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Rep. Kelly Creates New Task Force in Congress to Fight Terrorist Financing
U.S. Rep. Sue Kelly has created the bipartisan Congressional Anti-Terrorist Financing Task Force, which has begun work in Washington to bolster efforts in the fight against financiers of terrorism.
Kelly joined Putnam County Undersheriff Peter Convery and other local law enforcement from the Zone 3 (Westchester-Putnam) Counterterrorism Committee at Yorktown Town Hall on July 19 to announce the creation of Congressional task force.
Before carrying out attacks, terrorists need money for housing, recruitment, training, supplies, weapons, and travel. The September 11 terrorist attacks, for instance, cost roughly a half-million dollars excluding the costs of terrorist training in the now-destroyed al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
Kelly, chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, noted that the U.S. and its allies have frozen more than $141 million in terrorist assets since the September 11 terrorist attacks, however "terror networks continue to successfully camouflage their blood money, in some cases in accounts in our own financial institutions," Kelly said.
"Money weaponizes terrorists’ hatred. Shutting down terror funding networks is one of the most time-sensitive issues our nation and our world have ever faced. The fight against terror financiers goes hand-in-hand with the War on Terror, and this task force will place an even greater urgency on improving some areas of our anti-terrorist financing efforts."
Kelly founded the task force to bring a centralizing focus on U.S. efforts against terrorist financing. She has enlisted both Democrats and Republicans in her effort to explore the wide variety of financing methods deployed by terrorists, identify strengths and weaknesses of current anti-terrorist financing strategies, and propose bipartisan solutions to help improve current efforts to stop terrorist funding networks. U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey is another local member of Congress on the task force.
"In all likelihood, terrorists inside the United States today are relying on run-of-the-mill criminal activity to maintain their operations," Kelly said. "Terrorist operatives here in the U.S. have been known to buy large quantities of cigarettes in states with low cigarette taxes and illegally sell them in areas with high cigarette taxes. This is particularly troubling given that cigarette tax evasion in areas - including New York City - is on the increase. New Yorkers who buy cigarettes through improper channels should know that they may be aiding terrorists."
Kelly concluded: "Eradicating terror financing is one of the greatest and most complex challenges facing our government right now. By stopping the flow of terrorist money, we can stop the threat of terrorism to our communities."
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