I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5308 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to confiscate interest paid on 

certain frozen bank accounts, to require the Secretary to confiscate 

certain frozen assets, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2016 

Mr. DONOVAN (for himself, Mr. SIRES, Mr. POE of Texas, and Mr. MCCAUL) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, 

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 require the Secretary of the Treasury to confiscate interest paid on certain frozen bank accounts, to require 

the Secretary to confiscate certain frozen assets, 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 ‘‘Terrorist Asset Seizure 

5 Reform Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONFISCATION OF ASSETS. 

2 (a) CONFISCATION OF INTEREST.— 

3 (1) INITIAL CONFISCATION.—As soon as prac4 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

5 but in no case later than 18 months after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall re7 quire each financial institution to transfer to the 

8 Secretary all amounts of interest paid by such finan9 cial institution on frozen bank accounts. 

10 (2) ONGOING CONFISCATION.—One year after 

11 the initial confiscation under paragraph (1), and an12 nually thereafter, the Secretary shall require each fi13 nancial institution to transfer to the Secretary all 

14 amounts of interest paid by such financial institu15 tion on frozen bank accounts in the previous year. 

16 (3) INTEREST DEPOSITED INTO CONFISCATED

17 ASSETS FUND.—The Secretary shall deposit all 

18 amounts received under this subsection into the Con19 fiscated Assets Fund. 

20 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraphs (1) 

21 and (2) shall only apply to interest paid on an ac22 count after the account became a frozen bank ac23 count. 

24 (b) CONFISCATIONS RELATED TO NON-STATE TER25 RORISM.— 


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1 (1) SPECIAL RULE FOR CONFISCATIONS RE2 LATED TO NON-STATE TERRORISM.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a fro4 zen asset of a person described in subparagraph 

5 (B)— 

6 (i) at the time such asset is frozen or 

7 otherwise blocked, or within 6 months of 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act with 

9 respect to an asset frozen or otherwise 

10 blocked before such date of enactment, the 

11 Secretary shall— 

12 (I) publish public notice that the 

13 asset is being frozen or otherwise 

14 blocked; and 

15 (II) provide the owner of the 

16 asset and other interested parties with 

17 a 1-year period to challenge such 

18 freezing or blocking; and 

19 (ii) if such asset remains frozen or 

20 otherwise blocked after the 1-year period 

21 described under clause (i)(II), the Sec22 retary shall require the financial institution 

23 holding the frozen asset to transfer such 

24 asset to the Secretary. 


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1 (B) COVERED PERSONS.—A person de2 scribed in this subparagraph is a person that 

3 is— 

4 (i) designated as a foreign terrorist 

5 organization under section 219(a) of the 

6 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

7 1189(a)); 

8 (ii) designated as a Specially Des9 ignated Global Terrorist by the Depart10 ment of the Treasury under Executive 

11 Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701); or 

12 (iii) a specially designated terrorist, as 

13 that term is defined in section 595.311 of 

14 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

15 any successor thereto). 

16 (2) ASSETS DEPOSITED INTO CONFISCATED AS17 SETS FUND.—The Secretary shall— 

18 (A) deposit all money received under this 

19 subsection into the Confiscated Assets Fund; 

20 and 

21 (B) sell any non-monetary assets received 

22 under this subsection and deposit the amounts 

23 received from such sales into the Confiscated 

24 Assets Fund. 


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1 (c) SAFE HARBOR.—Compliance with this section 

2 and any regulation, instruction, or direction issued pursu3 ant to this section shall to the extent thereof be a full 

4 acquittance and discharge for all purposes of the obliga5 tion of the person making the same. No person shall be 

6 held liable in any court for or with respect to anything 

7 done or omitted in good faith in connection with the ad8 ministration of, or pursuant to and in reliance on, this 

9 section, or any regulation, instruction, or direction issued 

10 pursuant to this section. 

11 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

12 (1) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi13 nancial institution’’ has the meaning given that term 

14 under section 5312 of title 31, United States Code. 

15 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per16 son’’ has the meaning given that term under section 

17 14 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (50 U.S.C. 

18 1701 note). 

19 (3) FROZEN ASSET.—The term ‘‘frozen 

20 asset’’— 

21 (A) means an asset of a foreign person or 

22 foreign country that has been frozen or other23 wise blocked pursuant to sanctions under any 

24 provision of United States law, as determined 

25 by the Secretary; and 


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1 (B) does not include— 

2 (i) any asset subject to the Vienna 

3 Convention on Consular Relations (done at 

4 Vienna, April 24, 1963); or 

5 (ii) the blocked assets of a terrorist 

6 party that are subject to execution and at7 tachment pursuant to section 201 of the 

8 Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (28 

9 U.S.C. 1610 note). 

10 (4) FROZEN BANK ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘fro11 zen bank account’’ means a deposit account main12 tained at a financial institution that consists of fro13 zen assets. 

14 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

16 SEC. 3. CONFISCATED ASSETS FUND. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Treas18 ury shall establish a fund to be known as the ‘‘Confiscated 

19 Assets Fund’’. 

20 (b) USE OF FUND.—Amounts in the Confiscated As21 sets Fund shall be made available to the Administrator 

22 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide 

23 grants under the Urban Area Security Initiative under 

24 section 2003 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

25 U.S.C. 604). 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

2 (a) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the end of 

4 the 6-month period beginning on the date of the en5 actment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

6 United States shall initiate a study on how the Of7 fice of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of 

8 the Treasury can better track frozen assets, manage 

9 data relating to such frozen assets, and improve re10 porting to Congress regarding frozen assets across 

11 all sanctions programs administered by the Office of 

12 Foreign Assets Control. 

13 (2) REPORT.—Upon the completion of the 

14 study required under paragraph (1), the Comptroller 

15 General shall issue a report to the Congress and the 

16 Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department 

17 of the Treasury containing— 

18 (A) all findings and determinations made 

19 in carrying out the study required under para20 graph (1); and 

21 (B) such recommendations that the Comp22 troller General may determine appropriate. 

23 (b) SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY REPORT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas25 ury, in consultation with the Attorney General, the 

26 Secretary of State, and the heads of other approVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 May 24, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5308.IH H5308

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1 priate Federal agencies, shall issue an annual report 

2 to the Congress containing— 

3 (A) comprehensive and detailed data re4 garding frozen assets across all sanctions pro5 grams administered by the Office of Foreign 

6 Assets Control, including, with respect to each 

7 sanctions program for the prior calendar year— 

8 (i) tables that show changes in frozen 

9 assets totals; 

10 (ii) the total amount of frozen assets; 

11 (iii) the total amount of frozen assets 

12 that were unblocked; 

13 (iv) how many licenses were issued; 

14 (v) how many names were added to 

15 each list of sanctioned persons; and 

16 (vi) how many names were removed 

17 from each list of sanctioned persons; and 

18 (B) a detailed justification for each re19 moval of a name from a list of sanctioned per20 sons under each sanctions program for the 

21 prior calendar year. 

22 (2) CLASSIFIED ANNEXES.—A report issued 

23 under paragraph (1) may contain a classified annex 

24 when necessary. 


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1 (3) CONSIDERATION OF GAO STUDY.—Before 

2 issuing a report under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

3 of the Treasury shall review any recommendations 

4 made by the Comptroller General in the report 

5 issued under subsection (a)(2) and include in such 

6 report any plans for addressing such recommenda7 tions. 

8 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘frozen 

9 asset’’ has the meaning given that term in section 2(d) 

10 of this Act. 

Æ 


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