Cleaver, Hill, Waters, and McHenry Launch Inaugural Counter-Trafficking Initiative

(Washington, D.C.) – United States Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Congressman French Hill (R-AR), and Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) announced plans to launch the bipartisan Counter-Trafficking Initiative. This long-term committee effort is designed to explore and expose the breadth and reach of transnational trafficking networks and their illicit finances.

"Trafficking is a problem everywhere, including in Missouri and every community across the United States," said Subcommittee Chairman Cleaver. "Whether it's human beings, drugs, or illegal weapons, the criminals who commit these horrors are engaged in activities that threaten the men, women and children in our communities. I'm proud to lead this HFSC Trafficking Initiative with my colleague, Rep. French Hill, in the HFSC National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy Subcommittee. Together, we will work with fellow Members to better understand the similarities and differences among trafficking networks so they can be better exploited by law enforcement, NGOs, financial institutions, and others who are combating this threat."

"Trafficking is a national-security threat and often violates human rights and dignity," said Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Waters. "The House Financial Services Committee is committed to exposing these bad actors and the people who make it possible for trafficked goods and their illicit proceeds to evade detection. This Committee will be pursuing legislation to better detect and defeat these dark networks."

"Trafficking—of any kind—has no place in our society," said Financial Services Ranking Member McHenry. "We know criminal enterprises and terrorists are taking advantage of the global financial system to deal in these dark markets. From abhorrent human trafficking to the illicit drug trade that fuels the opioid epidemic in our nation, trafficking is putting American lives at risk. We need to better understand the business models, including financing, used by these bad actors in order to stop them. I am proud to join my colleagues in this bipartisan effort to tackle the national security and economic threat posed by trafficking."

"For the first time in almost 30 years, there was a decline in the number of American opioid-related overdose deaths," said Subcommittee Ranking Member Hill. "Unfortunately, this was not the case in Arkansas. Overdoses are rising across our state and fentanyl continues to be a growing threat in our communities. Drug smugglers and human traffickers often abuse our financial system. Enacting policies to strengthen national security is one of the best ways to combat all types of trafficking. I look forward to working on the HFSC Counter-Trafficking Initiative to learn more about this growing threat and find solutions to mitigate this illicit activity."

Today, Congressman Cleaver launched the Counter-Trafficking Initiative with a National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy (NSIDMP) Subcommittee hearing entitled "The Traffickers' Roadmap: How Bad Actors Exploit Financial Systems to Facilitate the Illicit Trade in People, Animals, Drugs, and Weapons."

The hearing brought in transnational criminal organization (TCO) experts on narcotics, human, wildlife, and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) trafficking to examine the similarities in the business models found across the transnational trafficking networks, including the supply chains, facilitators, and finances. Later hearings will use this preliminary analysis of business models to examine the structure and financing of human trafficking and narcotics trafficking networks, the outflows of proceeds through trade-based money laundering (TBML) (including black market peso exchange [bmpe]) and bulk cash, counterfeiting, and data trafficking.

Throughout the year, Committee Members will continue to engage with experts in the public and private sectors to develop proactive legislation that tackles this ongoing threat to America's economic and national security.

You can find Congressman Cleaver's opening statement from today's hearing as prepared below.

My district is home to the city of Independence, which rests right outside of Kansas City.

It is home to the Harry Truman Presidential Library and hardworking midwestern families.

On November of last year, a federal raid involving Independence Missouri police resulted in the arrest of 21 individuals in a human trafficking sting operation.

These arrests remind me that the scourge of trafficking is all around us.

My home state of Missouri ranked 16th in the country for human trafficking cases, with 114 cases reported last year, and our country is among the top three origin points for this wicked system.

• Today 24.9 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking.

This grips our heart and focuses much of our attention, however it is a slice of a much broader and invidious structure.

Trafficking in all its forms—drug, animal, weapons, human, etc.—is a mechanism to make, move, and clean dirty money.

It allows for criminal systems to flourish.

From the ISIS fighters who have looted world heritage sights and sell ancient artifacts to bankroll their war machine to those who sell counterfeit medication to the desperate and ailing.

Trafficking is an enormous financial enterprise, amounting to somewhere between $1.6 trillion and $2.2 trillion.

The Department of Treasury's 2020 National Strategy for Combatting Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing highlights that, "the same strengths that make the United States an attractive destination for legitimate investment—a large economy; an open business climate… investment, and financial services—also can attract criminals and other illicit actors seeking to hide or disguise their ill-gotten gains or fund their dangerous plots"

This illicit system knows no race, creed, nor party affiliation.

It unifies us as potential victims and today unites us in opposition to this common threat.

It is for this reason that I am excited, under the leadership of Chairwoman Waters, to join with Ranking Member Hill in launching this initiative to directly confront trafficking in all its forms.

This hearing will be the first in a series aimed at examining and curtailing trafficking at its roots.

As many of my colleagues will agree, we have done a lot of legislative nipping at the fringes of this problem.

It is now time we strike at its core.

This hearing will lay a framework for a conversation and hopefully provide our committee insight and future direction.

As we start this dialog, it is important to engage from a frame of common understanding.

We know that there is crosscutting and collaboration across trafficking networks within our system.

• There is convergence in human trafficking and drug trafficking routes as well as WMD trafficking and narcotics trafficking networks

There are also common mechanisms and vulnerabilities that trafficking facilitators are exploiting within our financial system to enable their illicit activity.

We also know that the very crime of trafficking is evolving.

This January, A joint investigation involving the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom helped take down a website, which the Justice Department says sold billions of stolen usernames, passwords and other data.

One credit union in my district notes that nearly 20 percent of their cards were affected by data breaches in 2019 and CNBC reported that hackers may have accessed over 8 billion consumer records in 2019.

I am eager to start this conversation and hear from you all about these issues as well as the legislative issue before us today championed by my colleagues, Congressman Foster and Congressman McAdam's.

I look forward to hearing from you all.

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Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy; member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. For more information, please contact Matthew Helfant at 202-225-4535 or Matthew.Helfant@mail.house.gov a high-resolution photo of Congressman Cleaver is available here.