,i #aaeth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #dgeb ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,january #aj1 #bjah ,mr4 ,budd introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,financial ,services ,a ,,bill ,to establish an ,independent ,financial ,technology ,task ,force1 to provide rewards for information leading to convictions related to terrorist use of digital currencies1 to establish a ,fin,tech ,leadership in ,innovation ,fund to encourage the development of tools and programs to combat terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,financial ,technology ,innovation and ,defense ,act4 #b4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that the ,federal ,government should prioritize the investigation of terrorist and illicit use of new financial technology1 including digital currencies4 #c4 ,independent ,financial ,technology ,task ,force 7a7 ,establishment ,there is established the ,independent ,financial ,technology ,task ,force 7the ,task ,force71 which shall consist of-- 7#a7 the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 who shall serve as the head of the ,task ,force2 7#b7 the ,attorney ,general2 7#c7 the ,director of the ,central ,intelligence ,agency2 7#d7 the ,director of the ,financial ,crimes ,enforcement ,network2 7#e7 the ,director of the ,secret ,service2 7#f7 the ,director of the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigations2 and 7#g7 #d individuals appointed by the ,secretary of the ,treasury to represent the private sector 7including the banking industry1 non-profit groups1 and think tanks74 7b7 ,duties ,the ,task ,force shall-- 7#a7 conduct independent research on terrorist and illicit use of new financial technologies1 including digital currencies2 and 7#b7 develop legislative and regulatory proposals to improve counter-terrorist and counter-illicit financing efforts4 7c7 ,annual congressional report ,not later than #a year after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 and annually thereafter1 the ,task ,force shall issue a report to the ,congress containing the findings and determinations made by the ,task ,force in the previous year and any legislative and regulatory proposals developed by the ,task ,force4 #d4 ,rewards for information related to terrorist use of digital currencies 7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 in consultation with the ,attorney ,general1 shall establish a program to pay a reward to any person who provides information leading to the conviction of an individual involved with terrorist use of digital currencies4 7b7 ,use of appropriated funds ,to the extent provided in advance by appropriation ,acts1 the ,secretary may use appropriated funds to pay a reward under this section with respect to information leading to a conviction described under subsection 7a7 if the amount of fines and forfeitures related to such conviction are not sufficient to pay such reward4 7c7 ,use of fines and forfeitures ,with respect to fines and forfeitures related to the conviction of an individual involved with terrorist use of digital currencies1 the ,secretary of the ,treasury shall1 without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation-- 7#a7 use such amounts to pay rewards under this section related to such conviction2 7#b7 with respect to any such amounts remaining after payments are made under paragraph 7#a71 repay to the general fund of the ,treasury-- 7,a7 any reward amounts paid using appropriated funds under subsection 7b72 and 7,b7 the amount of any funds appropriated to the ,fin,tech ,leadership in ,innovation ,fund established under section #e2 and 7#c7 with respect to any such amounts remaining after payments are made under paragraphs 7#b7 and 7#c71 deposit such amounts in the ,fin,tech ,leadership in ,innovation ,fund4 #e4 ,fin,tech ,leadership in ,innovation ,fund 7a7 ,establishment ,there is established a fund to be known as the ,fin,tech ,leadership in ,innovation ,fund1 which shall be available to the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation1 to carry out this section4 7b7 ,innovation grants 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of the ,treasury shall make grants for the development of tools and programs to detect terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies4 7#b7 ,eligible recipients ,the ,secretary may make grants under this subsection to entities located in the ,united ,states1 including academic institutions1 companies1 non-profit institutions1 individuals1 and any other entities locating in the ,united ,states that the ,secretary determines appropriate4 7#c7 ,eligible projects ,with respect to tools and programs described under paragraph 7#a71 in addition to grants for the development of such tools and programs1 the ,secretary may make grants under this subsection to carry out pilot programs using such tools1 the development of test cases using such tools1 and research related to such tools4 7#d7 ,preferences ,in making grants under this subsection1 the ,secretary shall give preference to-- 7,a7 technology that is non-proprietary or that is community commons-based2 7,b7 computer code that is developed and released on an open source basis2 and 7,c7 tools that are proactive 7such as meeting regulatory requirements under know your customer and anti-money laundering requirements for any entity that has to comply with ,u4,s4 ,government regulations7 vs4 reactive 7such as aiding law enforcement organizations in catching illegal activity after the fact74 7#e7 ,other requirements 7,a7 ,use of existing global standards ,any new technology developed with a grant made under this subsection shall be based on existing global standards1 such as those developed by the ,internet ,engineering ,task ,force 7,,ietf7 and the ,world ,wide ,web ,consortium 7,w#c;,c74 7,b7 ,supporting existing laws or regulations ,tools and programs developed with a grant made under this subsection shall be in support of existing laws or regulations1 including the ,bank ,secrecy ,act4 7,c7 ,open access requirement ,tools and programs developed with a grant made under this subsection shall be freely accessible and usable by the public4 ,this requirement may be fulfilled by publicly availing application programming interfaces or software development kits4 #f4 ,definitions ,for purposes of this ,act3 7#a7 ,bank ,secrecy ,act ,the term ,bank ,secrecy ,act means-- 7,a7 section #ba of the ,federal ,deposit ,insurance ,act2 7,b7 chapter #b of title ,i of ,public ,law #ia-ejh2 and 7,c7 subchapter ,,ii of chapter #ec of title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#b7 ,digital currency ,the term digital currency-- 7,a7 means a digital representation of value that-- 7i7 is used as a medium of exchange1 unit of account1 or store of value2 and 7ii7 is not legal tender1 whether or not denominated in legal tender2 and 7,b7 does not include-- 7i7 a transaction in which a merchant grants1 as part of an affinity or rewards program1 value that cannot be taken from or exchanged with the merchant for legal tender1 bank credit1 or digital currency2 or 7ii7 a digital representation of value issued by or on behalf of a publisher and used solely within an online game1 game platform1 or family of games sold by the same publisher or offered on the same game platform4 7#c7 ,terrorist ,the term terrorist includes a person carrying out domestic terrorism or international terrorism 7as such terms are defined1 respectively1 under section #bcca of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code74