I rise today in one of the hottest economic environments our Nation has ever seen. The last time American unemployment was this low, the Beatles were at the top of the charts and I was a starting forward on the JV basketball team back in…

I came here mostly to support my colleagues and to actually listen for an objection to a bill like this. For the short time I have been here, what a rude awakening as to what can happen. Everything I have heard here makes sense, and I…

We experienced over 47,000 drug-related overdose deaths last year.

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

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

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

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

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

Anything that this committee and task force can do, again, to raise the veil, drop the curtain, whatever, to expose the beneficial owners of those corporations I believe would have a significant impact.

I applaud Colombia's efforts to bring the FARC, ELN to the peace table and to bring peace to the country.

We have done a good job there.

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

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

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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…

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

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…

I applaud you initiative for calling this very important hearing.