Financial Technology Protection Act of 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2384) to establish an Independent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 2384
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 ``Financial Technology Protection Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP TO COMBAT TERRORISM AND ILLICIT FINANCING.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the Independent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing (in this section referred to as the ``Working Group''), which shall consist of the following:
(1) The Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, who shall serve as the chair of the Working Group.
(2) A senior-level representative from each of the following:
(A) The Department of the Treasury.
(B) The Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
(C) The Internal Revenue Service.
(D) The Department of Justice.
(E) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(F) The Drug Enforcement Administration.
(G) The Department of Homeland Security.
(H) The United States Secret Service.
(I) The Department of State.
(J) The Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
(3) At least five individuals appointed by the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes to represent the following:
(A) Financial technology companies.
(B) Blockchain intelligence companies.
(C) Financial institutions.
(D) Institutions or organizations engaged in research.
(E) Institutions or organizations focused on individual privacy and civil liberties.
(4) Such additional individuals as the Secretary of the Treasury may appoint as necessary to accomplish the duties described under subsection (b).
(b) Duties.--The Working Group shall--
(1) conduct research on terrorist and illicit use of digital assets and other related emerging technologies; and
(2) develop legislative and regulatory proposals to improve anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist, and other counter- illicit financing efforts in the United States.
(c) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually for the 3 years thereafter, the Working Group shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury, the heads of each agency represented in the Working Group pursuant to subsection (a)(2), and the appropriate congressional committees a report containing the findings and determinations made by the Working Group in the previous year and any legislative and regulatory proposals developed by the Working Group.
(2) Final report.--Before the date on which the Working Group terminates under subsection (d)(1), the Working Group shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a final report detailing the findings, recommendations, and activities of the Working Group, including any final results from the research conducted by the Working Group.
(d) Sunset.--
(1) In general.--The Working Group shall terminate on the later of--
(A) the date that is 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act; or
(B) the date on which the Working Group completes any wind- up activities described under paragraph (2).
(2) Authority to wind up activities.--If there are ongoing research, proposals, or other related activities of the Working Group ongoing as of the date that is 4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Working Group may temporarily continue working in order to wind-up such activities.
(3) Return of appropriated funds.--On the date on which the Working Group terminates under paragraph (1), any unobligated funds appropriated to carry out this section shall be transferred to the Treasury. SEC. 3. PREVENTING ROGUE AND FOREIGN ACTORS FROM EVADING SANCTIONS.
(a) Report and Strategy With Respect to Digital Assets and Other Related Emerging Technologies.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting through the Secretary of the Treasury and in consultation with the head of each agency represented on the Independent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing pursuant to section 2(a)(2), shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that describes--
(A) the potential uses of digital assets and other related emerging technologies by States, non-State actors, foreign terrorist organizations, and other terrorist groups to evade sanctions, finance terrorism, or launder monetary instruments, and threaten the national security of the United States; and
(B) a strategy for the United States to mitigate and prevent the illicit use of digital assets and other related emerging technologies.
(2) Form of report; public availability.--
(A) In general.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(B) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of each report required by paragraph (1) shall be made available to the public and posted on a publicly accessible website of the Department of the Treasury--
(i) in precompressed, easily downloadable versions, in all appropriate formats; and
(ii) in machine-readable format, if applicable.
(3) Sources of information.--In preparing the reports required by paragraph (1), the President may utilize any credible publication, database, or web-based resource, and any credible information compiled by any government agency, nongovernmental organization, or other entity that is made available to the President.
(b) Briefing.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on the implementation of the strategy required by subsection (a)(1)(B). SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Ways and Means, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
(2) Blockchain intelligence company.--The term ``blockchain intelligence company'' means any business providing software, research, or other services (such as blockchain tracing tools, geofencing, transaction screening, the collection of business data, and sanctions screening) that--
(A) support private and public sector investigations and risk management activities; and
(B) involve cryptographically secured distributed ledgers or any similar technology or implementation.
(3) Digital asset.--The term ``digital asset'' means any digital representation of value that is recorded on a cryptographically secured digital ledger or any similar technology.
(4) Emerging technologies.--The term ``emerging technologies'' means the critical and emerging technology areas listed in the Critical and Emerging Technologies List developed by the Fast Track Action Subcommittee on Critical and Emerging Technologies of the National Science and Technology Council, including any updates to such list.
(5) Foreign terrorist organization.--The term ``foreign terrorist organization'' means an organization that is designated as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
(6) Illicit use.--The term ``illicit use'' includes fraud, darknet marketplace transactions, money laundering, the purchase and sale of illicit goods, sanctions evasion, theft of funds, funding of illegal activities, transactions related to child sexual abuse material, and any other financial transaction involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity (as defined in section 1956(c) of title 18, United States Code).
(7) Terrorist.--The term ``terrorist'' includes a person carrying out domestic terrorism or international terrorism (as such terms are defined, respectively, under section 2331 of title 18, United States Code).
I rise in strong support of H.R. 2384, the Financial Technology Protection Act.
Last week, the House passed critical digital asset legislation, setting the stage for the United States to reclaim our global leadership position in financial technology on digital assets. This week, we build on that momentum to further strengthen our role in global finance.
As our technological world evolves, so must the tools that we use to combat the potential new threats associated with it.
The Financial Technology Protection Act creates a forum to ensure that our law enforcement can keep pace with illicit actors seeking to exploit these technological developments for their own gain.
Mr. Nunn's and Mr. Himes' bill establishes an Independent Financial Technology Working Group to combat terrorism, money laundering, and other illicit finance through the use of financial technologies, including digital assets.
The group will conduct independent research on the illicit use of new financial technologies and develop legislative and regulatory proposals to improve anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing efforts here in the United States.
This commonsense bill also requires private sector stakeholders to be members of the working group, bridging a gap between law enforcement and the private sector and allowing individuals with boots-on-the- ground experience to inform law enforcement's efforts and strategies.
Because of that, I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this good bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this bill. H.R. 2384, FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY PROTECTION ACT OF 2025, AS REPORTED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES ON MAY 6, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By fiscal year, millions of dollars-- ------------------------------- 2025 2025-2030 2025-2035 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Direct Spending (Outlays)............... 0 0 0 Revenues................................ 0 0 0 Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit. 0 0 0 Spending Subject to Appropriation * 1 1 (Outlays).............................. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * = between zero and $500,000.
Increases net direct spending in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2036? No.
Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2036? No.
Statutory pay-as-you-go procedures apply? No.
Mandate Effects:
Contains intergovernmental mandate? No.
Contains private-sector mandate? No.
H.R. 2384 would establish a working group within the Department of the Treasury to research terrorists' use of new financial technologies, including digital assets, and report on its findings. The working group would comprise 11 senior- level representatives from specified agencies in the federal government and 5 people representing businesses and other interested organizations. The bill would require the working group to report within 180 days of enactment on the evasion of sanctions using digital assets to the Congress and to report annually to the Congress and other executive branch agencies about its findings. Under the bill, the working group would sunset four years after enactment.
Using information about the costs of similar working groups, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2384 would cost less than $500,000 annually, totaling $1 million over the 2025-2030 period for administrative costs; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis. Philip L. Swagel, Director, Congressional Budget Office.
Mr. Speaker, I rise again in strong support of this bill. Mr. Nunn is doing good work here, and I appreciate his leadership as a former counterintelligence officer, someone who has brought that expertise to his work here in the House.
I appreciate my friend from Connecticut, our distinguished ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, lending his expertise to this bill. For years we have talked about how do we fuse private-sector information, like in our financial services sector, with law enforcement to come up with better strategies to counter illicit finance, whether it is in trade-based money laundering, the use of cash, hawala, now digital assets, or just the plain old banking system. So I thank my friend from Iowa and urge strong bipartisan support on both sides of the aisle.
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