OFAC Outreach and Engagement Capabilities Enhancement Act
This bill addresses the outreach activities of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), including by requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess such outreach activities. (OFAC, within the Department of the Treasury, is one of the agencies that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions.)
Specifically, GAO must conduct a study examining various aspects of OFAC’s outreach activities, including (1) the goal and strategy of such activities; and (2) how, if at all, the activities help with sanctions enforcement.
After reviewing the GAO study, OFAC must assess the feasibility of a voluntary public-private information sharing program to support efforts to administer and enforce economic sanctions.
After reviewing the GAO study and OFAC feasibility assessment, Treasury may direct OFAC to establish a pilot program to facilitate such voluntary public-private information sharing.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1164 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1164
To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a
study with respect to outreach activities performed by the Office of
Foreign Assets Control, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 24, 2023
Mr. Lynch introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a
study with respect to outreach activities performed by the Office of
Foreign Assets Control, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``OFAC Outreach and Engagement
Capabilities Enhancement Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Office of Foreign Assets Control is the United
States Government agency responsible for administering and
enforcing economic sanctions programs, primarily against
countries and groups of individuals, such as terrorists and
narcotics traffickers.
(2) All United States persons must comply with OFAC
regulations, including all United States citizens and permanent
resident aliens regardless of where they are located, all
persons and entities within the United States, all United
States incorporated entities and their foreign branches. In the
cases of certain programs, foreign subsidiaries owned or
controlled by United States companies also must comply. Certain
programs also require foreign persons in possession of United
States-origin goods to comply.
(3) While the sanctions announcements are themselves notice
of the requirements placed on all United States persons, OFAC
conducts additional outreach through its compliance office,
serving as OFAC's primary liaison to the private sector and
operating OFAC's public ``hotline'' for sanctions-related
questions and the conduct of civil investigations for potential
sanctions violations.
(4) While many industries, such as large multinational
financial institutions and industrial firms, have sophisticated
sanctions departments to manage compliance with the strict-
liability mandates from OFAC and to enact practices to defend
their business' sales and supply chains from abuse by
sanctions-designated bad actors, many smaller entities and
industries, do not.
(5) According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's 2021
Sanctions Review, ``Sanctions are only as effective as their
implementation, especially with regard to communication and
engagement. In order to better calibrate the use of this tool,
Treasury needs to communicate and coordinate more effectively
with stakeholders affected by the use of financial sanctions.
Treasury can build on existing outreach and engagement
capabilities through enhanced communication with industry,
financial institutions, allies, civil society, and the media,
as well as new constituencies, particularly in the digital
assets space.''.
(6) The Assistant Secretary for Terrorism and Financial
Intelligence noted in a 2022 speech to a private-sector
audience at the American Conference Institute, ``We need to
redouble efforts--to make sure that these networks do not pass
under your radar and around our laws, and that when you obtain
information about them, you promptly take action. This is not
just a matter of compliance; it is a moral imperative. The
choice is between permitting and preventing sanctions evasion--
there is no space for neutral ground here.''.
(7) Examples of successful, robust Federal Government
public-private sector outreach programs that support the agency
mission abound from the law enforcement, Intelligence
Community, and regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Bureau
of Investigation's InfraGard, the Public-Private Analytic
Exchange Program from the Department of Homeland Security and
the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the
Financial Crime Enforcement Network's FinCEN Exchange.
(8) The FinCEN Exchange, from OFAC's sister agency within
the U.S. Department of the Treasury, was mandated on January 1,
2021, when Congress enacted the Anti-Money Laundering Act of
2020 (AML Act). Section 6103 of the AML Act establishes the
FinCEN Exchange to facilitate a voluntary public-private
information-sharing partnership between law enforcement
agencies, national security agencies, financial institutions,
and FinCEN to effectively and efficiently combat money
laundering, terrorism financing, organized crime, and other
financial crimes, protect the financial system from illicit
use, and promote national security.
(9) The objective of FinCEN Exchange is to develop,
deliver, and sustain innovative public-private information
sharing in order to enable the private sector to better
identify risks and provide FinCEN and law enforcement with
critical information to disrupt money laundering, terrorism
financing, and other financial crimes. The program goals of the
exchange are to:
(A) Enhance communication, collaboration, and
partnerships among FinCEN, law enforcement, and
financial institutions.
(B) Support priority national security and counter-
illicit finance investigations and policies.
(C) Enhance the utility of suspicious activity
reports and share feedback with the private sector.
(D) Encourage, enable, and acknowledge a focus on
high-value and high-impact activities.
(E) Conduct proactive outreach to allow industry to
better prioritize efforts and utilize existing
resources.
SEC. 3. OFAC OUTREACH ASSESSMENT.
(a) GAO Study.--
(1) Outreach.--The Comptroller General of the United States
shall, not later than 360 days after the date of the enactment
of this section, carry out a study with respect to the quality
and efficacy of outreach activities performed by OFAC in
support of the mission of OFAC on or before the date of the
enactment of this section.
(2) Study requirements.--
(A) In general.--The Comptroller General of the
United States shall, in carrying out paragraph (1),
examine each of the following with respect to outreach
activities performed by OFAC:
(i) Goals and strategy.
(ii) Audiences.
(iii) Resources.
(iv) Number and type of engagements with
private sector entities.
(v) Feedback capabilities.
(vi) Appropriate privacy and competitive
fairness measures for information received from
or shared with private sector entities.
(vii) Compliance with the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, where required.
(viii) How information obtained from
outreach activities is used by OFAC to support
the mission of OFAC.
(ix) How, if at all, outreach activities
help with enforcement functions.
(B) Survey of similar programs.--In carrying out
the study required under this subsection, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall--
(i) examine outreach programs administered
by agencies with similar national security and
regulatory missions, including outreach
programs administered by similar agencies,
including the Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network; and
(ii) identify best practices, similarities,
and differences to inform the evaluation of
existing OFAC outreach programs.
(b) Briefing.--OFAC shall, not later than 60 days after the date on
which the Comptroller General of the United States submits a study
pursuant to subsection (a), and after considering the results of such
study, submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs on the Senate a briefing that describes how OFAC will improve
its outreach activities going forward, including, at the time of such
briefing, in relation to OFAC outreach activities, how OFAC--
(1) provides information to those who must comply with OFAC
sanctions, especially those in communities and industries that
are known to be targeted by bad actors designated by sanctions;
(2) uses outreach activities to support to the important
mission of OFAC, with minimal redirection of staff and
resources;
(3) ensures that the selection of private-sector
participants for outreach activities is free from favoritism;
(4) ensures that private-sector information obtained by
OFAC during outreach activities is appropriately safeguarded;
(5) ensures that information shared at outreach functions
can be publicized in a manner that does not competitively
disadvantage those not selected to participate in such outreach
functions;
(6) applies Federal requirements with respect to all
outreach activities, including Federal Advisory Committee Act
requirements;
(7) ensures that private-sector participants not use
outreach activities as an opportunity to pitch products or
services or receive advance information about OFAC or
Department of the Treasury procurement opportunities; and
(8) maintains compliance with OFAC ethics requirements.
(c) Feasibility of Voluntary Exchange Program.--OFAC shall, after
reviewing the report produced by the Comptroller General of the United
States pursuant to subsection (a) and submitting the briefing required
under subsection (b), access the feasibility of the establishment of a
program by OFAC designed to--
(1) facilitate a voluntary public-private information
sharing partnership among law enforcement agencies, national
security agencies, financial institutions, and OFAC to
effectively and efficiently administer and enforce economic
sanctions against targeted foreign countries and regimes,
terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged
in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, and other threats to the national security,
foreign policy, or economy of the United States by promoting
innovation and technical advances in reporting;
(2) protect the financial system from illicit use,
including evasions of existing economic sanctions programs; and
(3) facilitate two-way information exchange between OFAC
and persons who are required to comply with sanctions
administered and enforced by OFAC, including financial
institutions, business sectors frequently affected by sanctions
programs, and non-government organizations and humanitarian
groups impacted by such sanctions programs.
(d) Pilot Program.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury may, after
considering the results of the study conducted by the
Comptroller General of the United States pursuant to subsection
(a), the briefing provided by OFAC pursuant to subsection (b),
and the feasibility assessment conducted by OFAC pursuant to
subsection (c), require OFAC to establish a 3-year pilot of a
program designed to--
(A) facilitate a voluntary public-private
information sharing partnership among law enforcement
agencies, national security agencies, financial
institutions, and OFAC to effectively and efficiently
administer and enforce economic sanctions against
targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists,
international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in
activities related to the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, and other threats to the national
security, foreign policy, or economy of the United
States by promoting innovation and technical advances
in reporting;
(B) protect the financial system from illicit use,
including evasions of existing economic sanctions
programs; and
(C) facilitate two-way information exchange between
OFAC and persons who are required to comply with
sanctions administered and enforced by OFAC, including
financial institutions, business sectors frequently
affected by sanctions programs, and non-government
organizations and humanitarian groups impacted by such
sanctions programs.
(2) Information sharing.--
(A) In general.--Any information shared by a
private sector entity as a part of any program
established under paragraph (1) shall be shared--
(i) in compliance with all other applicable
Federal laws and regulations; and
(ii) in such a manner as to ensure the
appropriate confidentiality of personal
information.
(B) Use of information.--Information received by
OFAC from a private sector entity as a part of any
program established under paragraph (1) may not be used
for any purpose other than identifying and reporting on
activities that may involve the compliance with United
States sanctions requirements.
(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
subsection may be construed to create new information
sharing authorities or requirements relating to
sanctions laws.
(3) Report.--If a program is established under paragraph
(1), OFAC shall, annual submit a report to the Committee on
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate
that describes the activities of such program.
(e) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) OFAC.--The term ``OFAC'' means the Office of Foreign
Assets Control.
(2) Private sector.--The term ``private sector entity''
means a business, a nonprofit organization, a nongovernmental
organization, a legal and or advisory firm that supports such a
business or organization, and a technology provider that
supports such a business or organization.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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