Tom Waring, the Wire
U.S. Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-8th dist.) and Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, successfully added an amendment strengthening the intelligence community’s response to terror financing to House Resolution 2596, the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2016, which passed the House of Representatives last week.
The amendment requires the director of national intelligence to report to Congress on the “strategy, efforts, and resources of the Intelligence Community that are necessary to detect, deter, and degrade the revenue mechanisms of the Islamic State.” It also expresses the sense of Congress that the, “Intelligence Community should dedicate necessary resources to defeating the revenue mechanisms” of terror groups.
“The terror threat faced by our nation and our intelligence community is more diverse and sophisticated than ever before,” Fitzpatrick said. “This amendment is important to ensure each level of our government — from Congress to the intelligence community — has identified the problem, as well as potential weaknesses, and is ready to address the threats we face. By expressing the sense of Congress that our intelligence agencies must dedicate resources to eradicate terror revenue mechanisms, as well report to relevant committees on their strategies, this addition strengthens the underlying bill and congressional understanding of our global response to terrorism.”
Fitzpatrick and Sinema are both members of the bipartisan Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing, which is charged with reviewing U.S. response to terror financing and self-funding and will report to the Committee on Financial Services on its findings, including the possible need for new legislation.
