The US House has approved a bill introduced by a freshman Virginia congressman that could provide a much better window into the intersection between banking and terrorism.
Does your local bank support terrorism? What about corrupt officials in foreign countries? Or human rights abuses?
5th District Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman wants to follow the money, which is why he introduced the Banking Transparency Act.
“I need to know what I’m voting on," he says. "And that’s why the Department of Treasury needs to let me know what banks are actually banking people who are under sanction support because I need to go after them that’s just how I’m wired.”
Riggleman may be a freshman member in the minority party. But his bill has bipartisan support. Riggleman says it’s a way to put foreign banks and their American subsidiaries on notice that Congress is on the lookout for human rights abuses and corrupt officials.
“It’s the cascading effects of money in the system, and if we don’t go after those bad actors who are trying to inject themselves into our infrastructure we have a big problem,” Riggleman explains.
Earlier this year, Riggleman worked with Democratic freshman Jennifer Wexton on a bill that creates new authority for the federal government to crack down on international criminals using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
