them.

I thank Representatives Nunn and Himes for introducing this bill, and I, again, urge my colleagues to support it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source