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Survey of Terrorist Groups and Their Means of Financing

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Survey of Terrorist Groups and Their Means of Financing SURVEY OF TERRORIST GROUPS AND THEIR MEANS OF FINANCING HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM AND ILLICIT FINANCE OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 7, 2018 Printed for the use of the Committee on Financial Services Serial No. 115–116 ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 31–576 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 VerDate Mar 15 2010 14:03 Dec 06, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 G:\GPO PRINTING\DOCS\115TH HEARINGS - 2ND SESSION 2018\2018-09-07 TIF TERRO mcarroll on FSR431 with DISTILLER HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES JEB HENSARLING, Texas, Chairman PATRICK T. MCHENRY, North Carolina, MAXINE WATERS, California, Ranking Vice Chairman Member PETER T. KING, New York CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York EDWARD R. ROYCE, California NYDIA M. VELA´ ZQUEZ, New York FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma BRAD SHERMAN, California STEVAN PEARCE, New Mexico GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York BILL POSEY, Florida MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri BILL HUIZENGA, Michigan STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts SEAN P. DUFFY, Wisconsin DAVID SCOTT, Georgia STEVE STIVERS, Ohio AL GREEN, Texas RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois EMANUEL CLEAVER, Missouri DENNIS A. ROSS, Florida GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin ROBERT PITTENGER, North Carolina KEITH ELLISON, Minnesota ANN WAGNER, Missouri ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado ANDY BARR, Kentucky JAMES A. HIMES, Connecticut KEITH J. ROTHFUS, Pennsylvania BILL FOSTER, Illinois LUKE MESSER, Indiana DANIEL T. KILDEE, Michigan SCOTT TIPTON, Colorado JOHN K. DELANEY, Maryland ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona BRUCE POLIQUIN, Maine JOYCE BEATTY, Ohio MIA LOVE, Utah DENNY HECK, Washington FRENCH HILL, Arkansas JUAN VARGAS, California TOM EMMER, Minnesota JOSH GOTTHEIMER, New Jersey LEE M. ZELDIN, New York VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan CHARLIE CRIST, Florida BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia RUBEN KIHUEN, Nevada ALEXANDER X. MOONEY, West Virginia THOMAS MACARTHUR, New Jersey WARREN DAVIDSON, Ohio TED BUDD, North Carolina DAVID KUSTOFF, Tennessee CLAUDIA TENNEY, New York TREY HOLLINGSWORTH, Indiana SHANNON MCGAHN, Staff Director (II) VerDate Mar 15 2010 14:03 Dec 06, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 G:\GPO PRINTING\DOCS\115TH HEARINGS - 2ND SESSION 2018\2018-09-07 TIF TERRO mcarroll on FSR431 with DISTILLER SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM AND ILLICIT FINANCE STEVAN PEARCE, New Mexico, Chairman ROBERT PITTENGER, North Carolina, Vice ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado, Ranking Chairman Member KEITH J. ROTHFUS, Pennsylvania CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York LUKE MESSER, Indiana JAMES A. HIMES, Connecticut SCOTT TIPTON, Colorado BILL FOSTER, Illinois ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas DANIEL T. KILDEE, Michigan BRUCE POLIQUIN, Maine JOHN K. DELANEY, Maryland MIA LOVE, Utah KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona FRENCH HILL, Arkansas JUAN VARGAS, California TOM EMMER, Minnesota JOSH GOTTHEIMER, New Jersey LEE M. ZELDIN, New York RUBEN KIHUEN, Nevada WARREN DAVIDSON, Ohio STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts TED BUDD, North Carolina DAVID KUSTOFF, Tennessee (III) VerDate Mar 15 2010 14:03 Dec 06, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 G:\GPO PRINTING\DOCS\115TH HEARINGS - 2ND SESSION 2018\2018-09-07 TIF TERRO mcarroll on FSR431 with DISTILLER VerDate Mar 15 2010 14:03 Dec 06, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 G:\GPO PRINTING\DOCS\115TH HEARINGS - 2ND SESSION 2018\2018-09-07 TIF TERRO mcarroll on FSR431 with DISTILLER C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on: September 7, 2018 ............................................................................................ 1 Appendix: September 7, 2018 ............................................................................................ 33 WITNESSES FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2018 Bauer, Katherine, Blumenstein-Katz Family Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy ............................................................................................. 4 Clarke, Colin P., Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation .......................... 10 Fanusie, Yaya J., Director of Analysis, Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance, Foundation for Defense of Democracies .............................................. 6 Segal, Oren, Director, Center on Extremism, Anti-Defamation League ............. 7 Soufan, Ali H., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Soufan Center ...... 9 APPENDIX Prepared statements: Bauer, Katherine .............................................................................................. 34 Clarke, Colin P. ................................................................................................ 57 Fanusie, Yaya J. ............................................................................................... 66 Segal, Oren ........................................................................................................ 77 Soufan, Ali H. ................................................................................................... 118 (V) VerDate Mar 15 2010 14:03 Dec 06, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 G:\GPO PRINTING\DOCS\115TH HEARINGS - 2ND SESSION 2018\2018-09-07 TIF TERRO mcarroll on FSR431 with DISTILLER VerDate Mar 15 2010 14:03 Dec 06, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 G:\GPO PRINTING\DOCS\115TH HEARINGS - 2ND SESSION 2018\2018-09-07 TIF TERRO mcarroll on FSR431 with DISTILLER SURVEY OF TERRORIST GROUPS AND THEIR MEANS OF FINANCING Friday, September 7, 2018 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM AND ILLICIT FINANCE, COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:22 a.m., in room 2128, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Stevan Pearce [chair- man of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Pearce, Pittenger, Rothfus, Tipton, Hill, Emmer, Zeldin, Davidson, Budd, Kustoff, Perlmutter, Maloney, Himes, Foster, Sinema, Vargas, Gottheimer, Kihuen, Lynch, and Waters. Chairman PEARCE. The subcommittee will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess of the subcommittee at any time. Members of the committee who are not members of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance may participate in today’s hearing. All members will have 5 legisla- tive days within which to submit extraneous materials to the Chair for inclusion in the record. This hearing is entitled, ‘‘Survey of Terrorist Groups and Their Means of Financing.’’ I will now recognize myself for 2 minutes to give an opening statement. I want to thank everyone for joining us today. Today’s hearing will examine the current landscape of terrorism around the world and the ways that these groups are financing their operations. Terrorist organizations cannot function without financial re- sources to organize and carry out violent actions. Congress must understand the full nature of the current threats facing our Nation and the globe. We must remain vigilant in identifying and cutting off the funding mechanism of these organizations that pose a threat to global safety. This vital piece of our Nation’s antiterrorist strategy cannot be overlooked. On April 22, 2015, the Terrorism Financial Task Force of the 114th Congress held a similar hearing to examine which terrorist groups posed the greatest threats to global stability. In the 3 years since that initial hearing, terrorist organizations have adapted and changed their ways of managing their operations. I would like to bring up the example of the Islamic state, better known as ISIS, to highlight how the global landscape has changed since that hearing. At their peak in 2014, ISIS was generating around $81 million a month through taxes, oil sales, smuggling, (1) VerDate Mar 15 2010 14:03 Dec 06, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 G:\GPO PRINTING\DOCS\115TH HEARINGS - 2ND SESSION 2018\2018-09-07 TIF TERRO mcarroll on FSR431 with DISTILLER 2 and extortion. Additionally, during this time, the group controlled 41,000 square miles of territory in Iraq and Syria and ruled over 8 million people. Currently, ISIS has lost 98 percent of their territory in these two countries, and more than 7.7 million people have been liberated from ISIS’ oppression. While the loss of this territory has caused their revenues to plummet greatly, the group still is able to pay terrorist cells and spread violence globally. While ISIS may be one of the most glaring examples of a ter- rorist organization being forced to change their operations as a re- sult of global intervention, there are many more throughout the world, from al-Qaida running fundraising operations and cam- paigns with cryptocurrencies to Hezbollah operating drug traf- ficking rings in South America. We must ensure that Congress un- derstands the full nature of the threats that we are currently fac- ing. This hearing will provide up-to-date information about which ter- rorist groups represent the highest threat and the new ways that they are financing their operations and infrastructure. I would like to thank our witnesses for being here today, and look forward to their expert testimony on these important issues. I now would recognize the gentleman from Colorado for 2 min- utes for an opening statement. Mr. PERLMUTTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will keep my remarks brief because we are going to have votes on the floor pretty early this morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you to all the panelists for being here to share your insight on major terrorist groups and how they finance their
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