Auchincloss Introduces “No Bank Accounts for Terrorists”

Thanks to the Office of Jake Auchincloss for sharing this article with Westwood Minute.

Washington, DC — On Tuesday, February 1, 2022, Congressman Jake Auchincloss, (D, MA-04), Vice Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and a Marine veteran of the war in Afghanistan, introduced the “No Bank Accounts for Terrorists” Act. 

The bill instructs the Treasury Department to monitor financial institutions to determine if they are possibly engaging in money laundering on behalf of the Taliban. If passed, the bill would also empower the Treasury Secretary to implement special measures if the Treasury determines there are reasonable grounds to conclude that accounts in connection with Afghan illicit finance are primary money laundering concerns.

“Afghanistan is in crisis. The United States has a responsibility to support humanitarian relief, in the short run, and economic development, in the long run,” Representative Auchincloss said. “Otherwise, Afghans will suffer and the Chinese Communist Party will gain control over copper and lithium lodes that are critical for clean energy and IT supply chains. In order to pursue humanitarian and economic programs with confidence that the monies will not be funneled towards narco-terror activities, the United States must inhibit illicit financing by the Taliban.”

In November 2021, this bill was discussed during a hearing of the Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy, of which Congressman Auchincloss is a member.

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