Foster Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Stop Financing of Criminal Organizations

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) and Congressman David Kustoff (R-TN) introduced H.R. 1387, the Criminal Organizations' Narcotics, Finances, Resources, Operations, and Networks Targeting (CONFRONT) Act. The CONFRONT Act would require the Treasury Department to develop a national strategy to combat the financial crimes of transnational criminal organizations and individuals.

"Transnational criminal organizations thrive on the illicit revenue they generate from activities like money laundering, cyber crime, human trafficking, and drug trafficking," Congressman Foster said. "Hundreds of billions of dollars of illicit money flows through worldwide financial systems each year, and we need a better strategy for our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to track the funds. This bipartisan legislation is an important step in modernizing our nation's ability to confront these dangerous criminal organizations."

"We have allowed transnational criminal organizations to continue to use their illicit businesses to grow their wealth and threaten communities around the nation," said Congressman Kustoff. "From activities such as drug and human trafficking to cybercrimes, these organizations are able to launder large sums of illicit money through our financial networks. We must continue to give our law enforcement and intelligence community the resources they need to combat these organizations by tracking down their finances at the source."

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that transnational crime organizations generate a total of $870 billion each year.