Written Testimony by Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Daniel L. Glaser before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
10/13/2011
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“Emerging Threats and Security in the Western Hemisphere: Next Steps for U.S. Policy”
Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, Vice Chair Gallegly, Ranking Member Berman, and distinguished members of this Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss emerging threats and security challenges in the Western Hemisphere, as well as priorities for U.S. security assistance and policy in the region. I am pleased to be here with my State Department colleagues, Ambassador Brownfield, Ambassador Goldberg, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jacobson.
The Western Hemisphere is a region of particular importance to the Treasury Department and critical to our mission of safeguarding the U.S. financial system. Our economic and financial institutions are fundamentally intertwined with those of our neighbors, most notably Mexico, a country confronting vicious transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) whose tentacles extend into the United States. Illicit financial activity in one corner of the region will inevitably find its way across our borders and into our financial institutions.