STIFLE Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7592 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs AN ACT To require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a study on trafficking, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7592.RFS H7592 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 7592 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Trafficking, 2 Illicit Flows, Laundering, and Exploitation Act of 2020’’ 3 or the ‘‘STIFLE Act of 2020’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 The Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Trafficking is a national-security threat and 7 an economic drain of our resources. 8 (2) As the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s 9 recently released ‘‘2020 National Strategy for Com- 10 bating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing’’ con- 11 cludes, ‘‘While money laundering, terrorism financ- 12 ing, and WMD proliferation financing differ quali- 13 tatively and quantitatively, the illicit actors engaging 14 in these activities can exploit the same vulnerabilities 15 and financial channels.’’. 16 (3) Among those are bad actors engaged in 17 trafficking, whether they trade in drugs, arms, cul- 18 tural property, wildlife, natural resources, counter- 19 feit goods, organs, or, even, other humans. 20 (4) Their illegal (or ‘‘dark’’) markets use simi- 21 lar and sometimes related or overlapping methods 22 and means to acquire, move, and profit from their 23 crimes. 24 (5) In a March 2017, report from Global Fi- 25 nancial Integrity, ‘‘Transnational Crime and the De- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7592.RFS H7592 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 7592 RFS veloping World’’, the global business of transnational 1 crime was valued at $1.6 trillion to $2.2 trillion an- 2 nually, resulting in crime, violence, terrorism, insta- 3 bility, corruption, and lost tax revenues worldwide. 4 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 5 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 6 States shall carry out a study on— 7 (1) the major trafficking routes used by 8 transnational criminal organizations, terrorists, and 9 others, and to what extent the trafficking routes for 10 people (including children), drugs, weapons, cash, 11 child sexual exploitation materials, or other illicit 12 goods are similar, related, or cooperative; 13 (2) commonly used methods to launder and 14 move the proceeds of trafficking; 15 (3) the types of suspicious financial activity 16 that are associated with illicit trafficking networks, 17 and how financial institutions identify and report 18 such activity; 19 (4) the nexus between the identities and fi- 20 nances of trafficked persons and fraud; 21 (5) the tools, guidance, training, partnerships, 22 supervision, or other mechanisms that Federal agen- 23 cies, including the Department of the Treasury’s Fi- 24 nancial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7592.RFS H7592 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 7592 RFS financial regulators, and law enforcement, provide to 1 help financial institutions identify techniques and 2 patterns of transactions that may involve the pro- 3 ceeds of trafficking; 4 (6) what steps financial institutions are taking 5 to detect and prevent bad actors who are laundering 6 the proceeds of illicit trafficking, including data 7 analysis, policies, training procedures, rules, and 8 guidance; 9 (7) what role gatekeepers, such as lawyers, no- 10 taries, accountants, investment advisors, logistics 11 agents, and trust and company service providers, 12 play in facilitating trafficking networks and the 13 laundering of illicit proceeds; and 14 (8) the role that emerging technologies, includ- 15 ing artificial intelligence, digital identity tech- 16 nologies, blockchain technologies, virtual assets, and 17 related exchanges and online marketplaces, and 18 other innovative technologies, can play in both as- 19 sisting with and potentially enabling the laundering 20 of proceeds from trafficking. 21 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the study re- 22 quired under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 23 solicit feedback and perspectives to the extent practicable 24 from survivor and victim advocacy organizations, law en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7592.RFS H7592 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 7592 RFS forcement, research organizations, private-sector organiza- 1 tions (including financial institutions and data and tech- 2 nology companies), and any other organization or entity 3 that the Comptroller General determines appropriate. 4 (c) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall issue 5 one or more reports to the Congress containing the results 6 of the study required under subsection (a). The first re- 7 port shall be issued not later than the end of the 15-month 8 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 9 The reports shall contain— 10 (1) all findings and determinations made in car- 11 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 12 and 13 (2) recommendations for any legislative or regu- 14 latory changes necessary to combat trafficking or 15 the laundering of proceeds from trafficking. 16 Passed the House of Representatives September 21, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7592.RFS H7592 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS