SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Strategy for 
Combating Terrorist, Underground, and Other Illicit Fi-
nancing Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The financing of terrorism and related 
forms of illicit finance present a direct threat to na-
tional security and a threat to global stability. 
(2) New terrorist groups or threats can form 
quickly, and other groups change tactics to adapt, 
creating a constantly changing terrorist environ-
ment, presenting ever-changing risks and challenges 
to programs to disrupt the financing of terrorism 
and related forms of illicit finance. 
(3) As demonstrated in hearings before the 
Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing, ter-
rorists in some instances have formed symbiotic rela-
tionships with, or are taking over, transnational 
crime syndicates, so that funding for both terrorism 
and profits from crime flow in the same fashion and 
often are indistinguishable. 
(4) Methods of concealing the movement of il-
licit funding change quickly in a globalized economy, 
and rapid technological changes and financial inno-
vation pose new risks that may be increasingly dif-
ficult for governments to stay abreast of without an 
agile, constantly adjusted strategy to spot, disrupt, 
and prevent the financing of terrorism and related 
forms of illicit finance. 
(5) A bipartisan requirement to create a na-
tional anti-money laundering strategy enacted in 
1998 expired in 2007. Given the rapid globalization 
and rapid technology changes of the financial sector, 
an updated strategy focused on the financing of ter-
rorism is necessary. 
(6) It is important for the Government to have 
a unified strategy to fight financial crime and to up-
date it annually, both to accommodate new and de-
veloping threats and to help Congress develop legis-
lative and funding priorities. 
(7) An effective strategy to counter terrorism 
financing is a critical component of the broader 
counter terrorism strategy of the United States. 
SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL STRATEGY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 
Secretary of the Treasury (the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, in con-
sultation with the Attorney General, the Secretaries of 
State, Defense, and Homeland Security, the Director of 
National Intelligence and the appropriate Federal banking
agencies, develop a national strategy for combating the fi-
nancing of terrorism and related forms of illicit finance. 
(b) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—By June 1 each 
year following the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a national strategy developed in accordance 
with subsection (a). 
(c) EVALUATION
OF
EXISTING
EFFORTS
AND 
BROADER STRATEGY.—The President shall accompany 
each strategy submitted under subsection (b) with a report 
that— 
(1) describes the effectiveness of efforts to en-
force existing prohibitions against illicit finance; 
(2) describes how the United States is address-
ing the highest levels of risk identified in the Na-
tional Money Laundering Risk Assessment and the 
National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment pub-
lished by the Department of the Treasury; 
(3) evaluates the effectiveness of United States 
efforts to fight illicit finance at actually preventing, 
discovering, and countering terrorist financing and 
other forms of illicit finance (and the effectiveness of 
those efforts that the United States coordinates with 
foreign nations); and
(4) describes how the strategy submitted under 
subsection (b) is integrated into, and supports, the 
broader counter terrorism strategy of the United 
States. 
(d) SEPARATE PRESENTATION OF CLASSIFIED MA-
TERIAL.—Any part of the national strategy that involves 
information which is properly classified under criteria es-
tablished by the President shall be submitted to the Con-
gress separately in a classified annex and, if requested by 
the chairman or ranking Member of one of the appropriate 
congressional committees, as a briefing at an appropriate 
level of security. 
SEC. 4. CONTENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The strategy described under sec-
tion 3 shall contain, at a minimum, the following: 
(1) THREATS, GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND PRIOR-
ITIES.—A 
comprehensive, 
research-based, 
long- 
range, quantifiable discussion of threats, goals, ob-
jectives, and priorities for disrupting, preventing and 
reducing the number, dollar value, and effects of il-
licit finance in the United States and foreign coun-
tries that impact the security of the United States. 
(2) COORDINATION.—A discussion of methods 
to best coordinate such efforts with international,
State, and local officials, law enforcement, regu-
lators, and financial institutions. 
(3) REVIEWS AND PROPOSED CHANGES.—Re-
views of enforcement efforts, relevant regulations 
and relevant provisions of law and, when appro-
priate, discussions of proposed changes determined 
to be appropriate to ensure that the United States 
pursues coordinated and effective efforts at all levels 
of government in the fight against illicit finance and 
with international partners. 
(4) DETECTION
AND
PROSECUTION
INITIA-
TIVES.—A description of efforts to improve detection 
and prosecution of illicit finance, including efforts to 
ensure that— 
(A) subject to legal restrictions, all appro-
priate data collected by the Government that is 
relevant to the efforts described in this Act be 
available in a timely fashion to all appropriate 
Federal departments and agencies and, as ap-
propriate and consistent with section 314 of the 
USA PATRIOT Act, to financial institutions to 
assist them in efforts to comply with laws 
aimed at curbing illicit finance; and 
(B) appropriate efforts are undertaken to 
ensure that Federal departments and agencies
charged with reducing and preventing illicit fi-
nance make thorough use of publicly available 
data in furtherance of this effort. 
(5) THE
ROLE
OF
THE
PRIVATE
FINANCIAL 
SECTOR IN PREVENTION OF ILLICIT FINANCE.—A 
discussion of ways to enhance partnerships between 
the private financial sector and Federal departments 
and agencies with regard to the prevention and de-
tection of illicit money laundering finance, includ-
ing— 
(A) efforts to facilitate compliance with 
laws aimed at stopping such illicit finance while 
maintaining the effectiveness of such efforts; 
and 
(B) providing incentives to strengthen in-
ternal controls and to adopt on an industry- 
wide basis more effective policies. 
(6) ENHANCEMENT
OF
INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
COOPERATION.—A discussion of ways to combat il-
licit finance by enhancing— 
(A) cooperative efforts between Federal, 
State, and local officials, including State and 
local prosecutors and other law enforcement of-
ficials;
cluding a discussion of the reporting structure 
by which such issues are brought to the direct 
attention of the ambassador; and 
(D) the effect of not having more attache´s 
in embassies that are most vulnerable to illicit 
finance threats and a discussion of whether the 
Department of the Treasury’s economic or anti- 
illicit finance issues are thought to be under- 
represented in some embassies or regions. 
(13) ILLICIT FINANCE AND CYBER CRIME.—A 
discussion of terrorist financing and other forms of 
illicit finance that involve cyber attacks, evolving 
forms of value transfer, including so-called ‘‘crypto 
currencies’’, and other methods that are computer, 
telecommunications, or Internet-based. 
(14) TECHNOLOGY.—An analysis of current 
and developing ways to leverage technology to im-
prove the effectiveness of the fight against the fi-
nancing of terror and other forms of illicit finance, 
including the use of ‘‘big data’’ analytics, the merg-
ing of publicly sourced data with Bank Secrecy Act 
data and with other forms of secure Government 
data to increase such effectiveness, and ways to en-
hance the role of the private sector in combating il-
licit finance.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Financial Serv-
ices, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on 
Armed Services, Committee on Homeland Security, 
and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations, Committee on Armed 
Services, Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
ernmental Affairs, and the Select Committee on In-
telligence of the Senate. 
(2) APPROPRIATE
FEDERAL
BANKING
AGEN-
CIES.—The term ‘‘appropriate Federal banking 
agencies’’ has the meaning given that term under 
section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 
U.S.C. 1813). 
(3) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘‘Bank Se-
crecy Act’’ means— 
(A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit In-
surance Act; 
(B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91– 
508; and
(C) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, 
United States Code. 
(4) ILLICIT
FINANCE.—The term ‘‘illicit fi-
nance’’ means the financing of terrorism, money 
laundering, and other forms of illicit or underground 
financing or other illicit finance domestically and 
internationally, as defined by the President. 
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, and 
each territory or possession of the United States. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 11, 2016. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5594 
AN ACT 
To require the establishment of a national strategy 
for combating the financing of terrorism and re-
lated financial crimes, and for other purposes.