Jon S. Corzine: “I am going to support this legislation, and I want to commend the leadership--Senators Daschle and Lott--and Senators…”

“I am going to support this legislation, and I want to commend the leadership--Senators Daschle and Lott--and Senators Leahy and Hatch, for their efforts in developing the bill. Clearly, there is no higher priority than combating terrorism and protecting our national security. At the same time, I do have real concerns about the process by which this legislation has come to the floor, and about the implications of some provisions for fundamental civil liberties. There are several provisions in this legislation that make a real, positive contribution to the fight against terrorism. First, this bill includes legislation approved by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, on which I sit, that will help authorities crack down on money laundering. This is essential if we are to deprive terrorists of resources. The bill will require additional reporting of suspicious transactions, require identification of the foreign owners of certain U.S. accounts, and impose other requirements on financial institutions to give authorities a greater ability to identify and prosecute money launderers. I also note that the bill includes a provision I authored that calls for a study into the possibility of expanding the legislation to include hedge funds and other investment services that also can be used by terrorists to launder money.”