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 Com-
mittee 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 jurisdic-
tion 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 
2015’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
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 SIG-
NIFICANT FOREIGN NARCOTICS TRAFFICKER AND A SIGNIFI-
CANT 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 ac-
tivities of Hezbollah. 
Sec. 205. Appropriate congressional committees defined. 
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 301. Rule of construction. 
Sec. 302. Regulatory authority. 
Sec. 303. Termination. 
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It shall be the policy of the United States to— 
(1) prevent Hezbollah’s global logistics and fi-
nancial network from operating in order to curtail 
funding of its domestic and international activities; 
and 
(2) utilize all available diplomatic, legislative, 
and executive avenues to combat the global criminal 
activities of Hezbollah as a means to block that or-
ganization’s ability to fund its global terrorist activi-
ties. 
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TITLE I—PREVENTION OF AC-
CESS 
BY 
HEZBOLLAH 
TO 
INTERNATIONAL 
FINANCIAL 
AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS 
SEC. 101. BRIEFING ON IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON 
CERTAIN 
SATELLITE 
PROVIDERS 
THAT 
CARRY AL-MANAR TV. 
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
of State shall provide to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate a briefing on the fol-
lowing: 
(1) The activities of all satellite, broadcast, 
Internet, or other providers that knowingly provide 
material support to al-Manar TV, and any affiliates 
or successors thereof. 
(2) With respect to all providers described in 
paragraph (1)— 
(A) an identification of those providers 
that have been sanctioned pursuant to Execu-
tive Order No. 13224 (September 23, 2001); 
and 
(B) an identification of those providers 
that have not been sanctioned pursuant to Ex-
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ecutive Order No. 13224 and, with respect to 
each such provider, the reason why sanctions 
have not been imposed. 
SEC. 102. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FINANCIAL INSTI-
TUTIONS THAT ENGAGE IN CERTAIN TRANS-
ACTIONS. 
(a) PROHIBITIONS AND CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT 
TO CERTAIN ACCOUNTS HELD BY FOREIGN FINANCIAL 
INSTITUTIONS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, with the concurrence of the 
Secretary of State and in consultation with the 
heads of other applicable departments and agencies, 
shall prohibit, or impose strict conditions on, the 
opening or maintaining in the United States of a 
correspondent account or a payable-through account 
by a foreign financial institution that the Secretary 
determines, on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, engages in an activity described in para-
graph (2). 
(2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—A foreign finan-
cial institution engages in an activity described in 
this paragraph if the foreign financial institution— 
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(A) knowingly facilitates a significant 
transaction or transactions for Hezbollah; 
(B) knowingly facilitates a significant 
transaction or transactions of a person des-
ignated for acting on behalf of or at the direc-
tion of, or owned or controlled by, Hezbollah; 
(C) knowingly engages in money laun-
dering to carry out an activity described in sub-
paragraph (A) or (B); 
(D) knowingly facilitates a significant 
transaction or transactions or provides signifi-
cant financial services to carry out an activity 
described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), in-
cluding— 
(i) facilitating a significant trans-
action or transactions; or 
(ii) providing significant financial 
services that involve a transaction of cov-
ered goods; or 
(E)(i) knowingly facilitates, or participates 
or assists in, an activity described in subpara-
graph (A), (B), (C), or (D), including by acting 
on behalf of, at the direction of, or as an inter-
mediary for, or otherwise assisting, another per-
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son with respect to the activity described in any 
such subparagraph; 
(ii) knowingly attempts or conspires to fa-
cilitate or participate in an activity described in 
subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D); or 
(iii) is owned or controlled by a foreign fi-
nancial institution that the Secretary finds 
knowingly engages in an activity described in 
subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D). 
(3) PENALTIES.—The penalties provided for in 
subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter-
national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person that violates, 
attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 
violation of regulations prescribed under paragraph 
(4) of this subsection to the same extent that such 
penalties apply to a person that commits an unlaw-
ful act described in subsection (a) of such section 
206(a). 
(4) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall prescribe and implement regulations 
to carry out this subsection. 
(b) WAIVER.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas-
ury, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State 
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and in consultation with the heads of other applica-
ble departments and agencies, may waive, on a case- 
by-case basis, the application of a prohibition or con-
dition imposed with respect to a foreign financial in-
stitution pursuant to subsection (a) for a period of 
not more than 180 days, and may renew such waiver 
for additional periods of not more than 180 days, on 
and after the date that the Secretary of the Treas-
ury, with the concurrence of the Secretary of 
State— 
(A) determines that such a waiver is in the 
national security interests of the United States; 
and 
(B) submits to the appropriate congres-
sional committees a report describing the rea-
sons for such determination. 
(2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 
(1)(B) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but 
may contain a classified annex. 
(c) PROVISIONS RELATING TO FOREIGN FINANCIAL 
INSTITUTIONS.— 
(1) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act and every 180 
days thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
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submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a report that— 
(A) identifies each foreign central bank 
that the Secretary determines engages in one or 
more 
activities 
described 
in 
subsection 
(a)(2)(D); and 
(B) provides a detailed description of each 
such activity. 
(2) SPECIAL
RULE
TO
ALLOW
FOR
TERMI-
NATION
OF
SANCTIONABLE
ACTIVITY.—The Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall not be required to apply 
sanctions to a foreign financial institution described 
in subsection (a) if the Secretary, with the concur-
rence of the Secretary of State and in consultation 
with the heads of other applicable departments and 
agencies, certifies in writing to the appropriate con-
gressional committees that— 
(A) such foreign financial institution— 
(i) is no longer engaging in the activ-
ity described in subsection (a)(2); or 
(ii) has taken and is continuing to 
take significant verifiable steps toward ter-
minating the activity described in such 
subsection; and 
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(B) the Secretary has received reliable as-
surances from the government with primary ju-
risdiction over such foreign financial institution 
that such foreign financial institution will not 
engage in any activity described in such sub-
section in the future. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section: 
(A) ACCOUNT; CORRESPONDENT ACCOUNT; 
PAYABLE-THROUGH ACCOUNT.—The terms ‘‘ac-
count’’, ‘‘correspondent account’’, and ‘‘payable- 
through account’’ have the meanings given 
those terms in section 5318A of title 31, United 
States Code. 
(B) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COM-
MITTEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means— 
(i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
and the Committee on Financial Services 
of the House of Representatives; and 
(ii) the Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions and the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 
(C) COVERED GOODS.—The term ‘‘covered 
goods’’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
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tion 1027.100 of title 31, Code of Federal Reg-
ulations. 
(D) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term 
‘‘financial institution’’ means a financial insti-
tution specified in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 
(D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), (K), (M), (N), 
(P), (R), (T), (Y), or (Z) of section 5312(a)(2) 
of title 31, United States Code. 
(E) FOREIGN
FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION; 
DOMESTIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.— 
(i) FOREIGN
FINANCIAL
INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘foreign financial institu-
tion’’ has the meaning of such term in sec-
tion 1010.605 of title 31, Code of Federal 
Regulations, and includes a foreign central 
bank. 
(ii) DOMESTIC
FINANCIAL
INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘domestic financial insti-
tution’’ has the meaning of such term as 
determined by the Secretary of the Treas-
ury. 
(F) HEZBOLLAH.—The term ‘‘Hezbollah’’ 
means— 
(i) any person— 
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(I) the property of or interests in 
property of which are blocked pursu-
ant to the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
1701 et seq.); and 
(II) who is identified on the list 
of specially designated nationals and 
blocked persons maintained by the Of-
fice of Foreign Asset Control of the 
Department of the Treasury as an 
agent, instrumentality, or affiliate of 
Hezbollah; and 
(ii) the entity designated by the Sec-
retary of State as a foreign terrorist orga-
nization pursuant to section 219 of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1189). 
(G) 
MONEY
LAUNDERING.—The 
term 
‘‘money laundering’’ means any of the activities 
described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of sec-
tion 1956(a) of title 18, United States Code, 
with respect to which penalties may be imposed 
pursuant to such section. 
(2) OTHER
DEFINITIONS.—The Secretary of 
the Treasury may further define the terms used in 
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this section in the regulations prescribed under this 
section. 
TITLE 
II—REPORTS 
ON 
DES-
IGNATION 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 
TRAF-
FICKER. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a detailed report on whether Hezbollah meets the criteria 
for designation under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Des-
ignation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) as a significant for-
eign narcotics trafficker, and if the President determines 
that Hezbollah does not meet such criteria, a detailed jus-
tification as to which criteria have not been met. 
(b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 
shall be transmitted in unclassified form, but may include 
a classified annex. 
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SEC. 203. REWARDS FOR JUSTICE AND HEZBOLLAH’S FUND-
RAISING, FINANCING, AND MONEY LAUN-
DERING ACTIVITIES. 
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re-
port that details actions taken by the Department of State 
through the Department of State rewards program under 
section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act 
(22 U.S.C. 2708) to obtain information on fundraising, 
financing, and money laundering activities of Hezbollah 
and its agents and affiliates. 
(b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 
Secretary of State shall provide a briefing to the appro-
priate congressional committees on the status of the ac-
tions described in subsection (a). 
(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af-
fairs of the Senate. 
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SEC. 204. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN GOVERN-
MENTS TO DISRUPT GLOBAL LOGISTICS NET-
WORKS AND FUNDRAISING, FINANCING, AND 
MONEY 
LAUNDERING 
ACTIVITIES 
OF 
HEZBOLLAH. 
(a) REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
shall transmit to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees a report that includes— 
(A) a list of countries that support 
Hezbollah, or in which Hezbollah maintains im-
portant portions of its global logistics networks; 
(B) with respect to each country on the list 
required by subparagraph (A)— 
(i) an assessment of whether the gov-
ernment of such country is taking ade-
quate measures to disrupt the global logis-
tics networks of Hezbollah within the terri-
tory of such country; and 
(ii) in the case of a country the gov-
ernment of which is not taking adequate 
measures to disrupt such networks— 
(I) an assessment of the reasons 
such government is not taking such 
adequate measures; and 
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(II) a description of measures 
being taken by the United States to 
encourage such government to im-
prove measures to disrupt such net-
works; 
(C) a list of countries in which Hezbollah, 
or any of its agents or affiliates, conducts sig-
nificant fundraising, financing, or money laun-
dering activities; 
(D) with respect to each country on the 
list required by subparagraph (C)— 
(i) an assessment of whether the gov-
ernment of such country is taking ade-
quate measures to disrupt the fundraising, 
financing, or money laundering activities of 
Hezbollah and its agents and affiliates 
within the territory of such country; and 
(ii) in the case of a country the gov-
ernment of which is not taking adequate 
measures to disrupt such activities— 
(I) an assessment of the reasons 
such government is not taking such 
adequate measures; and 
(II) a description of measures 
being taken by the United States to 
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encourage such government to im-
prove measures to disrupt such activi-
ties; and 
(E) a list of methods that Hezbollah, or 
any of its agents or affiliates, utilizes to raise 
or transfer funds, including trade-based money 
laundering, the use of foreign exchange houses, 
and free-trade zones. 
(2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 
(1) shall be submitted in unclassified form to the 
greatest extent possible, and may contain a classified 
annex. 
(3) 
GLOBAL
LOGISTICS
NETWORKS
OF 
HEZBOLLAH.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘global 
logistics networks of Hezbollah’’, ‘‘global logistics 
networks’’, or ‘‘networks’’ means financial, material, 
or technological support for, or financial or other 
services in support of, Hezbollah. 
(b) BRIEFING ON HEZBOLLAH’S ASSETS AND AC-
TIVITIES RELATED TO FUNDRAISING, FINANCING, AND 
MONEY LAUNDERING WORLDWIDE.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act and every 
180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State, the Secretary 
of the Treasury, and the heads (or their designees) of 
other applicable Federal departments and agencies shall 
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provide to the appropriate congressional committees a 
briefing on the disposition of Hezbollah’s assets and activi-
ties related to fundraising, financing, and money laun-
dering worldwide. 
(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on Financial Services, and the Perma-
nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 
of Representatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af-
fairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of 
the Senate. 
SEC. 205. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 
DEFINED. 
Except as otherwise provided, in this title, the term 
‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on Financial Services, and the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa-
tives; and 
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(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
Committee on Finance, and the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the Senate. 
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 
PROVISIONS 
SEC. 301. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this 
Act shall apply to the authorized intelligence activities of 
the United States. 
SEC. 302. REGULATORY AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, not later 
than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
promulgate regulations as necessary for the implementa-
tion of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 
(b) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not less than 10 
days before the promulgation of regulations under sub-
section (a), the President shall notify the appropriate con-
gressional committees (as such term is defined in section 
203) of the proposed regulations and the provisions of this 
Act and the amendments made by this Act that the regula-
tions are implementing. 
SEC. 303. TERMINATION. 
This Act shall terminate on the date that is 30 days 
after the date on which the President certifies to Congress 
that Hezbollah— 
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(1) is no longer designated as a foreign ter-
rorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); 
(2) is no longer listed in the Annex to Executive 
Order No. 13224 (September 23, 2001; relating to 
blocking property and prohibiting transactions with 
persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support 
terrorism); and 
(3) poses no significant threat to United States 
national security, interests, or allies. 
Æ 
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