Mike Braun

I believe you are being fair, and again you are very accurate.

We really need to tighten the noose on the beneficial ownership issue and lower the curtain once and for all.

Listen, terror organizations like Hezbollah, that is really now a hybrid terror organization...

The importance of shell--the anonymity related to those shell corporations in those accounts.

What it really comes down to is, if not ungoverned space, undergoverned space, places like the tri-border area.

What most folks in America don't realize is what has been going on in Mexico with respect to drug trafficking...

Hezbollah is an entrenched international terrorist organization predominantly operating in the Middle East.

I think it was poorly written by unseasoned probably analysts that contributed, and I would sense that there wasn't strong leadership involved as well.

I think the question should be not only Argentina, but how far is Ecuador going, how far is Bolivia going, how far is Paraguay going?

What also worries me, and, you know, I lose sleep over this, is this concurrent growing presence of not just Quds Force, but, again, concurrently of Hezbollah all over Latin America.

What concerns me most, though, is the Embassies, the cultural centers all provide cover, top cover, for the growing presence of the Quds Force.

What is happening in Ecuador is not uncommon. You know, we are seeing it play out through not only all of Latin America or much of Latin America, but we are also seeing it play out in West Africa, North Africa, and throughout Europe now.

Are now heavily involved in the global drug trade . . . Their participation in that effort presents them with myriad opportunities with which to build their terrorist and criminal capacity in the Western Hemisphere and elsewhere.

It is important to realize that where you find one--you find the other.

Like any other war, there comes a time when you need to make some midcourse adjustments.

Thanks to Venezuela and Hugo Chavez, these operatives from both of these very threatening terrorist groups are pouring into our neighborhood.

Iran, Hezbollah and the Quds Force... pose a real threat to our country.

I applaud you initiative for calling this very important hearing.

It is important also that the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also a designated terrorist organization by our country, the European Union and several other countries, are the ones that are paying for and utilizing--paying…

With respect to the LCB, or the Lebanese Canadian Bank investigation, that the DEA lead and worked with the Department of Treasury on, there were over 70 used car dealerships that were identified as part of the money laundering scheme for…

I would say yes, it is, you know, it is what they do.

I think it would be a great strategy, and it is--you know, it is not Congress' job, but somebody needs to herd the cats.

We need to get better at using sanctions like 311 to drive very nefarious organizations and bad guys into the areas where we can hit them the most, and we are not doing that.

We need to refocus our efforts on the traditional forms of illicit markets that are driven by organized crime.

We need a defense-in-depth.