mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , i rise in support of the amendment . 
money is a key element of terrorist organizations . 
if we are to prevent future attacks and continue to dismantle terrorist organizations , we must cut off their access to funding . 
in order to thwart terrorists financing , president bush in september of 2001 signed an executive order freezing the assets of terrorist organizations and their supporters and authorizing the secretaries of treasury and state to identify , designate , and freeze the u.s.-based assets that financially facilitate terrorism . 
since then , an unprecedented international effort to freeze terrorism financing has ensued . 
this has truly been an international effort with 173 nations implementing orders to freeze terrorist assets with more than 100 countries passing new legislation to fight terrorism financing , and 84 countries establishing the financial intelligence united to share information helping to combat terrorism . 
terrorist organizations need money , not just to carry out attacks . 
they especially need funding to continue their operations such as recruiting and training new terrorists and simply supporting their current organizations . 
one of the most important lessons we have learned is exactly how terrorists and other criminal organizations transmit money through unregulated financial markets . 
like the patchwork of terrorist organizations themselves , terrorism funding does not come from a single source . 
terrorism networks are funded through rogue state sponsorship , corrupt charities , and illegitimate businesses fronting as legitimate businesses and using that money for terrorism , also through exploitation of our legitimate markets and financial networks . 
many terrorist organizations use a network known as hawalas to exchange money and finance terrorist activities . 
these hawalas are an informal exchange in which payments are delivered without money actually being moved . 
in addition , terrorists engage in criminal activities such as extortion , smuggling and trafficking , credit card and identity fraud , and the narcotics trade to fund their murderous activities . 
after september 11 , our federal government acted aggressively through domestic and international efforts to halt such activities to prevent terrorism financing . 
unfortunately , we have learned that these are not enough . 
my amendment would address some of the loopholes . 
one , we increase the penalty for terrorism financing . 
under current law , violations only carry a $ 10 , 000 fine and a 10-year sentence . 
my amendment would increase the fine to $ 50 , 000 and the sentence to 20 years . 
we also update money laundering statutes . 
they must keep pace to help prevent financing of terrorist activities . 
as chancellor gordon brown stated last week , prevention of money laundering is the key element of stopping the financing of terrorist groups of the type suspected of planning and carrying out the london bombings . 
first , my amendment will add a predicate offense to the money-laundering statutes , such as operating illegal money laundering and transmitting businesses , misuse of social security numbers , military-style training of individuals , and a new terrorism financing offense . 
my amendment also clarifies the law so that a combination of transactions or parallel transactions can trigger money-laundering statutes . 
mr. chairman , our patriot act added a new forfeiture provision for individuals planning or perpetrating the act of terrorism against the united states . 
my amendment adds a parallel provision for individuals planning or perpetrating an act of terrorism against a foreign state or an international organization acting within the jurisdiction of the united states . 
this amendment builds on our current laws to address some of the shortfalls in our laws that we have learned about from our law enforcement since 9/11 . 
i encourage my colleagues to support this amendment . 
