,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dbgd  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #b1 #bjbe,mr4  
,liccardo 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,correa1   
,mr4 ,torres of ,new ,york1 ,mr4        
,vargas1 ,mr4 ,vicente ,gonzalez of     
,texas1 ,mr4 ,espaillat1 ,mr4 ,garca of 
,illinois1 and ,mr4 ,subramanyam7       
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on ,ways and
 ,means1 and in addition to the         
,committee on ,financial ,services1 for 
a period to be subsequently determined  
by the ,speaker1 in each case for       
consideration of such provisions as fall
 within the jurisdiction of the         
committee concerned  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
limit the imposition of excise taxes and
 fees on money transmitting businesses1 
and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short     
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,remittance ,expense ,minimization and  
,integrity for ,transfers ,act or the   
,,remit ,act of #bjbe4  #b4 ,findings   
,the ,congress finds the following3     

7#a7 ,remittances are essential         
cross-border flows of funds from        
diaspora community members who sent     
money or goods from wherever they reside
 to their home countries4 ,while        
typically only a few hundred dollars per
 transaction1 the total remittance      
market is estimated by the              
,international ,monetary ,fund to be    
over #ejj1jjj1jjj1jjj globally4 ,these  
funds are so significant to the         
recipient countries that they can make  
up percentages of their ,gross ,domestic
 ,product and are significant factors in
 the elimination of poverty and the     
stabilization of economies4  7#b7 ,a    
#bjaf report from ,government           
,accountability ,office found that fines
 on remittances did not stop the flow of
 remittances1 but rather led to         
consumers using unregulated transfer    
methods4  7#c7 ,in a ,may #bjbc report1 
the ,congressional ,research ,service   
corroborated that many alternative      
remittance systems1 also known as       

,informal ,value ,transfer ,systems     
7,,ivts71 lack of documentation and     
their anonymity and informality can make
 them attractive for money laundering1  
terrorist financing1 and other illegal  
purposes4  7#d7 ,a ,july #e1 #bjbb1     
,department of the ,treasury ,financial 
,crimes ,enforcement ,network reiterated
 longstanding financial-crime concerns  
about ,,ivts and that ,,ivts are being  
used to fund attempted terrorist        
attacks1 including against the ,united  
,states4  7#e7 ,the #bjbd ,national     
,money ,laundering ,risk ,assessment by 
the ,u4,s4 ,department of the ,treasury 
highlighted that drug traffickers are   
turning to professional money launderers
 to launder their ill-gotten proceeds4  
,in particular1 drug traffickers use    
,chinese ,money ,laundering             
,organizations 7,c,m,l,os71 which employ
 ,,ivts1 among other means1 to move     
value across borders without needing to 
use the ,u4,s4 financial system4 ,while 
,c,m,l,os provide money laundering      

services for ,transnational ,criminal   
,organizations1 their primary objective 
is to acquire and subsequently sell     
,united ,states ,dollars 7and other     
foreign currencies7 using ,,ivts schemes
 to assist ,chinese nationals seeking to
 evade the ,chinese government's        
currency controls4 ,c,m,l,os operating  
in the ,united ,states increasingly need
 access to significant amounts of ,,usd 
to satisfy the demand for ,,ivts        
services by cartels1 ,chinese nationals1
 and other customers of their services4 
7#f7 ,to obtain dollars1 ,c,m,l,os work 
with ,south ,american drug cartels and  
also anyone who needs their underground 
cross-border money transfer services4   
7#g7 ,c,m,l,os are just one example of  
the organizations that would benefit    
from the increased demand created by any
 attempt to limit licit movement of     
remittances across borders4  #c4 ,excise
 taxes and fees  7a7 ,in general        
,notwithstanding any other provision of 
law4 it is not permissible for the      

,federal ,government to require a money 
transmitting business to pay an excise  
tax or fee unless the ,secretary of the 
,treasury has certified to ,congress1   
including the ,committee on ,financial  
,services of the ,house of              
,representatives and the ,committee on  
,banking1 ,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs 
of the ,senate that such excise tax or  
fee--  7#a7 will not increase the       
potential for money laundering or other 
financial crime activities2 and  7#b7   
will not impose an undue burden on any  
money transmitting business4  7b7 ,money
 transmitting business defined ,in this 
section1 the term money transmitting    
business means a licensed sender of     
money or any other person who engages as
 a business in the transmission of      
currency1 funds1 or value that          
substitutes for currency1 including any 
person who engages as a business in an  
informal money transfer system or any   
network of people who engage as a       
business in facilitating the transfer of

 money domestically or internationally  
outside of the conventional financial   
institutions system4