I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2297 

To prevent Hezbollah and associated entities from gaining access to 

international financial and other institutions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2015 

Mr. ROYCE (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. DEUTCH, and Mr. 

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

Services, 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 prevent Hezbollah and associated entities from gaining 

access to international financial and other institutions, 

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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 

6 2015’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Statement of policy. 

TITLE I—PREVENTION OF ACCESS BY HEZBOLLAH TO 

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS 

Sec. 101. Briefing on imposition of sanctions on certain satellite providers that 

carry al-Manar TV. 

Sec. 102. Sanctions with respect to financial institutions that engage in certain 

transactions. 

TITLE II—REPORTS ON DESIGNATION OF HEZBOLLAH AS A SIGNIFICANT FOREIGN NARCOTICS TRAFFICKER AND A SIGNIFICANT TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION 

Sec. 201. Report on designation of Hezbollah as a significant foreign narcotics 

trafficker. 

Sec. 202. Report on designation of Hezbollah as a significant transnational 

criminal organization. 

Sec. 203. Rewards for Justice and Hezbollah’s fundraising, financing, and 

money laundering activities. 

Sec. 204. Report on activities of foreign governments to disrupt global logistics 

networks and fundraising, financing, and money laundering activities of Hezbollah. 

Sec. 205. Appropriate congressional committees defined. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 301. Rule of construction. 

Sec. 302. Regulatory authority. 

Sec. 303. Termination. 

1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 It shall be the policy of the United States to— 

3 (1) prevent Hezbollah’s global logistics and fi4 nancial network from operating in order to curtail 

5 funding of its domestic and international activities; 

6 and 

7 (2) utilize all available diplomatic, legislative, 

8 and executive avenues to combat the global criminal 

9 activities of Hezbollah as a means to block that or10 ganization’s ability to fund its global terrorist activi11 ties. 


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1 TITLE I—PREVENTION OF AC2 CESS BY HEZBOLLAH TO 

3 INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL 

4 AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS 

5 SEC. 101. BRIEFING ON IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON 

6 CERTAIN SATELLITE PROVIDERS THAT 

7 CARRY AL-MANAR TV. 

8 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

10 of State shall provide to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

11 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

12 Foreign Relations of the Senate a briefing on the fol13 lowing: 

14 (1) The activities of all satellite, broadcast, 

15 Internet, or other providers that knowingly provide 

16 material support to al-Manar TV, and any affiliates 

17 or successors thereof. 

18 (2) With respect to all providers described in 

19 paragraph (1)— 

20 (A) an identification of those providers 

21 that have been sanctioned pursuant to Execu22 tive Order No. 13224 (September 23, 2001); 

23 and 

24 (B) an identification of those providers 

25 that have not been sanctioned pursuant to ExVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2297.IH H2297

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1 ecutive Order No. 13224 and, with respect to 

2 each such provider, the reason why sanctions 

3 have not been imposed. 

4 SEC. 102. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FINANCIAL INSTI5 TUTIONS THAT ENGAGE IN CERTAIN TRANS6 ACTIONS. 

7 (a) PROHIBITIONS AND CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT

8 TO CERTAIN ACCOUNTS HELD BY FOREIGN FINANCIAL

9 INSTITUTIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary of the Treasury, with the concurrence of the 

13 Secretary of State and in consultation with the 

14 heads of other applicable departments and agencies, 

15 shall prohibit, or impose strict conditions on, the 

16 opening or maintaining in the United States of a 

17 correspondent account or a payable-through account 

18 by a foreign financial institution that the Secretary 

19 determines, on or after the date of the enactment of 

20 this Act, engages in an activity described in para21 graph (2). 

22 (2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—A foreign finan23 cial institution engages in an activity described in 

24 this paragraph if the foreign financial institution— 


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1 (A) knowingly facilitates a significant 

2 transaction or transactions for Hezbollah; 

3 (B) knowingly facilitates a significant 

4 transaction or transactions of a person des5 ignated for acting on behalf of or at the direc6 tion of, or owned or controlled by, Hezbollah; 

7 (C) knowingly engages in money laun8 dering to carry out an activity described in sub9 paragraph (A) or (B); 

10 (D) knowingly facilitates a significant 

11 transaction or transactions or provides signifi12 cant financial services to carry out an activity 

13 described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), in14 cluding— 

15 (i) facilitating a significant trans16 action or transactions; or 

17 (ii) providing significant financial 

18 services that involve a transaction of cov19 ered goods; or 

20 (E)(i) knowingly facilitates, or participates 

21 or assists in, an activity described in subpara22 graph (A), (B), (C), or (D), including by acting 

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1 son with respect to the activity described in any 

2 such subparagraph; 

3 (ii) knowingly attempts or conspires to fa4 cilitate or participate in an activity described in 

5 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D); or 

6 (iii) is owned or controlled by a foreign fi7 nancial institution that the Secretary finds 

8 knowingly engages in an activity described in 

9 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D). 

10 (3) PENALTIES.—The penalties provided for in 

11 subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter12 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

13 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person that violates, 

14 attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

15 violation of regulations prescribed under paragraph 

16 (4) of this subsection to the same extent that such 

17 penalties apply to a person that commits an unlaw18 ful act described in subsection (a) of such section 

19 206(a). 

20 (4) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the 

21 Treasury shall prescribe and implement regulations 

22 to carry out this subsection. 

23 (b) WAIVER.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas25 ury, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State 


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1 and in consultation with the heads of other applica2 ble departments and agencies, may waive, on a case3 by-case basis, the application of a prohibition or con4 dition imposed with respect to a foreign financial in5 stitution pursuant to subsection (a) for a period of 

6 not more than 180 days, and may renew such waiver 

7 for additional periods of not more than 180 days, on 

8 and after the date that the Secretary of the Treas9 ury, with the concurrence of the Secretary of 

10 State— 

11 (A) determines that such a waiver is in the 

12 national security interests of the United States; 

13 and 

14 (B) submits to the appropriate congres15 sional committees a report describing the rea16 sons for such determination. 

17 (2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

18 (1)(B) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but 

19 may contain a classified annex. 

20 (c) PROVISIONS RELATING TO FOREIGN FINANCIAL

21 INSTITUTIONS.— 

22 (1) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act and every 180 

24 days thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 


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1 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

2 a report that— 

3 (A) identifies each foreign central bank 

4 that the Secretary determines engages in one or 

5 more activities described in subsection 

6 (a)(2)(D); and 

7 (B) provides a detailed description of each 

8 such activity. 

9 (2) SPECIAL RULE TO ALLOW FOR TERMI10 NATION OF SANCTIONABLE ACTIVITY.—The Sec11 retary of the Treasury shall not be required to apply 

12 sanctions to a foreign financial institution described 

13 in subsection (a) if the Secretary, with the concur14 rence of the Secretary of State and in consultation 

15 with the heads of other applicable departments and 

16 agencies, certifies in writing to the appropriate con17 gressional committees that— 

18 (A) such foreign financial institution— 

19 (i) is no longer engaging in the activ20 ity described in subsection (a)(2); or 

21 (ii) has taken and is continuing to 

22 take significant verifiable steps toward ter23 minating the activity described in such 

24 subsection; and 


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1 (B) the Secretary has received reliable as2 surances from the government with primary ju3 risdiction over such foreign financial institution 

4 that such foreign financial institution will not 

5 engage in any activity described in such sub6 section in the future. 

7 (d) DEFINITIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section: 

9 (A) ACCOUNT; CORRESPONDENT ACCOUNT; 

10 PAYABLE-THROUGH ACCOUNT.—The terms ‘‘ac11 count’’, ‘‘correspondent account’’, and ‘‘payable12 through account’’ have the meanings given 

13 those terms in section 5318A of title 31, United 

14 States Code. 

15 (B) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM16 MITTEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congres17 sional committees’’ means— 

18 (i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

19 and the Committee on Financial Services 

20 of the House of Representatives; and 

21 (ii) the Committee on Foreign Rela22 tions and the Committee on Banking, 

23 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

24 (C) COVERED GOODS.—The term ‘‘covered 

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1 tion 1027.100 of title 31, Code of Federal Reg2 ulations. 

3 (D) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

4 ‘‘financial institution’’ means a financial insti5 tution specified in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

6 (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), (K), (M), (N), 

7 (P), (R), (T), (Y), or (Z) of section 5312(a)(2) 

8 of title 31, United States Code. 

9 (E) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION; 

10 DOMESTIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.— 

11 (i) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITU12 TION.—The term ‘‘foreign financial institu13 tion’’ has the meaning of such term in sec14 tion 1010.605 of title 31, Code of Federal 

15 Regulations, and includes a foreign central 

16 bank. 

17 (ii) DOMESTIC FINANCIAL INSTITU18 TION.—The term ‘‘domestic financial insti19 tution’’ has the meaning of such term as 

20 determined by the Secretary of the Treas21 ury. 

22 (F) HEZBOLLAH.—The term ‘‘Hezbollah’’ 

23 means— 

24 (i) any person— 


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1 (I) the property of or interests in 

2 property of which are blocked pursu3 ant to the International Emergency 

4 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

5 1701 et seq.); and 

6 (II) who is identified on the list 

7 of specially designated nationals and 

8 blocked persons maintained by the Of9 fice of Foreign Asset Control of the 

10 Department of the Treasury as an 

11 agent, instrumentality, or affiliate of 

12 Hezbollah; and 

13 (ii) the entity designated by the Sec14 retary of State as a foreign terrorist orga15 nization pursuant to section 219 of the Im16 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

17 1189). 

18 (G) MONEY LAUNDERING.—The term 

19 ‘‘money laundering’’ means any of the activities 

20 described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of sec21 tion 1956(a) of title 18, United States Code, 

22 with respect to which penalties may be imposed 

23 pursuant to such section. 

24 (2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The Secretary of 

25 the Treasury may further define the terms used in 


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1 this section in the regulations prescribed under this 

2 section. 

3 TITLE II—REPORTS ON DES4 IGNATION OF HEZBOLLAH AS 

5 A SIGNIFICANT FOREIGN 

6 NARCOTICS TRAFFICKER AND 

7 A SIGNIFICANT 

8 TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL 

9 ORGANIZATION 

10 SEC. 201. REPORT ON DESIGNATION OF HEZBOLLAH AS A 

11 SIGNIFICANT FOREIGN NARCOTICS TRAF12 FICKER. 

13 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 days 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

15 shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees 

16 a detailed report on whether Hezbollah meets the criteria 

17 for designation under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Des18 ignation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) as a significant for19 eign narcotics trafficker, and if the President determines 

20 that Hezbollah does not meet such criteria, a detailed jus21 tification as to which criteria have not been met. 

22 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

23 shall be transmitted in unclassified form, but may include 

24 a classified annex. 


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1 SEC. 202. REPORT ON DESIGNATION OF HEZBOLLAH AS A 

2 SIGNIFICANT TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL OR3 GANIZATION. 

4 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that— 

6 (1) Hezbollah meets the criteria for designation 

7 as a significant transnational criminal organization 

8 under Executive Order No. 13581 (76 Fed. Reg. 

9 44757); and 

10 (2) the President should so designate Hezbollah 

11 as a significant transnational criminal organization. 

12 (b) REPORT.— 

13 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 

14 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 President shall transmit to the appropriate commit16 tees of Congress a detailed report on whether the 

17 Hezbollah meets the criteria for designation as a sig18 nificant transnational criminal organization under 

19 Executive Order No. 13581 (76 Fed. Reg. 44757), 

20 and if the President determines that Hezbollah does 

21 not meet such criteria, a detailed justification as to 

22 which criteria have not been met. 

23 (2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

24 (1) shall be transmitted in unclassified form, but 

25 may include a classified annex. 


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1 SEC. 203. REWARDS FOR JUSTICE AND HEZBOLLAH’S FUND2 RAISING, FINANCING, AND MONEY LAUN3 DERING ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

6 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re7 port that details actions taken by the Department of State 

8 through the Department of State rewards program under 

9 section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act 

10 (22 U.S.C. 2708) to obtain information on fundraising, 

11 financing, and money laundering activities of Hezbollah 

12 and its agents and affiliates. 

13 (b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 

15 Secretary of State shall provide a briefing to the appro16 priate congressional committees on the status of the ac17 tions described in subsection (a). 

18 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE19 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres20 sional committees’’ means— 

21 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

22 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

23 Representatives; and 

24 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

25 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af26 fairs of the Senate. 


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1 SEC. 204. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN GOVERN2 MENTS TO DISRUPT GLOBAL LOGISTICS NET3 WORKS AND FUNDRAISING, FINANCING, AND 

4 MONEY LAUNDERING ACTIVITIES OF 

5 HEZBOLLAH. 

6 (a) REPORT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

9 shall transmit to the appropriate congressional com10 mittees a report that includes— 

11 (A) a list of countries that support 

12 Hezbollah, or in which Hezbollah maintains im13 portant portions of its global logistics networks; 

14 (B) with respect to each country on the list 

15 required by subparagraph (A)— 

16 (i) an assessment of whether the gov17 ernment of such country is taking ade18 quate measures to disrupt the global logis19 tics networks of Hezbollah within the terri20 tory of such country; and 

21 (ii) in the case of a country the gov22 ernment of which is not taking adequate 

23 measures to disrupt such networks— 

24 (I) an assessment of the reasons 

25 such government is not taking such 

26 adequate measures; and 


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1 (II) a description of measures 

2 being taken by the United States to 

3 encourage such government to im4 prove measures to disrupt such net5 works; 

6 (C) a list of countries in which Hezbollah, 

7 or any of its agents or affiliates, conducts sig8 nificant fundraising, financing, or money laun9 dering activities; 

10 (D) with respect to each country on the 

11 list required by subparagraph (C)— 

12 (i) an assessment of whether the gov13 ernment of such country is taking ade14 quate measures to disrupt the fundraising, 

15 financing, or money laundering activities of 

16 Hezbollah and its agents and affiliates 

17 within the territory of such country; and 

18 (ii) in the case of a country the gov19 ernment of which is not taking adequate 

20 measures to disrupt such activities— 

21 (I) an assessment of the reasons 

22 such government is not taking such 

23 adequate measures; and 

24 (II) a description of measures 

25 being taken by the United States to 


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1 encourage such government to im2 prove measures to disrupt such activi3 ties; and 

4 (E) a list of methods that Hezbollah, or 

5 any of its agents or affiliates, utilizes to raise 

6 or transfer funds, including trade-based money 

7 laundering, the use of foreign exchange houses, 

8 and free-trade zones. 

9 (2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

10 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form to the 

11 greatest extent possible, and may contain a classified 

12 annex. 

13 (3) GLOBAL LOGISTICS NETWORKS OF

14 HEZBOLLAH.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘global 

15 logistics networks of Hezbollah’’, ‘‘global logistics 

16 networks’’, or ‘‘networks’’ means financial, material, 

17 or technological support for, or financial or other 

18 services in support of, Hezbollah. 

19 (b) BRIEFING ON HEZBOLLAH’S ASSETS AND AC20 TIVITIES RELATED TO FUNDRAISING, FINANCING, AND

21 MONEY LAUNDERING WORLDWIDE.—Not later than 90 

22 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and every 

23 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

24 of the Treasury, and the heads (or their designees) of 

25 other applicable Federal departments and agencies shall 


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1 provide to the appropriate congressional committees a 

2 briefing on the disposition of Hezbollah’s assets and activi3 ties related to fundraising, financing, and money laun4 dering worldwide. 

5 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE6 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres7 sional committees’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

9 Committee on Financial Services, and the Perma10 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 

11 of Representatives; and 

12 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

13 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af14 fairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

15 the Senate. 

16 SEC. 205. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 

17 DEFINED. 

18 Except as otherwise provided, in this title, the term 

19 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 

20 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

21 Committee on Financial Services, and the Com22 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa23 tives; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

2 Committee on Finance, and the Committee on the 

3 Judiciary of the Senate. 

4 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

5 PROVISIONS 

6 SEC. 301. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

7 Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this 

8 Act shall apply to the authorized intelligence activities of 

9 the United States. 

10 SEC. 302. REGULATORY AUTHORITY. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, not later 

12 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

13 promulgate regulations as necessary for the implementa14 tion of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

15 (b) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not less than 10 

16 days before the promulgation of regulations under sub17 section (a), the President shall notify the appropriate con18 gressional committees (as such term is defined in section 

19 203) of the proposed regulations and the provisions of this 

20 Act and the amendments made by this Act that the regula21 tions are implementing. 

22 SEC. 303. TERMINATION. 

23 This Act shall terminate on the date that is 30 days 

24 after the date on which the President certifies to Congress 

25 that Hezbollah— 


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1 (1) is no longer designated as a foreign ter2 rorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the 

3 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); 

4 (2) is no longer listed in the Annex to Executive 

5 Order No. 13224 (September 23, 2001; relating to 

6 blocking property and prohibiting transactions with 

7 persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support 

8 terrorism); and 

9 (3) poses no significant threat to United States 

10 national security, interests, or allies. 

Æ 


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