Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. House Of Representatives 20240713

Bill also works to lower the compliance burden on Financial Institutions, most of which are Community Banks, by establishing several tools to allow for more targeted sharing of b. S. A. , is bsaamlrelated information. Studies kes modest and waste ways to reduce the cost associated with researching and writing suspicious activity reports. The bill also creates a new privacy and Civil Liberties officer, as well as an innovation officer in each of the federal financial regulators. And importantly, the bill imposes new penalties on Financial Institutions and personnel that violate the law and creates a Whistleblower Program to encourage and protect those who identify such bad acts. R. 2513, as amended, has the strong support of Financial Institutions. It is also supported by n. G. O. s like the aflcio, global witness, oxfam america, friends of the earth, jubilee u. S. A. Network, and the Small Business majority, all of which are members of the transparency focus fact coalition. Its widely supported by the fraternal order of police, the district attorneys association, and the federal law association. Gents in addition, this legislation is supported by the department of the federal and bureau of investigation. Maloney congresswoman and congressman cleaver for heir very hard work on the legislation as well as their ollaboration to put together a comprehensive bill to reform how this country fights against illicit finance. Urge h. R. 2513 and reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from north recognized. Mr. Mchenry thank you, madam chair. Mr. I claim time in opposition and i ield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. R. Mchenry mr. Chair, i am opposed to h. R. 2513 and i want outlining my opposition. This bill before us is a new Small Business mandate. N the smallest businesses in america. The bill before us today requires some of the smallest america, those with fewer than 20 employees, than 5 with less million in receipts. To file annually a list of all owners with the financial network, or ement fincen. For those that are working a trivia n cspan, question for them, mr. Chair. Never ost of them have heard of fincen. I bet those in the house office buildings, mr. Chair, have not heard of fincen. Now, its a little known agency, washington, that deals with financial crimes and department. Now, imagine you are a Small Business owner, you are getting a notice from the Financial Enforcement Network to disclose at you your the owners of your entity. So this would be the first first consumer facing Intelligence Bureau that federal in the government. This bill would require Small Business owners and small usiness investors to submit their personal information to the new federal database without protections. Acy this new federal database would be accessible to Law Enforcement without a warrant, without a subpoena. Due turbing violation of process, in my view. This has the fewest civil of any s protections federal Intelligence Bureau database. Lower standard of accountability than what congress provides in the patriot act. Hich largely targets foreign actors. According to the National Federation of independent alsoesses, this bill would add more than 5. 7 billion in costs for ory businesses. All supporters of the bill are calling for these changes without any direct evidence to the mandate. Plenty of antidote but no data. Months leading up to the committees consideration of this bill, i sought data from bureau called e fincen, and from the Treasury Department, along with the to better of justice understand the need for this legislation. They provided none. Gave antidote of very scary stories to try to compel me as a legislator to vote for what is a very specific threshold in law a very specific new Small Business mandate. Refuse to legislate based off of antidote. Id like to have hard data. My questions have not been answered by fincen, the Treasury Department of the justice. We have no information on how informationwnership will be protected, in addition to that. We do not have information on of small ivacy businesses will be preserved. Amendment have an here considered on the house floor that could further expos to the expose their data to the public. So even that determination is in stone now with the bill before us. Information on how many Law Enforcement agencies will have access to the financial ow many institutions will have access to the database or what threshold amount of sales and the number of employees will yield outcome. Effective so in the bill we have 5 under and revenue and 20 employees and under. We have no data to back up that threshold. Right for either the dollar of amount employees. F now, well have stories and well have members come to the house floor telling us stories bad actors, but that is antidote. To provide for this threshold. And if were going to have such americas ment on personal identifiable information of Small Businesses this country, shouldnt we have solid data . Shouldnt we have solid data . I believe so. And i believe we have a number of issues that need to be dealt to make this bill ustainable and provide protections for Civil Liberties. Combating illicit finance is a nonpartisan issues all members want to address. We must be thoughtful and data driven. Or example, in committee we came together in support of h. R. 2514, the counter act, introduced by the gentleman from missouri, mr. Cleaver, and the entleman from ohio, mr. Stivers. H. R. 2514 is a compilation of to reform policies the Bank Secrecy Act and antiMoney Laundering regimes. Security and privacy. I think we have a nice bipartisan bill that was out of Committee Without dissenting vote. It provides the department of treasury and other agencies to help catch bad actors. Theres been years of work in thats on of that bill wrapped up in this larger bill. Im disappointed the counter act not being considered as a standalone bill. Instead being swept into this believe as a i standalone bill, we could get that bill through the house, hrough the senate, and signed by the president into law this year. So i think its unfortunate that considering that as a standalone measure. I want to thank my colleagues on aisle for ide of the listening to some of our concerns on the republican side of the aisle. We will have some republican members that will vote for this bill. I, however, will not. The encroachment on the question lack of liberties, the separation of powers, the lack a subpoena and the lack of regulatory relief for those that are collecting in terms of th Small Businesses and financial fixed tions has not been nor dealt with. The rules ar, Committee Last night rejected amendments that would require Law Enforcement to obtain a before accessing sorry. Uring committee, there was rejection of a subpoena in our discussions. And then last night, the rules committee rejected my amendment that would provide greater Small Businesses and for Community Banks by epealing the customer Due Diligence rule which requires Financial Institutions to collect similar data that is required in this bill. Still lieve that issue merits more thoughtful solution and that doesnt treat Small Businesses as collateral damage, like the current bill does. With that i am opposed to the bill and would retain the of my time. The chair the gentleman from North Carolina reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield five minutes to mrs. Maloney of new york, the sponsor of the bill, and chair of the subcommittee on protection, entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets. The chair the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. Mrs. Maloney i thank the lady for yielding and for her the Financial Services committee and on this bill. Mr. Speaker, i rise in support 2513, the corporate Transparency Act. On bill would crack down anonymous use of Shell Companies. This someone of the most pressing National Security roblems that we face as a country. Because Anonymous Shell Companies are the vehicle of money launderers, terrorists. Nd the reason they are so popular traceduse they cannot be back to their true owners. Allow criminals and terrorists to move money the United States Financial System and finance their operations freely and legally. Nfortunately, we know the u. S. Is one of the easiest places in he entire world to set up an anonymous Shell Company. The reason why these shell anonymous, is because states dont require companies to name their true owners. Al the individuals who are ollecting the profits and who outright own the company. Or ny f. B. I. Agent prosecutor will tell you, far too many of their investigations it a dead end at an anonymous Shell Company. They know theres illegal money. Et, they cant pursue and stop it. And because they cant find out who the real owner of that shell is, they cant follow the money past the shell pile of cash this that they know is financing activity. The rail goes cold, and investigation is stopped dead in tracks. Treasury actually conducted a Pilot Program a couple years ago collected Beneficial Ownership information for real manhattannsactions in and miami over a sixmonth period. Stunning. Sults were treasury found that about 30 of transactions reported in those six months involved a eneficial owner or purchaser representative that had previously been the subject of a activity report. In other words, these were suspicious people buying these properties, and the Treasury Department had announced to the world through the press that would be collecting Beneficial Ownership information n these two cities for six months. So this didnt even capture the launderers who simply avoided these two cities for that sixmonth period. Would fix this problem by requiring companies to beneficial ir true owners to the financial crimes fincen, nt network, or at the time the company is formed. Would only be n available to Law Enforcement and institutions so they can comply with their their customers rules. This bill would plug a huge hole n our National Security defenses and would be a massive enforcement. W and we have a very large bill. Ion supporting the e have the support of 127 n. G. O. s, all of the Law Enforcement groups in our nation this bill. All of the banking trade the credit union trade associations, human rights groups, antitrafficking groups, state secretaries of state, and of the Real Estate Industry because lawny more, enforcement has said that enacting this bill will make our residents in our country safer. Thent to specifically thank face coalition, global witness, integrity for l their support, and i want to hank the Bank Policy Institute who have been strong supporters from the beginning, and i want o thank my personal staff, especially ben harney. I also want to thank my this ican partners on bill. Most notably, peter king from luetkemeyerd blaine from missouri. They have been both fantastic to believe the d i changes that they negotiated in good faith on this bill have better bill. En but the two people i want to congresswoman are waters, who has been a steadfast this ser of supporter of this bill for years, and congressman cleaver who has worked so hard on the counteract, which has been added to this bill. His leadership on the antiMoney Laundering reforms on the counteract have been indispensable. Urge a strong yes vote for this bill. It will make our country safer, and i yield back. The chair the gentlewoman from new york yields back. The gentlewoman from california reserves. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry mr. Chair, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry mr. Chair, aid like to commend the chair of the Capital Market subcommittee mrs. Maloney for the work shes put into this bill. Shes been willing to address many concerns from republicans about her legislation, though we are not able to come to final terms between she and i, but as she knows, and as i have stated clearly, it is for lack of data from the Treasury Department and from fincen itself. And those issues still remain. It is not because of a lack of good will on her behalf or her staffs behalf. But enormous amount of frustration we have from one of our bens bureaus Intelligence Bureaus that is not complying with ream oversight from congress. I want to commend mrs. Maloney for the work shes put in this legislation and do i wish we could come into terms on the details and finer points of this bill. Recognize mr. O pl barr for three minutes. The chair the gentleman from kentucky mr. Barr for three minutes. Mr. Barr i rise today in opposition to h. R. 2513, the corporate Transparency Act. Do i so regrettably. While i agree with the objective of the bill to help Law Enforcement crack down on the financing of illegal operations, this bills solution places undo burdens on Small Businesses and presents unacceptable due process concerns for millions of Small Business owners whose sensitive personally identifiable information will be collected and stored in a new federal database accessible without a warrant or federal subpoena. I want to thank my friend the sponsor of this bill for her good faith attempt to streamline Beneficial Ownership reporting, and i agree with her we need to do more to combat terrorist financing, Money Laundering, drug trafficking, and other National Security threats. I am sympathetic also to the needs of Law Enforcement to identify the financing sources of illicit operations and shut them down. That said, the bill before us today seeks to achieve these ends unnecessarily on the backs of americas Small Businesses. The bill would create additional regulatory reporting requirements for existing and newly created Small Businesses. These billses do not have the Compliance Resources comparable to larger firms. This reporting requirement will take a toll on their productivity and bottom line. According to the u. S. Small business administration, 95 of new firms begin with fewer than 20 employees, thus would most likely be subject to the reporting and compliance burdens of this bill. Accounting for this growth and conservative estimates of the time and expenses associated with completing the paperwork required by the bill, the National Federation of independent business forecasts that the bill would cost americas Small Businesses 5. 7 billion over 10 years and result in 131 million new hours of paperwork. These are dollars that companies could spend on making new investments or hiring new staff and time they could spend on building their businesses. H. R. 2513 would require Small Business owners or officers to report personally identifiable information such as names, Social Security number, and drivers license number to a newly created federal Government Database operated by fincen. Law enforcement could access this database without due process and the sensitive personal information contained in it is subject to the ever growing threat of malicious cyber criminals. Even with all the new requirements and privacy concerns created by this bill, it still does not fully address the root issue with current Beneficial Ownership reporting rules. The supposed justification of the bill is to ease the burden on Financial Institutions associated with implementing fincens customer Due Diligence rule. However, h. R. 2513 fails to repeal and replace the cdd rule and the rule will continue to coexistist with the additional regulatory burdens on Small Businesses created by the bill. Finally, the bill falls short if the goal is to relieve Financial Institutions of burdensome reporting requirements that do not materially contribute to countering Money Laundering and illicit finance. Thats because it fails to make inflation adjusted changes to the thresholds for filing suspicious activity reports and currentlycy transaction reports. While i recognize the need to combat financing of illicit operations, this bill attempts to do so by placing unjustified reporting requirements on our Small Businesses that could cost them time and money and hinder their growth. Mr. Mchenry i yield 30 more seconds. Mr. Barr to conclude, we can and should update our amlbsa laws and can and should give fincen and Law Enforcement better visibility into the Beneficial Ownership of firms vulnerable to Money Laundering and illicit finance. This is the wrong solution. Im hopeful that the concerns of main street Small Businesses can be addressed if this bill moves to the u. S. Senate. With that i yield back. The chair the gentleman from kentucky yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from North Carolina reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield three minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. Foster, who is the chair of the task force on artificial intelligence. The chair the gentleman from illinois is recognized. Mr. Foster i thank the chairwoman for yielding and thank my friend from new york, chairwoman maloney, for her leadership on this issue. I rise in support of h. R. 2513 which would help end the abuse of Anonymous Shell Companies. These entities have a well documented history of being used to hide money in a wide variety of crimes, including sanctions evasion, terrorist financing, human trafficking, drug trafficking, illegal arms dealing, tax evasion, and corruption. Anonymous shell corporations have been subverted by criminals in every evolving schemes involving emerging digital technologies. One of the many hats i wear is cochair of the black chain caucus. In the past week he had disquieting updates from officials from the f. B. I. And fincen about trends in the abuse of crip toe currency for nefarious purposes. What was clear was the use of these temperatures has greatly inhabited the ability of Law Enforcement to go after criminals who use crip toe currency to crypto currency to engage in financing. It also makes it extremely difficult to uncover abusive trading practices in unregulated crypto exchanges. In short, criminals and Law Enforcement officers are engaged in a very sophisticated cat and mouse game in which Law Enforcement is always playing catchup. Passing the corporate Transparency Act will give Law Enforcement officers a significant new tool that would intentionally lead them to taking down more of the bad guys. And let us not forget the use of the Beneficial Ownership registries is not some wildeyed crazy concept where the u. S. Would be going out on a limb. This is an area where the u. S. Is significantly behind other developed nations. The Financial Action task force respected intergovernmental policymaking body established by the g7 countries in 2016 gave the u. S. A failing grade for its efforts to prevent the laundering of criminal proceeds by Shell Companies. According to the report, u. S. Has not done enough to rein in corporate secrecy which presents serious gaps in Law Enforcement efforts that leaves our Financial System vulnerable to dirty money. They were blunt. We were scored as nonclient. The lowest possible score in our ability to determine the true owners of Shell Companies. Thats simply unacceptable. Id like to think that the u. S. Should be a standard setter amongst nation when is it comes to things like antiMoney Laundering enforcement, the current status quo, however, woefully fails to measure up to our lofty goals. We need to do better and thats why i support the commonsense measures put forth in h. R. 2513. I thank congresswoman maloney for her determined and dogged leadership on this issue for many years. I urge a yes vote on h. R. 2513. And yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from illinois yield back the balance of his time. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry i yield my colleague, mr. Hill of little rock, arkansas, four minutes. The chair the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Hill, is recognized. Mr. Hill thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to come to the floor and talk about h. R. 2513, the corporate Transparency Act. I want to thank my good friend from new york, mrs. Maloney, for her leadership in this area for well over a decade. Her hard work, her determination on improving our antiMoney Laundering and Bank Secrecy Act rules. I appreciate the chair of the committee and her work as well. The legislation addresses how we might combat illicit finance activities by appropriately strengthening the collection of Beneficial Ownership information. Mr. Chairman, Beneficial Owner is a person who enjoys the benefits of ownership even though the title of some form of property is in another name. We have long debated in congress the best way for this information to be collected, and lets be clear here, it is being collected. By our Financial Services industry under our know your customer rules. The ability to set up legal entities without accurate Beneficial Ownership information, however, has long represented a key vulnerability in the u. S. Financial system. As i say, all u. S. Banks, brokerage firms, financial service, have a know your customer obligation to collect ownership information and importantly collecting Beneficial Ownership information. And this was further defined in may, 2008, by a fincen rule. But not all Shell Companies are established for malicious purposes. Owners might create one temporarily to finance a company thats not yet started operations. Or to propose to house an acquisition in coming years. Ut in this instance they would have no employees or revenue so it would look like a Shell Company but it would be otherwise legal. Its true there are too many instances of Anonymous Shell Companies serving as a vehicle for ill intended activities, including Money Laundering and terrorist financing. The antiMoney Laundering system and the sanction systems both independently and tandem are more important than ever before as we have seen in recent debate s. For well over a decade congresswoman maloney, author of the legislation, has been leading and working hard to pass a bill that would enhance our a. M. L. Regime, including on Beneficial Ownership. She and i agree as do all the members of the house that its vital to u. S. National security to have a vigorous, good, a. M. L. Safe system. I cannot support the legislation as currently written. In my view h. R. 2513 place as significant burden on Small Business. And in my view unnecessarily. The rules have been outlined here. I believe there is a better path forward which is why i have long supported aligning tax filing with the collection of Beneficial Ownership information. Small businesses are already familiar with filing taxes. A Small Business already files their taxes which includes disclosing their owners, capital, and their business structure. On their returns they declare domestic and foreign aspects of their business. All subject to common existing process and parameters. All subject to privacy. All subject to existing penalties for failure to accurately report. I think we can all agree closing off access to illicit finance is laudable, necessary, and appropriate. And i expect that we can agree that the collection of accurate and official ownership information is a step in the right direction. I would just like to see us get there without subjecting Small Businesses to new, unnecessarily complicated reporting with the burden of exceedingly severe penalties for failure to complifmente comply. I hope we can reach a compromise that seeks stronger collection without jeopardizing a costly new regime for Small Business. Ranking member, i yield back. The chair the gentleman from arkansas yield back. The gentleman from North Carolina reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you. I yield five minutes to the gentleman from missouri, mr. Cleaver, the sponsor of the counteract, which is part of this bill. Hes also the chair of the subcommittee on National Security, international development, and managerial policy. The chair the gentleman from missouri, mr. Cleaver, is recognized. Mr. Cleaver thank you, matam chair, for your work in this area and for allowing those of us who are interested in this legislation to play a major role. As many of my colleagues are aware, National Security is one of the most pressing matters facing the United States of america and the world. Im excited for the opportunities that this moment presents to address these issues headon. Our most profound responsibility as members of congress is to preserve americas National Security and the United States global position as an International Leader in free and fair markets. Since the last major antiMoney Laundering reforms of 2001, the National Security threats that face our country have evolved profoundly and significantly and frighteningly. Many technological attacks have risen to the top of our most recent worldwide threat assessment as a paramount National Security risk. Underground, online trafficking now allows for simplified avenues to transport illicit material across the nation and around the globe. And crypto currencies now allow for streamlined means to fund criminal organizations are Virtual Currency dark web marketplaces, and illicit technologies expanding to threaten citizens safety and hard earned savings, it is critically important, mr. Speaker, that our federal agencies evolve to meet and conquer these new challenges. This will protect our National Security and explicitly safeguard our Financial Systems the Bank Secrecy Act. It codifies the voluntary program on sharing between Law Enforcement, Financial Institutions, and the Better Department ensuring the capture of illicit activity. T balances National Security and personal privacy by requiring treasury and financial create the o position of civil liberty and privacy officer. Ensure that ill policies being developed and orlemented are not intruding undermining citizens Constitutional Rights. Close a bill will number of loopholes that have allowed for financial crimes to pull mitted, it will also us into the 21st century by positioning the United States to tomorrows challenges. He bill encourages financial regulators to work with companies to implement innovative approaches to meet he requirements and complying with existing law and encourages he use of innovative Pilot Programs. Financial regulators will establish an Innovation Lab that outreach to Law Enforcement, Financial Institutions, and others to innovative and new technologies, ensuring they existing law while fostering the implementation of new technologies. Innovation council will also created who will coordinate on active Bank Secrecy Act compliance. Imperative we modernize our efforts to combat financial adversaries se our modernize. Ue to im happy that this bill is coming before us, the counteract, as an amendment to maloneys bill, the corporate Transparency Act, which i know she and her team to worked very hard produce. The straightforward bill, mr. Peaker, provides the needed visibility by requiring companies in the United States o disclose the financial beneficiary in order to prevent criminals and wrongdoers from status as a eir company. These are critical proposals, and i urge my colleagues to legislation. Ncaa very much thank you very uch, mr. Speaker, and chairman waters. The chair the gentleman has yielded back the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from california is recognized is reserving. The gentleman from north recognized. Mr. Mchenry i yield to the Housing Insurance subcommittee of ing member, mr. Stivers columbus, ohio, for three minutes. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Stivers thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to h. R. To , although i do want acknowledge that the sponsor has worked hard and in good faith to ry to make the bill work and i think the bill is well intended. There are two primary reasons legislation. The an er one, it imposes on small due burden businesses and it doesnt rotect millions from cyberattacks. It places a burden on our westituents who arent aware are having this debate today. In fact, most of them dont know what fincen is, but theyll be to provide sensitive fincen, information to an agency almost nobody knows, lead ilure to do so could up to three years of imprisonment. Feel the bill was well intended, though, because i know Shell Companies are used by illicit money ve system. Our financial french hill offered an amendment that would transfer the nformation collected from fincen to the i. R. S. As part of the annual tax filing process. Impose less would burden on our constituents, the mall businesses that create jobs in this country. But its a bigger obstacle here it would e because result in shared jurisdiction with the ways and means ideattee, and so that good couldnt work because of jurisdictional lines. Issue is this agency, fincen, will be the repository a lot of data from millions of americans with personally information. Its Cybersecurity Awareness theres not enough adequate protections in this bill to ensure that private data cyberattacks. For these reasons, i cant vote for the bill, but i do want to ongratulate the sponsor, my colleague from new york, on her hard work in trying to make the bill work. To thank and t recognize my colleague, representative cleaver, whose h. R. 2514,ounteract, was rolled into this bill. Representative cleaver worked republicans and democrats to ensure our antimoney act ering and bank secrecy regime was reformed in a our tisan way that makes National Security stronger. I want to thank him and congratulate him on that work. And if that bill was a standalone bill, i think it would pass this institution near if not unanimously. Nfortunately, i have to oppose h. R. 2513, and i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman yields time. He balance of his the gentleman from North Carolina reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield two minutes to the gentleman from florida, lawson. The chair the gentleman from florida, mr. Lawson, is recognized for two minutes. Mrt lawson thank you r. Lawson thank you, madam chair. I rise to support the corporate Transparency Act. The bill would close loopholes actors who have taken advantage corrupt officials and other criminal enterprise. Bill, a good specifically, it requires those disclose who ust the true beneficiary owners are order to hid criminal activity. Establishing these measures into place would benefit consumers and Small Businesses by contracting fair practices, including false illing, fraudulent certification, and defrauding taxpayers. Bill will help to curb and prevent human trafficking, which is very now, by eliminating Anonymous Companies who hide identities of criminal engaged in trafficking by rprises, masked legitimate business structure. Ccording to a study by the university of texas, among other studied, the United States ranks the easiest suspicious individuals o incorporate in Anonymous Companies. Further, according to the 2017. A. O. Study, it found that g. A. O. Was unable to identify for about nformation 1 3 of the g. S. A. Hidden security leases. Mr. Speaker, the corporate Transparency Act will fix these provide muchneeded the corporate to governance structure. I encourage my colleagues on bill,sides to support this and i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from florida yields back. The gentlewoman from california reserves. North tleman from carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from missouri, the Ranking Member of mrs. Iversity subcommittee, wagner. The chair the gentlewoman from missouri is recognized. Vice Ranking Member of the Financial Services committee as well. The chair the gentlewoman from issouri, mrs. Wagner, is recognized. Mrs. Wagner i thank my friend, the Ranking Member, for yielding. Today in r, i rise the rt of h. R. 2513, corporate Transparency Act, and i thank my friend, carolyn maloney, for her tremendous work to fight trafficking and expose make money from exploitation, and my friend and colleague, congressman blaine luetkemeyer, the Ranking Member of the Financial Institutions subcommittee, for all of his of beneficialssue ownership. I agree with my colleagues that not place unnecessary requirements on Small Businesses, and i believe that strikes the ion right balance. It helps hardworking law officials expose traffickers who are laundering money through Shell Companies placing onerous mandates on Small Businesses. Uman trafficking is an incredibly lucrative industry estimated at 150 year. N a america lags behind our peers in other countries in collecting ownership ial information that helps us to go fter these Anonymous Companies that are exploiting the most vulnerable in our society. Further endment simplifies the reporting process Identity Theft and fraud. It creates a fast track process Beneficial Ownership where ny citizen who is a frequent investor can be preverified. Im glad to see my amendment underlying bill today, and i urge my colleagues so thatme in voting yes congress can finally close the loopholes that allow criminals rapidly move money and conceal illicit profits in the system. Nking i thank you and yield back. The chair the gentlewoman from missouri yields back. North tleman from carolina reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Two minutes i yield to the gentleman from illinois, mr. Casten. The chair the gentleman from llinois is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Casten thank you. As a member of the financial committee, i witnessed firsthand to representative to advancing this piece of bill and i am so glad we are discussing on the floor today. Unlight is the best disinfectant. The need for sun slight is especially urgent today as it of tes to the involvement foreign bad actors in our ountry and our political process. We have all of us here taken an oath to support and defend the united tion of the states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. You egardless of whether take that oath, i would submit to you that all patriotic americans feel that obligation. Certainly do. And this bill is a furtherance of that oath. I was a c. E. O. Re of an l. L. C. I was a c. E. O. Of a lot of l. L. C. s. I couldnt tell you how many the c. E. O. Of. We set up a Corporate Structure l. L. C. s nysed set of that could isolate liabilities that could be matched to different rounds of investors our company. Now, thats a great feature of l. L. C. s. So often is the case, a strength is often a weakness. F it allows us to hide investors who want us to use our system in nefarious way, like to money, we could take advantage of that strength and thats why the bill is so necessary. Mine e Companies Like already collect the data. Already incen data is classified as fisma high, which highest level for government agencies. So the data of all filers is not true. Ted is not but ultimately because sunlight is the best disinfectant and we moment when too many powerful people are seeking to hide their sources of capital, utting the trust of our government and Financial System at risk. So the right bill so its the and bill for our business for our Financial System and the right bill for our country. Thank you. I yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from california reserves. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Two minutes i yield to the gentleman from troy, davidson. The chair the gentleman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Davidson thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank my colleagues for the important reforms that have been included in this bill very houghtfully to reform our Bank Secrecy Act. The United States puts heavy their on banks to know customers, to protect our country, and our financial easier forto make it the folks in Law Enforcement and, frankly, all layers of to defend curity america. Its an important way that our regime works. Its an important way that we prosecute crime, and its worked very successfully current form. He the biggest complaint is often of banks, too much and so that led to this consumer rule that fincen put out that put an extra burden on banks. Redundant say a burden on banks to report the Beneficial Ownership of their companies. Created this provision that is now blended into a single bill rather than a standalone bill that was known as the corporate Transparency Act. Ais is a horrible solution to real problem, and the solution presumes e because it that everyone that would own a company that has fewer than 20 somehow part of the illicit finance scheme in america. He smallest, least sophisticated companies are now businesses are now required to report annually and frequently if they change the composition of the Beneficial Owners. Violation of Civil Liberties and Constitutional Rights that our body should take seriously. Historically thats been something thats united the parties. Hen we did the reform when congress did the reforms to the and the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act, they put these provisions in hesitation reat because it created a big database and collected a great information. This data would not be subject to subpoena or control. Its a horrible solution to a i urge blem, be and greater consideration of alternatives. Bill. Osition to this and i yield. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from north reserves. Mr. Mchenry may i inquire of chair the time remaining . The chair the gentleman from North Carolina has 7 1 2 minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from california has 8 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Mchenry i reserve. The chair the gentleman reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you very much, mr. Speaker and members. The United States is vulnerable. According to a 2017 report by the Government Accountability office, that is g. A. O. , was unable to identify ownership information for about 1 3 of g. S. A. s 1,406 high security leases as of march, 2016, because ownership information was not readily available for all buildings. This finding was a leading actor in Congress Voting to adopt a provision in the funding year 2018, National Defense authorization act, for the department of defense to collect Beneficial Ownership information for all high Security Office space it leases. As a matter of fact, theres more information required to obtain a library card. Library card project, the ease of forming Anonymous Companies in the United States. In all 50 states and the district of columbia more personal information is needed to obtain a library card than to establish a legal entity that could be used to facilitate tax evasion, Money Laundering, fraud, and corruption. The british model, the united kingdom, has a Beneficial Ownership directory and analysis found that the average number of owners per business in the u. K. Is 1. 13, 88 had two or fewer owners. The most common number of owners is one. More than 99 of businesses listed less than six owners. According to the u. S. Small business administration, approximately 78 of all businesses in the u. S. Are nonemployee firms, meaning there is only one person in the enterprise. This suggests the experience in the u. S. Would be similar to that of the u. K. So, mr. Speaker and members, i would like to just share with ou that this legislation has tremendous support if for example, from the main street alliance, a network of over 30,000 Small Businesses from the american Bankers Association, from Bank Policy Institute, midsize coalition of america, National Foreign trade council, consumers bangers association, Financial Services forum, Bankers Association for finance and trade, American Land title association, National Association of realtors. A coalition of 100 plus n. G. O. s including aflcio. Global witness, friends of the earth u. S. Jubely u. S. A. Network, public citizen. We could go on and on. But i think it is important to know that members of the Financial Services committee, representatives maloney, luetkemeyer, and cleaver have worked in good faith along with the department of treshry, nonprofit groups, and the Financial Services sector to find consensus to close a massive loophole in our antiMoney Laundering framework. The resulting pieces of legislation to modernize the antiMoney Laundering processes and and the Money Laundering processes, and create a registry of legal entities held at the financial crimes Enforcement Network at the department of treasury represents the best path forward to provide Law Enforcement with needed information to pursue money criminals looking to exploit our Financial System. I reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman from california reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman fromle North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry i wish to submit for the record a letter from the National Federation of independent businesses in opposition to this bill. The chair the gentlemans request will be covered by general order. Mr. Mchenry mr. Chair, i ask unanimous consent to submit for the record a letter on behalf of the due process institute, the american Civil Liberties union, and Freedom Works in opposition to this bill. And mr. Chair, i wish to submit r the record two newspaper pieces, news articles, from the New York Times and from the verge. From the verge it says f. B. I. Violated americas privacy by abusing access to n. S. A. Surveillance data, court rules. And the second from the New York Times, f. B. I. Uses use of surveillance database violated americas privacy rights, court found. Two recent articles that have been published in the last 10 days. The chair the gentlemans request will be offered by general leave. Mr. Mchenry with that i would like to yield to the gentleman from tennessee, mr. Rose. The chair the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Rose thank you Ranking Member, mchenry. Mr. Speaker, i rise in opposition to h. R. 2513, the corporate Transparency Act. As a farmer and small someone who has started a Small Business from the ground up, i know firsthand the unnecessary burden government regulations can place on Small Business owners. Unlike large corporations, americas five million businesses do not have the manpower, time, or resources to comply with more undue regulatory burdens. Furthermore, it is concerning that h. R. 2513 lacks provisions bigswould ensure our small owners prifecy of. Under this bill Small Business owners after submitting their personal information cannot trust it would be safe or protected. The fered, h. R. 2513 lacks safeguards necessary to provide our Small Business owners the confidence that their personal information will be safe and protected once submitted. At minimum, a Big Government demands if Big Government demands personal information, it must protect that data. In addition, h. R. 2513 is built around arbitrary thresholds. I have yet to see a convincing explanation for why the threshold is a maximum of 20 employees or five million in gross receipts. Under this legislation, if Small Business owners are unable to submit the required personal information, they may face criminal penalties of 10,000 and three years in prison. That would kill any Small Business. Let us not forget Small Businesses are the heart and drivers of job creation in many Rural Communities as is the case for many of the communities i proudly represent in tennessees sixth district. We cannot unleash innovation in our country when we continue to force Big Government on americas Small Farmers and business owners. The esteemed Ranking Member from North Carolina and i urge our fellow members to join us in voting against h. R. 2513, the latest rendition of burdensome regulations and personal privacy invasions. I yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from North Carolina reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield three minutes to the sponsor of the legislation, h. R. 2513, mrs. Maloney. The chair the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for three minutes. Mrs. Maloney critics on the other side of the aisle have made wild claims about the bill costing Small Businesses millions of dollars. But in the u. K. Where they have already collected this information, the cost of compliance for the average Small Business was only about 200. And thats a onetime cost. To me that is a very modest price to pay for National Security. Every Law Enforcement agency in this countryle is asking for this reform. In order to make us safer. In the u. K. , the median company had 11st owners, which means that the vast majority of Small Businesses only had one owner. So that these businesses, they only have to file one name. And we are only asking for four pieces of information. Its basic. Name, date of birth, current address, and drivers license. Does that sound burdensome . For most Small Business owners it would take less than five minutes to fill out the form. And according to studies, it was pointed out earlier, that you have to disclose more information to get a library card than you need to disclose to create a corporation or l. L. C. You dont hear people complaining about filling out forms for library cards. I think the idea that the disclosure would be unduly burdensome is simply and completely false. The bill also goes out of its way to exempt every category of business that already discloses the Beneficial Owners. Either to regulators or the public filings. This includes banks, credit unions, insurance companies, investment advisors, brokers, utilityities, and nonprofits. The bill even exempts companies with more than 20 employees and over 5 million in revenues. Because if you have 20 employees, you are actually generating a significant amount of revenues. Then you are not certainly a real business and not a Shell Company that is being used to launder money. In fact, in almost all of the cases where Law Enforcement has uncovered a Shell Company thats being used for illicit purposes, the company had either zero or one employee, thats why we felt very comfortable exempting companies with more than 20 employees. So i think we have gone way out of our way to ensure that the bill is appropriately tailored and is not burdensome to Small Businesses. And id like to repeat that usually National Security bills are bipartisan. Im proud that we have significant support in the vote from our friends on the other side of the aisle, and i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this important bill that will make our citizens safer. Will help Law Enforcement do their jobs. And therefore will save lives in our country. This is a serious bill. Most countries already have it. We are way behind. We are the Money Laundering capital of the world. It is just plain common sense to protect our citizens, vote for National Security, and vote for this bill. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair the the gentlewoman from new york yield back. The gentlewoman from california reserves. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry im prepared to close. Yield myself the remainder of the time. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Mchenry this is a disappointing bill. According to the National Federation of independent businesses, this will create 5. 7 billion in new regulatory costs for americas smallest businesses. My friend and colleague just said one or two employees. But the bill, the bill before us today, says 20 or fewer employees. Now, congress traditionally has exempted Small Businesses from onerous government regulation. And congress in its wisdom has set a threshold of Small Businesses. That is 15 and above from most regulation that is are of national import. This bill turns all that on its head. And says no, no. We are going to have a special carve out only for Small Businesses. 5 billion of revenue and under and 20 employees and fewer. The whole mindset here is absolutely wrong. We are putting a new Small Business mandate on americas smallest businesses. And we have an Intelligence Bureau that is going to go out to the public and request information directly from the public. Now, we dont do that with n. S. A. To look at your cell phone records. In fact, we are require the n. S. A. To go before a court to look at a cell phone database. That is enormous amount of litigation around that. What we have here is a new federal Government Database by an Intelligence Bureau. Most people havent heard of. Its a mandate on Small Businesses. There is no due process protections here. You dont go before a court in order to look at this. They can purr ruse it at will. No Data Security standards. So we dont even know if this is going to be held to the same standard of data breaches that have already occurred and our Intelligence Bureaus and for federal employees. Nor the same liability standards that the private sector has. Again, there is not regulatory relief. Our friends in the banks want this because they want to be relieved of the burden of collecting this information. I certainly understand that. But they are still going to have to collect that information. There is no repeal of the underlying rule that requires the banks to collect that type of information in order to transact businesses. In order to transact business with those Small Businesses. And businesses of other sizes. There is no regulatory relief. We have few Civil Liberties protections. We dont have a Cyber Security standard in the database. And its a new mandate on Small Businesses. But if you are contend with that, vote yes. If you dont think thats sufficient, vote no. Im going to stand with the nfib, American Farm bureau, National Association of home builders, the National Retail federation, the real estate round table, and other organizations here in washington like the aclu, the Heritage Action for america, the Freedom Works foundation, the american Civil Liberties union as i mentioned, about i want to mention them twice so people hear that clearly. There is bipartisan opposition to this. So i encourage my colleagues to vote no against this new mandate. Stand with your Small Business folks and bewee will come to bipartisan compromise than what we have here before us today. Vote no. Yield back. The chair the gentleman from nshg yields back. North carolina yields back. California man from is recognized. Ms. Waters i want to inquire how much time i have left. The chair the gentlewoman has a half remaining. Ms. Waters thank you very much. Would like to thank representatives maloney and cleaver for their work on these i would like to 2513 is an at h. R. Important, commonsense measure that stops criminals from being to hide behind Anonymous Shell Companies. Bank ses loopholes in the secrecy act, increases penalties for those who break the law, and elps provide Financial Institutions with new tools to more easily and accurately their obligations under the law. Thank you very much. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman from california yields back the balance of her time. Debate has general expired. Pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for mendment under the fiveminute rule. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the on Financial Services printed in the bill, modified by the amendment printed in part an house report 116247 shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be as the ed as origins origins bill for purpose of amendment and shall be considered as read. Billrther amendment to the as amended shall be in order except those printed in part b 116247, and rt each urther amendment such further amendment shall be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be member only by the designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be the first time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent and not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division question. Its now in order to consider 1 printed in er part b of house report 116247. For what purpose does the entlewoman from texas seek recognition the gentleman seek recognition . I have an amendment at the desk. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 1 house in part b of report 116247 offered by mr. Burgess of texas. To house pursuant resolution 647, the gentleman burgess, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the texas, mr. Om burgess. Mr. Burgess thank you, mr. Speaker. 1 to h. R. Nt number 2513, the amendment requires an report to congress offing data aggregate data on the number of owners per liabilityn or limited company. The industry of each reporting liabilityn or limited company. And the location of the Beneficial Owners. One of the greatest crisis of es on the our southern border has been the coyotes. Nd they charge 6,000 to 10,000 to smuggle people into our country ho dont have legal documentation. Despite the danger, these ndividuals borrow money from normal banks in their home country, their family members put up collateral. Their farms, their houses to pay these cartels and coyotes. If the individual makes it into the United States, they will remittances home through the same legitimate financial transaction to pay back those family loans. Throughout this process, the i cotys and cartels coyotes and cartels are making a number of money from these individuals. They are ility exists using Shell Companies to store or move this illicit money. Data to congress on how many Beneficial Owners are ehind the company, the industries of the reporting companies, and the locations of help neficial owners will identify trends and patterns that could aid in the fight to and the ney laundering financing of human trafficking. We should not be facilitating of e that take advantage desperate people. By providing this data to congress, it will provide some networks cy on the behind the illicit financing of and and drug smuggling other nefarious financial activities. Support of this amendment and reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. The hat purpose does gentlewoman from california seek recognition . In waters to claim time pposition, although i do not oppose. The chair without objection. Ms. Waters mr. Chairman, the amendment would have an nnual report to congress to submit data, thus providing a napshot of the size, type, and location of reporting entities. I agree that an examination of helpful to ll be fincen as it contemplates Rule Congress should we consider future refinements of the law. So i encourage members to and i the amendment, reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Burgess i urge support of the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman yields time. He balance of his the gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield the balance time to the gentlewoman from new york, the sponsor of this important legislation, mrs. Maloney. The chair the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. Mrs. Maloney thank you, madam chair. I support this amendment which would simply require treasury to annual report to congress with basic statistics on the Beneficial Ownership thats filed under the bill. This is very similar to a recent that the u. K. Conducted hat they started collecting beneficial information. And the u. K. s report was very elpful because it highlighted that the vast majority of companies have only one which makes ner compliance with the bill extremely easy. That k that the data treasury would be required to report to congress under this helpful and ld be in case we decide we need to in the future to address any unforeseeable issues that arise. Want to thank the gentleman from texas for offering the amendment. Very good idea, and i urge my colleagues to support it and to support the will ying bill which increase National Security for our country. I yield back. He chair the gentlewoman from new york yields back. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman yields back the balance of the time. Is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. Burgess. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the have it and the amendment is ms. Waters may i ask for the nays . Nd the chair the gentlewoman from california. Ms. Waters yes. The yeas and t nays. Does the gentlewoman ask for a recorded vote . Ms. Waters yes. The chair pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas will be postponed. In order to consider amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report 116247. Does the urpose gentleman from arkansas seek recognition . I have an amendment at the desk. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. He clerk amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report 116247 offered by mr. Of arkansas. The chair pursuant to house 647, the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Hill, and a member opposed, each will minutes. Ive the chair recognizes the gentleman from arkansas. Mr. Hill well, i thank you, mr. Chair. Again, r, i want to, thank my friend from new york for her hard work on crafting legislation. While we had differences along he way, it is critical that we strengthen our National Security amlbsa system, and strengthen the transparency of Beneficial Ownership. As i previously discussed, im concerned with several aspects offering l and im this amendment which i believe will help improve its overall purpose. Testimony of retired f. B. I. Agent testified o our committee, acknowledging that Law Enforcement wants this data, this new database at essentially rch without a warrant or a subpoena. Would require t the financial crimes Enforcement Network to develop stringent beneficial round ownership database pertaining to accessed. W its been per the bills requirements, any businesses providing this information into a repository that will contain Sensitive Information. Access and how they can access it should have clear uidelines and ensure this information is not being inappropriately accessed. The amendment requires fincen to report to congress annually the number of enforcement, banks or other parties access the was ase, how many times it inappropriately accessed, and the number of subpoenas obtained access to the database. This will ensure that Congress Oversight of the database and that banks or Law Enforcement are not abusing this system. Of Committee Heard hours testimony about federal Government Data breaches over s. E. C. , o. P. M. , the i. R. S. , cfpb. As such, we have to make sure is as secure as possible. As previously mentioned, this information is highly sensitive remain extremely confidential to the extent possible. Policymakers, we have an obligation to our constituents to ensure we uphold their privacy, and this amendment will better help us achieve that goal. I urge my colleagues to support commonsense amendment. Its good for business, good for ur bankers and lawmakers and ultimately good for our citizens, and i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from arkansas reserves the balance of time. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition . Claim time in opposition although i do not oppose. The chair without objection. The hill amendment requires fincen to develop protocols governing how law can cement and others access the Beneficial Ownership database. In order for Law Enforcement to access fincens database, they must comply with a stringent accessment, iring training, and review. Also includes to ocols governing access the new Beneficial Ownership an base, including creating audit trail of the Law Enforcement agencies that access the data. R. Hills amendment would provide an added murph protection, reinforcing the clear procedures to ensure that such information accessed ppropriately or misused by Law Enforcement agencies. In ll support vote support of this amendment. And i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman from california reserves. The gentleman from arkansas is recognized. Mr. Hill how much time do i remaining . The chair the gentleman from arkansas has 2 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Hill thank you, mr. Chair. Yield to the Ranking Member. The chair the gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry i appreciate my colleague for yielding. Do believe, notwithstanding the lack of warrant or subpoena, the gentlemans amendment gives confidence that the agency and Law Enforcement fficials will be using this database more appropriately. I think is a necessary amendment move forward. To though we still have greater issues to contend with, i the gentleman working in such a constructive way and bipartisan way and i yield back. Reserve. Ill the chair the gentleman from North Carolina yields. The gentleman from arkansas reserves. The gentlewoman from california recognized. Ms. Waters i reserve the time. E of my yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from new york, the sponsor of the important legislation, mrs. Maloney. The chair the gentlewoman from recognized. Mrs. Maloney thank you, madam chair. Idpport this amendment and like to thank mr. Hill for offering it. This amendment would require fincen to establish stringent to ensure the Beneficial Ownership information inappropriately accessed or misused by Law Enforcement agencies. Underlying bill already addresses these issues. To ainly it was the intent protect against unauthorized ccess and misuse of Beneficial Ownership information, but i am not opposed to making that more explicit. His amendment would also require an annual ubmit report to congress containing the number of times beneficial information was accessed either by Law Enforcement or by Financial Institutions. Think this information would be very helpful because it would useful the information is to both Law Enforcement and Financial Institutions. While mr. Hill and i have had isagreements over this bill, i think this amendment is a helpful addition to the bill, and i want to thank him for and i urge my colleagues to support it and the underlying bill. To the eld back chairlady. The chair the gentlewoman from new york yields back the balance her time. The gentlewoman from california reserves. Ms. Waters i yield back the my time. F the chair the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from arkansas is recognized. The chair. Thank i want to thank my friend from new york for working with me on this amendment. Thank you for accepting. I want to thank the chair of the full committee for this report emphasize ose and under the law, as drafted today, there are about 10,000 law qualified people that can access that database and thats a lot of people, mr. Have access to this database that were concerned about in making sure its in a very confidential manner. Appreciate the consideration of the amendment, and i appreciate its adoption and with that, mr. Chair, i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from arkansas yields back the balance of his time. The question is on the amendment by the gentleman from arkansas. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it, the amendment is agreed. O is agreed to. It is now in order to consider amendment number 3 printed in part b of house report 116247. For what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition . Mr. Brown i have an amendment at the desk. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 3 printed in house report 116247, offered by mr. Brown of maryland. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 647, the gentleman from maryland, mr. Brown, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. Brown. Mr. Brown mr. Chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume and i want to thank the chair. I also want to thank my colleague from california, chairwoman of the committee, chairwoman waters, for your leadership on the Financial Services committee and i want to recognize the hard work of my colleague and friend from new york, chairwoman maloney, on the underlying bill. I also want to thank you, representative maloney, for inviting me last congress to visit several European Countries to explore and better understand how those countries address the problems this bill seeks to address. Currently no state requires companies to provide the identities of their true Beneficial Owners. This lack of oversight and transparency make it easy for criminals, dictators and clep to contracts to launder money, hide their ill list activities through Anonymous Shell Companies. These Anonymous Shell Companies can be used for overall from funding terrorist organizations, supporting traffickers, human traffickers and helping corrupt foreign leaders evade sanctions and threaten our National Security. These socalled employees have cheans companies have no employees, no offices and are simply to access our Banking System the Panama Papers leak exposed how powerful and corrupt these Anonymous Shell Companies are. The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that doesnt already require this disclosure. To combat this, this bill requires corporations to disclose their Beneficial Owners at the time the company is formed. This is a commonsense requirement considering you often need more documentation to get a library card than to start a company or an l. L. C. This bill provides muchneeded transparency without being burdensome on legitimate businesses. The bill also protects the privacy of americans by ensuring Law Enforcement officials at the state and federal level with action sess with access to this new information are properly trained, an existing investigatory basis before searching and maintain an audit log. My amendment strengthens and builds upon these protections. It requires Law Enforcement officials tasked with handling Beneficial Owners personal information to go through tremendous training at a minimum of every two years. This will ensure they are keeping up with the latest rules, systems, and processes and will lower the risk of misuse or improper disclosure. The retraining is critical to ensuring Law Enforcement officials at all levels of government are undertaking best 3r5ktieses when handling Sensitive Information during investigations. Together we can finally tackle the issues surrounding Shell Companies and their opaque, Beneficial Ownership structure and give Law Enforcement the tools they need to track the money that threaten ours National Security. I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this bill and the underlying bill and my amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from maryland yields ack the balance of his time. The chair the gentleman from maryland yields back his the balance of his time. The gentleman is recognized. The gentlemans amendment would ensure those who access the database understand the importance of protecting the privacy of Beneficial Owners. I think this is a necessary and proper addition to the bill. Thing highlights the fact that we dont have the basic Due Process Rights or constitutional protections that we have under the fisa court. Mr. Mchenry or under the patriot act. The New York Times recently reported the fisa court concluded that, quote, in at least a handful of cases the f. B. I. Had been improperly searching the database of raw intelligence for information on american, raising concerns about oversight of the program, end quote. This Refresher Training is important to ensure individual who was access to highly sensitive and private information of millions of americans are properly trained. Authorized users should only be able to access information for officially sanctioned uses. I think this i thank the gentleman for offering this amendment. While this amendment is not a sufficient replacement for a warrant or subpoena, it recognizes that Law Enforcement must know how to handle personal information and the need to protect that information. I urge its adoption and mr. Chairman, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from North Carolina yields back the balance of his time. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from maryland. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. It is now in order to consider amendment number 4 printed in part b of house report 116247. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition . I rise as the designee of the gentleman from michigan, mr. Levin, to offer amendment number 4. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 4 printed in part b of house report 116247, offered by mrs. Carolyn b. Maloney of new york. The chair purr the chair pursuant to House Resolution 647, the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. Maloney, and a member opposed each will criminal five each krill control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. Maloney. Mrs. Maloney this is a car i clarifying amendment, clarifying that fincen can use information collected under the bill. This was always our intent but we were concerned that because fincen technically isnt a law ep forcement agency, their authority to use the information under the bill might be unclear. Mr. Levins amendment fixes this by explicitly stating that fincen can use the information to issue public advisories and to share the information with Financial Institutions in order to improve compliance with their know your customer rules. However, fincen would only be able to disclose the information in an aggregated format so it protects the disclosure of personally identifiable information. I want to thank mr. Levin for working closely with my office and with the committee on this amendment. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. And the underlying bill. And i reserve the time. The chair the gentlewoman from new york reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from North Carolina seek recognition . To claim time in opposition, im opposed to the amendment. The chair the gentleman is recognized. I yield myself such time as i macon same consume. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. This amendment exposes the very problem i have with this the governmental database. Mr. Mchenry we put enormous protections into the collection of foreigners into our database and Intelligence Bureaus. Weve granted rights to special courts. And that is for information that is less specific than the information that will be a part of this Beneficial Owner or ownership database of americas Small Businesses. The amendment here said that basically you redact a specific personal identification identifiable information of the Beneficial Owners. Of the owners of the Small Business. Now it doesnt have provision for small areas. Lets say that youre from my hometown. Or youre from the town i lived in for nearly a decade. Small town that only has a handful of businesses. So you aggregate the data but you can still expose people to enormous amounts of unwanted targeting. It also exposes to me the additional issues that we have with another Government Database that a future congress could then take this data and make it public to some sort or some congressional investigator could just want this for partisan political reasons and try to sneak it out of the executive branch. This amendment highlights to me the grave concerns i have with a mass collection of this tiche data. No matter how justified the anecdotes are from Law Enforcement. The amendment specifically allowed fincen to issue guidance and otherwise make materials available to Financial Institutions and the public using Beneficial Ownership information. End quote. That is deeply problematic. And i do not believe appropriate protections are in place for an amendment like this to be made reasonable. I think if you have Civil Liberties concerns, i would say this amendment highlights the very Civil Liberties concerns you would have with a new federal Government Database. I would like to ask the bills sponsor, though hes not here, about the intent of creating this type of information but hes not here. I dont think this is a wise amendment. I think it should be rejected for a number of different counts. And with that, i would urge my colleagues to vote no and i would reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from North Carolina reserves. The gentlewoman from new york is recognized. Mrs. Maloney we have no further speakers, i yield back. The chair the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry mr. Chairman, i wish to close. I would like to submit for the record a letter in opposition to this very amendment from the National Federation of independent business opposing this amendment. And again, i would highlight that the Civil Liberties concerns here are enormous. When you do minimal redax of specific personally identifiable information you could still expose data in certain jurisdictions of Small Business owners. In a way that i dont think is warranted, nor do i think the bills sponsor would like to see. I think this is deeply problematic. I would urge my colleagues to look at the contents of this amendment and then to think through the concerns that they would have if it were their information exposed in a minimally redacted way. I dont think theyd be quite comfortable wit. Now think of asking every Small Business owner in your district to submit this information to another federal database and then explain to them that theyll minimally recontact their information, maybe not their name, maybe their address. And then otherwise the explanation of their business would be exposed to the public. I dont think its a smart way to go here. I dont think this is the way we should be legislating. I do think it outlines the underlying concerns i have with this type of database not being able to not being required to get a subpoena in order to access it and then an amendment that says that were going to basically, i dont know, outline in cherry hill, North Carolina, every Small Business Ownership Structure in our little town. Or in denver, North Carolina, which is an unincorporated area that i live in, likewise taking a small population with a few Small Businesses and exposing the Ownership Structure of Small Businesses. I dont think this is a smart amendment. I dont think its i dont think its what we should be intending as members of congress. I think both folks on the left and the right and in the middle can look at this and think this is not the way to go. I urge you to vote against this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentlemans requests are covered by general leave. The gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from new york. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. Mr. Mchenry i ask for a record vote. The chair pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from new york will be postponed. Its now in order to consider amendment number 5 printed in of house report 116247. For what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition . Davidson mr. Chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 5 in part b of house report 116247 offered by mr. Of ohio. The chair pursuant to House Resolution 647, the gentleman davidson, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. The chair now recognizes the ohio, mr. From davidson. R. Davidson thank you, mr. Speaker. Mumz. I yield myself such time as i may consume. Today, i offer an amendment that address the serious issues with the bill. Paperwork rush the burden squarely targeted at Small Business owners. Creates massive new federal atabase that continuing the addressing of innocent american citizens and will do nothing to track down criminals. Administration, fincen issued regulations that ownership ct the information of these businesses. Regulations have proven so burdensome and unnecessary that banks sought relief from these regulations. Shifts tle effectively the reporting burden onto mom and pop businesses that have fincen. Ard of the bill adopts a different efinition of Beneficial Ownership that is even more confusing and vague than the one rules, which rys has already puzzled regulators years. Ks for according to the congressional budget office, this would create 30 million new filings each year. Failure to comply could result years, time up to three thousands of dollars in fines, compromise of private information, and more. Raises serious privacy concerns by creating yet another database that is of its ely the first kind federal registry of Small Business and Small Business contains no subpoena or warranttype restrictions for federal law to access. In the era of naming and shaming for nies and owners political purposes and findings that federal Law Enforcement ave abused their existing authorities in accessing section 702 fisa data, this bill should pause about how we as members of Congress Protect ivil liberties for american citizens. My amendment would simply strike the underlying bills burdensome mandate, nullify the obamaera egulations on banks and instead, require fincen to go back to the drawing board to review how already existing databases and data sets know your gs customer and Money Laundering rules can assist Law Enforcement owners of beneficial businesses. As my colleague, french hill, the i. R. S. Already contains this information. Astly, i would say, if we want to criminalize private ownership of businesses, why not do that n the beginning rather than failure to comply to report to an agency that exists . Would be addressed by the executive branch and theyve this through by the way bill addresses the problem. We dont need another database crushingbe abused or a mandate that will harm lawabiding americans and be criminals. I urge support of my amendment, in opposition of the bill without it, and i reserve the time. Ce of my the chair the gentleman from ohio reserves the balance of his time. The hat purpose does gentlewoman from seek the gentlewoman from california . Ms. Waters to claim time in opposition. The chair the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Waters i strongly oppose the davidson amendment because it would gut the bill. To ensures of working criminals, terrorists, and enemies of the United States can loopholes to cloak their dangerous acts from Law Amendment , this heedlessly tries to jettison the of defense. Layer if the amendment is adopted, there would be no requirement to identities of the Beneficial Owners of that ations and l. L. C. s currently do not make such disclosures. F adopted, there would be no ability for Law Enforcement to get information that it needs to wrongdoers who abuse state laws to hide their global criminal activities. To make things worse, the amendment would repeal the diligence, mer due or c. D. D. Rule, which currently banks to identify and verify the Beneficial Ownership of corporate customers. T prevents criminals, clepto kratt clepto cracks a ats. They said its one critical step toward closing this National Security gap. Critical step is collecting Beneficial Ownership corporate at the formation level, end quote. An outright and immediate repeal this rule endangers the Financial System by leaving a new gap in information bout Bank Customers while the implementation of h. R. 2513 gears up. Approach and one supported by the financial nstitutions is to require the treasury to remove identified database es after the becomes operational. 2513is precisely what h. R. Already does. Mr. Chairman, madam mr. The aflcio, oxfam, the facts coalition, the business, treasury, d. O. J. , fincen, as well as the police, and er of the federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and the state attorneys generals have urged congress to pass h. R. 2513, to develop alfederal dish develop a federal ownership database. The davidson amendment would before it his effort can begin. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment, and i reserve time. Lance of my the chair the gentlewoman from california reserves the balance time. The gentleman from ohio is recognized. Mr. Davidson mr. Chairman, may of my re the balance time . The chair the gentleman from remaining. O minutes mr. Mchenry if the gentleman will yield . Mr. Davidson i will. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry i thank my colleague for yielding. The very fact this bill provides no regulatory relief for financial nstitutions to collect kr information collect customer due the diligence rule. Paperwork ave a burden on Small Businesses. On top of that, the paperwork burden on Financial Institutions enormous amounts of information. And so the very nature of this missingt highlights the elements of the underlying bill, and i appreciate my colleague back to ing and yield him. The chair the gentleman from ohio. Chairman, i mr. Yield the balance of the time to myself to close. Simply say, would this would presume that criminals are somehow going to activity r criminal all because they have to file a report. He reality is this will criminalize business ownership, and makeivil liberties them i urge in opposition to underlying bill without the amendments adoption and i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. California. Man from ms. Waters i yield the balance the gentlewoman from new york, the sponsor of this important legislation, mrs. Maloney. The chair the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. Maloney, is recognized. Madam loney thank you, chair. I strongly oppose this amendment which would completely gut the weaken ouramatically National Security. Right now, the only protection bad ve in place against actors using Anonymous Shell Companies to launder their money the u. S. Is fincens rule, er Due Diligence which requires Financial Institutions to find out the eneficial owners of the corporation and the entities that open accounts with them. Which is very , important, is still only half a measure, and when fincen passed rule, they explicitly said that Congress Still needed to ass the bill, which is before us today. But mr. Davidsons amendment ould not only delete the underlying bill, but would also repeal the fincen rule. In other words, its worse than the status quo, and practically and money minals launderers to use the u. S. Financial system. Deeply irresponsible amendment, and i strongly urge oppose it and to support the underlying bill and i yield back. The chair the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. The gentlewoman from california. Ms. Waters i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman yields back. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. The amendment is not agreed to. Mr. Davidson mr. Chairman, i ask for the yeas and nays. The chair does the gentlewoman recorded vote . Ms. Waters yes. The chair pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio will be postponed. The hat purpose does gentlewoman from california seek recognition . Ms. Waters i move that the committee do now rise. The chair the question is on the motion that the committee rise. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Accordingly, the committee rises. Mr. Speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of had under aving consideration h. R. 2513 directs to report it has come to no resolution thereon. The speaker pro tempore the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the Union Reports that the committee h. R. Der consideration 2513 and has come to no thereon. N suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection under. Lause 6 of rule 20 resume e will proceedings on postponed questions at a later time. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition . Ms. Jackson lee mr. Speaker, i move to suspend the rules and 835, as amended. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. 835, a bill to impose criminal sanctions on certain persons involved in doping fraud conspiracies, to provide of such on for victims conspiracies, and to require sharing of information with the Antidoping Agency to assist its fight against doping, and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee, and the gentleman virginia, mr. Kline mr. 20 e, each will control minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee. Ms. Jackson lee mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and include remarks extraneous material on the bill under consideration. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Jackson lee mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized, ms. Jackson lee. Ms. Jackson lee mr. Speaker, d like to thank all of my sponsors, but i particularly want to thank dr. Burgess, who who joined again, me more than a year ago to move bill that we hope will give fairness to all of the onderful Young Athletes around the world. 835, the rodchenkov antidoping act would impose criminal sanctions on certain ersons involved in International Doping fraud conspiracies. It would also provide estitution for victims of such conspiracies, and would require coordination and sharing of united ion with the states Antidoping Agency to assist its fight against doping. As i oduced this bill, said, with mr. Burgess of texas, widespread use of performanceenhancing substances had come to light in recent fans, harming athletes and alike. Clean u. S. Athletes and sports participate inho these competitions as well as their u. S. Sponsors are denied due recognition and economic upheavals. Young people who worked all of life for this miraculous and important time in their life when the fans lose legitimacy and integrity of a competition they enjoy are debased. In recent years, there have been numerous allegations of doping professional and amateur athletes. The summer and winter games in particular have been plagued which has scandals, left a stain on the Reputation International sports einadvertents. The infamous russian doping soeshy during the 2014 inter olympics is one notable example of the corruption and competitions. S former russian track star and her husband, a former employee f the russian Antidoping Agency, exposed the russian state sponsor st doping system which subsequently revelations by a doctor, the chemist who ran the russian antidoping laboratory. Mr. Speaker, they simply could ot take it in addition, dr. Rodchenkov revealed that with the help of russian intelligence, i want our members to hear that again, russian intelligence, the laboratory switched steroidtainted urine of the Russian National team with clean sample, evading positive detection. An intelligence catastrophe, using that community to undermine the healthy work and healthy commitment and participation of athletes all around the world. The ineffective response from International Organizations with oversight responsibilities such as the world Antidoping Agency, the international olimp kick committee has only emboldened the russian government. Though russia denied involvement, evidence shows it operated a systematic statesponsored doping program and coverup scheme. Russia has cheated and defrauded all olympic athletes including ts own and the general public. And has degraded the meaning and purpose of the games. Unfortunately because the orchestrate dwhroferse russian doping scandal operated with the blessing of the russian government and because theres no Legal Mechanism in the United States to bring them to justice, they all escaped punishment for their actions. But imagine the hurt of all these Young Athletes in all of the countries who work sod hard all their life. Currently theres no federal statute that provides explicit comprehensive protection against doping conspiracies in International Sports competitions and the actions were crying out for relief. The federal statutory actions e limited such as conspiracy to chit mail fraud, bribery, kickbacks. This would fill that gap by establishing appropriate criminal penalties and Civil Penalties for International Doping fraud. In addition to imposing criminal penalties on the conspiracies, the bill would authorize private civil actions for doping fraud. Which would give athletes and corporate sponsors the right to sue in federal court to recover damages from individuals who may have defrauded competitions. We thought it was extremely important to cover our corporate sponsors. They willingly and enthusiastically help these Young Athletes, particularly amateur athlete who was no other sources of income, they provide our International Competition the support to have these athletes travel and provide the other necessities so that they can compete without worry. This bill would provide justice to clean u. S. Athletes such as montano, ner alicia bobsledder Steve Holcomb and many other champions who pursue presence over glory. They have been denid medals that were rightfully theirs and cheated out of lucrative opportunities such as sponsorships. Most importantly, they have been deprived of the pride of seeing their countrys flag being raised on the olympic podium, an emotional moment that was stolen from them. In the case of mr. Holcomb, his bobsled teams bronze medal was upgraded to silver in the spring of 2019 after the russian teams were disqualified for doping offenses in the 2014 sochi games. Tragically, mr. Holcomb was not here to see it. Having died in 2017. This bill also would provide muchneed prod text and support for brave whistleblowers such as dr. Rodchenkov who appears here in the United States before the Helsinki Commission and the stepanovas who exposed doping conspiracies at considerable personal risk and sacrifice. They should be honored. Exposure of this criminal activity would not have occurred without the courage and strength of these individuals and this legislation would not have the very strong basis upon which it is written. Accordingly, i support h. R. 835 and ask my colleagues to do so and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from texas reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from virginia, mr. Cline. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself mr. Cline thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Cline i thank the gentlelady. Amateur and professional sports are an essential part of american society. We spend over 50 billion each year on sporting events. Billions more generated from advertising, athlete endorsement and broadcast rights of thousands of sporting events each year. The impact of sports in the United States is over half a trillion dollars and the effects on local, state, national and global economies are considerable. In other words theres a great deal at stake. The integrity of league, coaches, athletes and their sponsors are critical. Governments around the world sponsor their athletes and am in amateur sport, most notably in the olympics. Scandals over the past 20 years involving doping and the use of performanceenhancing drugs have tarnished the reputations of players and coaches and especially clean athletes who follow the rules and do not use prohibited drugs and substances. The widespread dope big russian athletes a at the 2014 Winter Olympics led to russia being ban fled 2018 Winter Olympics. Subsequent investigations revealed a massive government sponsored doping program where russian Drug Testing Laboratory director used a threedrug cocktail of anabolic steroids to boost performance of russian athletes. Russian intelligence operatives switched tainted urine stamples samples with clean samples. 43 medals were stripped from russia for doping violations. Federal law contains penalties for kickbacks, bribery, foreign corrupt practices and related crimes. However, it does not criminalize fraud through doping in International Sport competitions nor does it provide protections for the victims of doping fraud such as athletes and whistleblowers. H. R. 835 would enhance americas jurisdiction over International Sports and help ensure the integrity of athletes an coaches in the olympics an similar competitions. Doping fraud conspiracies harm clean athletes and their coaches and sponsors. They also defraud those who pay to watch sporting events and set an extremely poor example for our youth. Its time for the United States to join several european nations an add another means by which criminals engaged in doping fraud can be held accountable for their actions and no longer tarnish the honor and image of clean athletes. This bill is a unique example of bipartisan efforts. Im encouraged by the ability of members and staff from both sides of the aisle to craft legislation which will help root out fraud and corruption in International Sports. As the lead sponsor of several other bipartisan pieces of legislation, i look forward to find manager Common Ground for the benefit of the american people. Im pleased to support this bill and i urge my colleagues to support it as well. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from texas is recognized. Merchandise jackson lee i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman ms. Jackson lee i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Cline i yield four minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. Burgess. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Burgess thank you for yielding. I want to rise in support of h. R. 35, the rodchenkov antidoping act. The bill is named after the former head of russias antidoping lab that blew the whistle on the massive staterun doping scheme that led the International Olympic committee to suspend russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics. From 2011 to 2015, other 1,000 russian athletes in 30 sports benefited from an Illegal Program executed by numerous russian state agencies at the direction of russian president putin. Other whistleblower, yulia stepanova, revealed information that led to the formation of an independent commission at the world Antidoping Agency that investigated finding a deeply rooted culture of cheating that existed in russia. Epanova and m ms. St others in the helsinki hearing in july of 2018. Also present was katy ulander who had been defrauded and cheated out of an olympic medal as a result of the russian doping scheme. No athlete should be subjected to doping, either through a staterun program or as a clean competitor. In 2015 the russian Antidoping Agency entered into a road map to Compliance Agreement with the world Antidoping Agency involving 31 criteria for the Russian Agency to be reinstated. Russias agreement to deliver additional Drug Test Lab samples is one of the reasons the world Antidoping Agency agreed to reinstate the russian Antidoping Agency in 2018 but just last week, the current head of russias Antidoping Agency said thousands of changes were made to those drug test results. The world Antidoping Agency had only been table verify authenticity of a portion of the plo provided samples and these statements confirmed that russia is still intent on cheating in International Sport competitions. The world Antidoping Agency is currently considering thousand respond, including possibly designating russia as noncompliant and suspending russian athletes from International Sport competitions until that country is again designated as compliant. But the doping program goes beyond just harming clean athletes. President putin view this is type of scheme as a geopolitical tool to characterize the west as unfair and opressive. One year ago, the United States department of justice indicted seven Russian Military intelligence officials for cyber attack on the United States and other International Organizations because they exposed russias staterun doping scheme and protecting the whistleblowers, namely dr. Rodchenkov. The rodchenkov antidoping act would combat this type of scheme and limit russias sphere of influence as they seek to understand western values arn the world. This bill would criminalize knowingly facilitating a doping scheme in a major International Sport competition where the United States where United States athletes are competing and the Competition Organizer receives a sponsorship or Financial Support from a u. S. Entity. The bill also allows u. S. Citizens to pursue civil action against deceptive competition and provides protection for whistleblowers. The rodchenkov antidoping act will ensure that athletes rights were respected, whistleblowers are protected and criminals are brought to justice. The bill will restore the integrity of International Sport competition and uphold the rule of law around the world. I urge my colleagues to support the bill and i yield back to the gentleman from virginia. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time the gentleman from virginia reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from texas is recognized. Ms. Jackson lee we have no further speakers, im asking if the gentleman is prepared to close. Mr. Cline we are prepared to close. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from virginia is recognized. Mr. Cline thank you, mr. Speaker. Again i would say that this is an important bill designed to restore integrity to International Sport competition. Right now, you only need look outside in the Nations Capital to see that world series fever has hit our Nations Capital and as we all watch with enthusiasm, we are reminded of the noble goals and noble values inherent in sporting competition and look to preserve those goals and values with the passage of this legislation. So i urge its passage. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from virginia, mr. Cline, yields back the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee is recognized. Ms. Jackson lee i thank the speaker, i thank the gentleman from virginia for his kind remarks in support and as well, i thank dr. Burgess as well for his involvement and commitment to this legislation. Id also like to thank the chairman and Ranking Member of the full committee, judiciary committee, for helping us move this bill very quickly and i thank the staffs of both the majority and minority who worked so very hard on moving this bill forward and i acknowledge in particular the staff on the subcommittee on crime for their particular help in leadership on this. I am glad were talking about ealthy sport and the recognition and acceptance of those who work so long and so hard, many from their early years to be olympians, to play baseball, basketball, football,