The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 21, 2007)

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairwoman, and I rise for the purpose of engaging in a colloquy with the gentlewoman from New York.

First of all, Madam Chairman, I would like to thank you for your efforts to increase funding for nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining and related pr ograms.

My amendment would have targeted a specific increase for the counterterrorism program within the nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining and related programs account. This vital program was only funded at the President's request of $6 million, which is actually a reduction from the $7.4 million in last year's budget.

I appreciate the good work done by the chairwoman and by the committee in meeting the President's request. I understand that. But the President has not done a sufficient job in the area of counterterrorism, and there has been actually a reduction in this area.

As the cochair of the Task Force on Terrorism and Proliferation Financing, I have joined many of my colleagues, including the Chair, in meetings and hearings facing the challenges that we confront in the United States Government in battling terrorist financing.

Since the attacks on 9/11 Congress and this committee have taken significant steps towards utilizing investigation and data collection regar ding terrorist financing as a viable intelligence tool for disrupting the financing of terrorist activities. Nevertheless, terrorists' proven ability to move money through innovative means necessitates continued progress in this critical counterterrorism area.

Al Qaeda's strength, for example, rests in its ability to continually adapt to U.S. tactics, and thus it requires greater innovation and greater resources in order to develop new strategies to counter those efforts.

In April, I had an oppo rtunity to organize a trip to the Middle East where we met with high-ranking banking officials to discuss the issue of anti-terrorism financing in Jordan, in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in Istanbul, Turkey. I believe that through international financial pressure, we can effect real change in the policies of other countries towards these terrorist groups.

In the parts of the world where financial restrictions would have the greatest impact, unfortunately, U.S. influence is at its lowest. On the other hand, however, I know from our own experience that these countries do want to participate in the global economy. Thus, we have seen that these countries are more likely to adopt transparency in their finance laws for the purpose of gaining legitimacy in the eyes of global investors rather than simply responding to U.S. pressure. By allocating more resources to induce anti-money-laundering compliance and transparency, we can make significant gains in tracking terrorists and cutting off their funding.

While we made some progress, considerable work remains to be done in regulating, for instance, the hawala system, which is an informal transfer system used extensively in the Middle East, because anytime you have a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability regarding the movement of funds, there is a great likelihood that terrorists and criminals can harness the system for their own gain.

By closing off legitimate financial markets for terrorists, we force them to change tactics that are less secure and oftentimes easier to track. A perfect example is the example of December 14 and the arrest of Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh at the border crossing into Gaza from Egypt carrying an estimated $30 million in cash in suitcases for the Palestinian Authority and for Hamas. The reason that Hamas has to operate that way is because financial markets were not available to them. Instances like these highlight the importance and indeed the benefit of focusing on counterterrorism financing efforts.

In essence, I am greatly concerned that the President is not doing enough and that by meeting the President's request, we here are not doing enough to stop the financing of terrorist operations.

Mr. Chairman, I would yield back to the gentlewoman from New York for a response.

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