IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2297 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 18, 2015 

Received, read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 

4 2015’’. 

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

6 this Act is as follows: 

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. 

7 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

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

9 (1) prevent Hezbollah’s global logistics and fi10 nancial network from operating in order to curtail 

11 funding of its domestic and international activities; 

12 and 


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1 (2) utilize all available diplomatic, legislative, 

2 and executive avenues to combat the global criminal 

3 activities of Hezbollah as a means to block that or4 ganization’s ability to fund its global terrorist activi5 ties. 

6 TITLE I—PREVENTION OF AC7 CESS BY HEZBOLLAH TO 

8 INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL 

9 AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS 

10 SEC. 101. BRIEFING ON IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON 

11 CERTAIN SATELLITE PROVIDERS THAT 

12 CARRY AL-MANAR TV. 

13 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

15 of State shall provide to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

16 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

17 Foreign Relations of the Senate a briefing on the fol18 lowing: 

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

20 Internet, or other providers that knowingly provide 

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

22 or successors thereof. 

23 (2) With respect to all providers described in 

24 paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) an identification of those providers 

2 that have been sanctioned pursuant to Execu3 tive Order No. 13224 (September 23, 2001); 

4 and 

5 (B) an identification of those providers 

6 that have not been sanctioned pursuant to Ex7 ecutive Order No. 13224 and, with respect to 

8 each such provider, the reason why sanctions 

9 have not been imposed. 

10 SEC. 102. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FINANCIAL INSTI11 TUTIONS THAT ENGAGE IN CERTAIN TRANS12 ACTIONS. 

13 (a) PROHIBITIONS AND CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT

14 TO CERTAIN ACCOUNTS HELD BY FOREIGN FINANCIAL

15 INSTITUTIONS.— 

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

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec18 retary of the Treasury, with the concurrence of the 

19 Secretary of State and in consultation with the 

20 heads of other applicable departments and agencies, 

21 shall prohibit, or impose strict conditions on, the 

22 opening or maintaining in the United States of a 

23 correspondent account or a payable-through account 

24 by a foreign financial institution that the Secretary 

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


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1 this Act, engages in an activity described in para2 graph (2). 

3 (2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—A foreign finan4 cial institution engages in an activity described in 

5 this paragraph if the foreign financial institution— 

6 (A) knowingly facilitates a significant 

7 transaction or transactions for Hezbollah; 

8 (B) knowingly facilitates a significant 

9 transaction or transactions of a person des10 ignated for acting on behalf of or at the direc11 tion of, or owned or controlled by, Hezbollah; 

12 (C) knowingly engages in money laun13 dering to carry out an activity described in sub14 paragraph (A) or (B); 

15 (D) knowingly facilitates a significant 

16 transaction or transactions or provides signifi17 cant financial services to carry out an activity 

18 described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), in19 cluding— 

20 (i) facilitating a significant trans21 action or transactions; or 

22 (ii) providing significant financial 

23 services that involve a transaction of cov24 ered goods; or 


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

2 or assists in, an activity described in subpara3 graph (A), (B), (C), or (D), including by acting 

4 on behalf of, at the direction of, or as an inter5 mediary for, or otherwise assisting, another per6 son with respect to the activity described in any 

7 such subparagraph; 

8 (ii) knowingly attempts or conspires to fa9 cilitate or participate in an activity described in 

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

11 (iii) is owned or controlled by a foreign fi12 nancial institution that the Secretary finds 

13 knowingly engages in an activity described in 

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

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

16 subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter17 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

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

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

20 violation of regulations prescribed under paragraph 

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

22 penalties apply to a person that commits an unlaw23 ful act described in subsection (a) of such section 

24 206(a). 


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1 (4) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the 

2 Treasury shall prescribe and implement regulations 

3 to carry out this subsection. 

4 (b) WAIVER.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas6 ury, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State 

7 and in consultation with the heads of other applica8 ble departments and agencies, may waive, on a case9 by-case basis, the application of a prohibition or con10 dition imposed with respect to a foreign financial in11 stitution pursuant to subsection (a) for a period of 

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

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

14 and after the date that the Secretary of the Treas15 ury, with the concurrence of the Secretary of 

16 State— 

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

18 national security interests of the United States; 

19 and 

20 (B) submits to the appropriate congres21 sional committees a report describing the rea22 sons for such determination. 

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

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

25 may contain a classified annex. 


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1 (c) PROVISIONS RELATING TO FOREIGN FINANCIAL

2 INSTITUTIONS.— 

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

4 date of the enactment of this Act and every 180 

5 days thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

6 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

7 a report that— 

8 (A) identifies each foreign central bank 

9 that the Secretary determines engages in one or 

10 more activities described in subsection 

11 (a)(2)(D); and 

12 (B) provides a detailed description of each 

13 such activity. 

14 (2) SPECIAL RULE TO ALLOW FOR TERMI15 NATION OF SANCTIONABLE ACTIVITY.—The Sec16 retary of the Treasury shall not be required to apply 

17 sanctions to a foreign financial institution described 

18 in subsection (a) if the Secretary, with the concur19 rence of the Secretary of State and in consultation 

20 with the heads of other applicable departments and 

21 agencies, certifies in writing to the appropriate con22 gressional committees that— 

23 (A) such foreign financial institution— 

24 (i) is no longer engaging in the activ25 ity described in subsection (a)(2); or 


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1 (ii) has taken and is continuing to 

2 take significant verifiable steps toward ter3 minating the activity described in such 

4 subsection; and 

5 (B) the Secretary has received reliable as6 surances from the government with primary ju7 risdiction over such foreign financial institution 

8 that such foreign financial institution will not 

9 engage in any activity described in such sub10 section in the future. 

11 (d) DEFINITIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section: 

13 (A) ACCOUNT; CORRESPONDENT ACCOUNT; 

14 PAYABLE-THROUGH ACCOUNT.—The terms ‘‘ac15 count’’, ‘‘correspondent account’’, and ‘‘payable16 through account’’ have the meanings given 

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

18 States Code. 

19 (B) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM20 MITTEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congres21 sional committees’’ means— 

22 (i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

23 and the Committee on Financial Services 

24 of the House of Representatives; and 


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1 (ii) the Committee on Foreign Rela2 tions and the Committee on Banking, 

3 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

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

5 goods’’ has the meaning given the term in sec6 tion 1027.100 of title 31, Code of Federal Reg7 ulations. 

8 (D) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

9 ‘‘financial institution’’ means a financial insti10 tution specified in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

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

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

13 of title 31, United States Code. 

14 (E) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION; 

15 DOMESTIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.— 

16 (i) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITU17 TION.—The term ‘‘foreign financial institu18 tion’’ has the meaning of such term in sec19 tion 1010.605 of title 31, Code of Federal 

20 Regulations, and includes a foreign central 

21 bank. 

22 (ii) DOMESTIC FINANCIAL INSTITU23 TION.—The term ‘‘domestic financial insti24 tution’’ has the meaning of such term as 


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1 determined by the Secretary of the Treas2 ury. 

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

4 means— 

5 (i) any person— 

6 (I) the property of or interests in 

7 property of which are blocked pursu8 ant to the International Emergency 

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

10 1701 et seq.); and 

11 (II) who is identified on the list 

12 of specially designated nationals and 

13 blocked persons maintained by the Of14 fice of Foreign Asset Control of the 

15 Department of the Treasury as an 

16 agent, instrumentality, or affiliate of 

17 Hezbollah; and 

18 (ii) the entity designated by the Sec19 retary of State as a foreign terrorist orga20 nization pursuant to section 219 of the Im21 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

22 1189). 

23 (G) MONEY LAUNDERING.—The term 

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

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1 tion 1956(a) of title 18, United States Code, 

2 with respect to which penalties may be imposed 

3 pursuant to such section. 

4 (2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The Secretary of 

5 the Treasury may further define the terms used in 

6 this section in the regulations prescribed under this 

7 section. 

8 TITLE II—REPORTS ON DES9 IGNATION OF HEZBOLLAH AS 

10 A SIGNIFICANT FOREIGN 

11 NARCOTICS TRAFFICKER AND 

12 A SIGNIFICANT TRANS13 NATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGA14 NIZATION 

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

16 SIGNIFICANT FOREIGN NARCOTICS TRAF17 FICKER. 

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

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

20 shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees 

21 a detailed report on whether Hezbollah meets the criteria 

22 for designation under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Des23 ignation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) as a significant for24 eign narcotics trafficker, and if the President determines 


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1 that Hezbollah does not meet such criteria, a detailed jus2 tification as to which criteria have not been met. 

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

4 shall be transmitted in unclassified form, but may include 

5 a classified annex. 

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

7 SIGNIFICANT TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL OR8 GANIZATION. 

9 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con10 gress that— 

11 (1) Hezbollah meets the criteria for designation 

12 as a significant transnational criminal organization 

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

14 44757); and 

15 (2) the President should so designate Hezbollah 

16 as a significant transnational criminal organization. 

17 (b) REPORT.— 

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

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

20 President shall transmit to the appropriate commit21 tees of Congress a detailed report on whether the 

22 Hezbollah meets the criteria for designation as a sig23 nificant transnational criminal organization under 

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

25 and if the President determines that Hezbollah does 


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1 not meet such criteria, a detailed justification as to 

2 which criteria have not been met. 

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

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

5 may include a classified annex. 

6 SEC. 203. REWARDS FOR JUSTICE AND HEZBOLLAH’S FUND7 RAISING, FINANCING, AND MONEY LAUN8 DERING ACTIVITIES. 

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

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

11 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re12 port that details actions taken by the Department of State 

13 through the Department of State rewards program under 

14 section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act 

15 (22 U.S.C. 2708) to obtain information on fundraising, 

16 financing, and money laundering activities of Hezbollah 

17 and its agents and affiliates. 

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

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

20 Secretary of State shall provide a briefing to the appro21 priate congressional committees on the status of the ac22 tions described in subsection (a). 

23 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE24 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres25 sional committees’’ means— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

2 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

3 Representatives; and 

4 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

5 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af6 fairs of the Senate. 

7 SEC. 204. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN GOVERN8 MENTS TO DISRUPT GLOBAL LOGISTICS NET9 WORKS AND FUNDRAISING, FINANCING, AND 

10 MONEY LAUNDERING ACTIVITIES OF 

11 HEZBOLLAH. 

12 (a) REPORT.— 

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

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

15 shall transmit to the appropriate congressional com16 mittees a report that includes— 

17 (A) a list of countries that support 

18 Hezbollah, or in which Hezbollah maintains im19 portant portions of its global logistics networks; 

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

21 required by subparagraph (A)— 

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1 tics networks of Hezbollah within the terri2 tory of such country; and 

3 (ii) in the case of a country the gov4 ernment of which is not taking adequate 

5 measures to disrupt such networks— 

6 (I) an assessment of the reasons 

7 such government is not taking such 

8 adequate measures; and 

9 (II) a description of measures 

10 being taken by the United States to 

11 encourage such government to im12 prove measures to disrupt such net13 works; 

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

15 or any of its agents or affiliates, conducts sig16 nificant fundraising, financing, or money laun17 dering activities; 

18 (D) with respect to each country on the 

19 list required by subparagraph (C)— 

20 (i) an assessment of whether the gov21 ernment of such country is taking ade22 quate measures to disrupt the fundraising, 

23 financing, or money laundering activities of 

24 Hezbollah and its agents and affiliates 

25 within the territory of such country; and 


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1 (ii) in the case of a country the gov2 ernment of which is not taking adequate 

3 measures to disrupt such activities— 

4 (I) an assessment of the reasons 

5 such government is not taking such 

6 adequate measures; and 

7 (II) a description of measures 

8 being taken by the United States to 

9 encourage such government to im10 prove measures to disrupt such activi11 ties; and 

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

13 any of its agents or affiliates, utilizes to raise 

14 or transfer funds, including trade-based money 

15 laundering, the use of foreign exchange houses, 

16 and free-trade zones. 

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

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

19 greatest extent possible, and may contain a classified 

20 annex. 

21 (3) GLOBAL LOGISTICS NETWORKS OF

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

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

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


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1 or technological support for, or financial or other 

2 services in support of, Hezbollah. 

3 (b) BRIEFING ON HEZBOLLAH’S ASSETS AND AC4 TIVITIES RELATED TO FUNDRAISING, FINANCING, AND

5 MONEY LAUNDERING WORLDWIDE.—Not later than 90 

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

7 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

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

9 other applicable Federal departments and agencies shall 

10 provide to the appropriate congressional committees a 

11 briefing on the disposition of Hezbollah’s assets and activi12 ties related to fundraising, financing, and money laun13 dering worldwide. 

14 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE15 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres16 sional committees’’ means— 

17 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

18 Committee on Financial Services, and the Perma19 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 

20 of Representatives; and 

21 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

22 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af23 fairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

24 the Senate. 


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1 SEC. 205. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 

2 DEFINED. 

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

4 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 

5 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

6 Committee on Financial Services, and the Com7 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa8 tives; and 

9 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

10 Committee on Finance, and the Committee on the 

11 Judiciary of the Senate. 

12 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

13 PROVISIONS 

14 SEC. 301. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

15 Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this 

16 Act shall apply to the authorized intelligence activities of 

17 the United States. 

18 SEC. 302. REGULATORY AUTHORITY. 

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

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

21 promulgate regulations as necessary for the implementa22 tion of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

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

24 days before the promulgation of regulations under sub25 section (a), the President shall notify the appropriate con26 gressional committees (as such term is defined in section 


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

2 Act and the amendments made by this Act that the regula3 tions are implementing. 

4 SEC. 303. TERMINATION. 

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

6 after the date on which the President certifies to Congress 

7 that Hezbollah— 

8 (1) is no longer designated as a foreign ter9 rorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the 

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

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

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

13 blocking property and prohibiting transactions with 

14 persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support 

15 terrorism); and 

16 (3) poses no significant threat to United States 

17 national security, interests, or allies. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 14, 2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 

By ROBERT F. REEVES, 

Deputy Clerk. 


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