I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7592 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a 

study on trafficking, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 13, 2020 

Mr. MCADAMS (for himself and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States 

to carry out a study on trafficking, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Trafficking, 

5 Illicit Flows, Laundering, and Exploitation Act of 2020’’ 

6 or the ‘‘STIFLE Act of 2020’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) Trafficking is a national-security threat and 

10 an economic drain of our resources. 


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1 (2) As the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s 

2 recently released ‘‘2020 National Strategy for Com3 bating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing’’ con4 cludes, ‘‘While money laundering, terrorism financ5 ing, and WMD proliferation financing differ quali6 tatively and quantitatively, the illicit actors engaging 

7 in these activities can exploit the same vulnerabilities 

8 and financial channels.’’. 

9 (3) Among those are bad actors engaged in 

10 trafficking, whether they trade in drugs, arms, cul11 tural property, wildlife, natural resources, counter12 feit goods, organs, or, even, other humans. 

13 (4) Their illegal (or ‘‘dark’’) markets use simi14 lar and sometimes related or overlapping methods 

15 and means to acquire, move, and profit from their 

16 crimes. 

17 (5) In a March 2017, report from Global Fi18 nancial Integrity, ‘‘Transnational Crime and the De19 veloping World’’, the global business of transnational 

20 crime was valued at $1.6 trillion to $2.2 trillion an21 nually, resulting in crime, violence, terrorism, insta22 bility, corruption, and lost tax revenues worldwide. 

23 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

24 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

25 States shall carry out a study on— 


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1 (1) the major trafficking routes used by 

2 transnational criminal organizations, terrorists, and 

3 others, and to what extent the trafficking routes for 

4 people (including children), drugs, weapons, cash, 

5 child sexual exploitation materials, or other illicit 

6 goods are similar, related, or cooperative; 

7 (2) commonly used methods to launder and 

8 move the proceeds of trafficking; 

9 (3) the types of suspicious financial activity 

10 that are associated with illicit trafficking networks, 

11 and how financial institutions identify and report 

12 such activity; 

13 (4) the nexus between the identities and fi14 nances of trafficked persons and fraud; 

15 (5) the tools, guidance, training, partnerships, 

16 supervision, or other mechanisms that Federal agen17 cies, including the Department of the Treasury’s Fi18 nancial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Federal 

19 financial regulators, and law enforcement, provide to 

20 help financial institutions identify techniques and 

21 patterns of transactions that may involve the pro22 ceeds of trafficking; 

23 (6) what steps financial institutions are taking 

24 to detect and prevent bad actors who are laundering 

25 the proceeds of illicit trafficking, including data 


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1 analysis, policies, training procedures, rules, and 

2 guidance; 

3 (7) what role gatekeepers, such as lawyers, no4 taries, accountants, investment advisors, logistics 

5 agents, and trust and company service providers, 

6 play in facilitating trafficking networks and the 

7 laundering of illicit proceeds; and 

8 (8) the role that emerging technologies, includ9 ing artificial intelligence, digital identity tech10 nologies, blockchain technologies, virtual assets, and 

11 related exchanges and online marketplaces, and 

12 other innovative technologies, can play in both as13 sisting with and potentially enabling the laundering 

14 of proceeds from trafficking. 

15 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the study re16 quired under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 

17 solicit feedback and perspectives to the extent practicable 

18 from survivor and victim advocacy organizations, law en19 forcement, research organizations, private-sector organiza20 tions (including financial institutions and data and tech21 nology companies), and any other organization or entity 

22 that the Comptroller General determines appropriate. 

23 (c) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall issue 

24 one or more reports to the Congress containing the results 

25 of the study required under subsection (a). The first reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7592.IH H7592

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1 port shall be issued not later than the end of the 15-month 

2 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 The reports shall contain— 

4 (1) all findings and determinations made in car5 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 

6 and 

7 (2) recommendations for any legislative or regu8 latory changes necessary to combat trafficking or 

9 the laundering of proceeds from trafficking. 

Æ 


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