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IIB
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 758
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 12, 2019
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs
AN ACT
To provide a safe harbor for financial institutions that main-
tain a customer account or customer transaction at the
request of a Federal or State law enforcement agency.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cooperate with Law
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Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2019’’.
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SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR WITH RESPECT TO KEEP OPEN LET-
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TERS.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 53 of
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title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
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end the following:
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‘‘§ 5333. Safe harbor with respect to keep open letters
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‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a customer ac-
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count or customer transaction of a financial institution,
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if a Federal, State, Tribal, or local law enforcement agen-
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cy requests, in writing, the financial institution to keep
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such account or transaction open—
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‘‘(1) the financial institution shall not be liable
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under this subchapter for maintaining such account
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or transaction consistent with the parameters of the
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request; and
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‘‘(2) no Federal or State department or agency
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may take any adverse supervisory action under this
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subchapter with respect to the financial institution
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for maintaining such account or transaction con-
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sistent with the parameters of the request.
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‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
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tion may be construed—
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‘‘(1) from preventing a Federal or State depart-
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ment or agency from verifying the validity of a writ-
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ten request described under subsection (a) with the
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Federal, State, Tribal, or local law enforcement
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agency making the written request; or
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‘‘(2) to relieve a financial institution from com-
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plying with any reporting requirements, including
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the reporting of suspicious transactions under sec-
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tion 5318(g).
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‘‘(c) LETTER TERMINATION DATE.—For purposes of
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this section, any written request described under sub-
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section (a) shall include a termination date after which
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such request shall no longer apply.’’.
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
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for chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, is amended
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by inserting after the item relating to section 5332 the
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following:
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‘‘5333. Safe harbor with respect to keep open letters.’’.
SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
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The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of
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complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010,
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shall be determined by reference to the latest statement
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titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this
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Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record
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by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
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vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the
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vote on passage.
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Passed the House of Representatives March 11,
2019.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.
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