I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1813 

To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to impose a fee for remittance 

transfers to certain foreign countries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2017 

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama (for himself, Mr. BARLETTA, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. 

BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, and Mr. CRAWFORD) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, 

and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to impose a 

fee for remittance transfers to certain foreign countries, 

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 ‘‘Border Wall Funding 

5 Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEES FOR CERTAIN REMITTANCE TRANSFERS. 

2 Section 920 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (re3 lating to remittance transfers) (15 U.S.C. 1693o–1) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub6 section (h); and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(g) BORDER SECURITY FEE COLLECTION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(A) FEES.—If the designated recipient of 

12 a remittance transfer is located in a foreign 

13 country described in subparagraph (B), a remit14 tance transfer provider shall collect from the 

15 sender of such remittance transfer a remittance 

16 fee equal to 2 percent of the United States dol17 lar amount to be transferred (excluding any 

18 fees or other charges imposed by the remittance 

19 transfer provider). Except as provided in sub20 paragraph (C), such remittance fees shall be 

21 submitted to the Treasury to be expended for 

22 the purpose of improving border security. 

23 ‘‘(B) FOREIGN COUNTRIES.—Subpara24 graph (A) shall apply to designated recipients 

25 located in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Cuba, the 

26 Cayman Islands, Haiti, the Dominican RepubVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Apr 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1813.IH H1813

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1 lic, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, 

2 El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, 

3 Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Aruba, Curacao, 

4 the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Antigua 

5 and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, 

6 Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, 

7 Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 

8 Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Suriname, French 

9 Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, 

10 Paraguay, Uruguay, or Argentina. 

11 ‘‘(C) COSTS.—For the 5-year period begin12 ning on the date of the enactment of this sub13 section, a remittance transfer provider may re14 tain up to 5 percent of any remittance fees col15 lected by such remittance transfer provider pur16 suant to subparagraph (A) to cover the costs of 

17 collecting and submitting such remittance fees. 

18 ‘‘(2) FEE COLLECTION SYSTEM.—Not later 

19 than September 30, 2017, the Bureau, in consulta20 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

21 Secretary of the Treasury, and remittance transfer 

22 providers, shall develop and make available a system 

23 for remittance transfer providers to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) submit the remittance fees collected 

2 in accordance with paragraph (1)(A) to the 

3 Treasury; and 

4 ‘‘(B) retain a portion of such remittance 

5 fees in accordance with paragraph (1)(C). 

6 ‘‘(3) PENALTIES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) Whoever, with the intent to evade a 

8 remittance fee to be collected in accordance 

9 with this subsection, and who has knowledge 

10 that, at the time of a remittance transfer, the 

11 value of the funds involved in the transfer will 

12 be further transferred to a recipient located in 

13 a country listed in paragraph (1)(B), requests 

14 or facilitates such remittance transfer to a des15 ignated recipient in a country that is not listed 

16 in paragraph (1)(B) shall be subject to a pen17 alty of not more than $500,000 or twice the 

18 value of the funds involved in the remittance 

19 transfer, whichever is greater, or imprisonment 

20 for not more than 20 years, or both. 

21 ‘‘(B) Any foreign country that, in the joint 

22 determination of the Secretary of Homeland Se23 curity, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the 

24 Secretary of State aids or harbors an individual 

25 conspiring to avoid the fee collected in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Apr 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1813.IH H1813

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1 ance with this subsection shall be ineligible to 

2 receive foreign assistance and to participate in 

3 the visa waiver program or any other programs, 

4 at the discretion of the Secretaries described in 

5 this subparagraph.’’. 

Æ 


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