Washington news in brief

Hill’s measure aims to aid helpful banks

WASHINGTON — If U.S. Rep. French Hill has his way, bankers who help law enforcement agencies by keeping suspicious accounts open won’t have to worry about being sanctioned for their assistance.

The Republican from Little Rock, himself a former banker, has introduced legislation providing banks safe harbor from regulators in these instances.

The House passed the legislation last week. It now heads to the U.S. Senate.

The House passed similar legislation last year as well.

Law enforcement officials sometimes send banks what is known as a “keep open” letter requesting that they allow transactions to continue rather than cutting ties with shady clients.

The cooperation is appreciated by crime fighters, but the unusual banking activity raises red flags for bank examiners, Hill has said.

The legislation, if approved, would ensure that bankers aren’t docked on compliance exams for complying with this type of request.

The bill wouldn’t relieve the bank of its obligation to continue monitoring and reporting any subsequent suspicious transactions arising from the accounts.

Hill is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Delta Trust and Banking Corp., a Little Rock financial institution that he founded and led before its purchase in 2014 by Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff.

In an interview, Hill called the legislation “a straightforward, common-sense bill,” arguing that it would help “a bank and the law enforcement agency to work together to pursue criminals.”

The bill, HR758, passed 404-7.

Lorrie Trogden, president and CEO of the Arkansas Bankers Association, said her organization applauds Hill’s efforts.

If approved, it would “protect banks from regulatory agency backlash while complying with law enforcement requests. HR758 allows banks to continue to combat money laundering and terrorism without fear of repercussion.”

Cotton worries foes out to supplant U.S.

In war simulations, the U.S. is now routinely losing to both Russia and China, Breaking Defense reported earlier this month.

The report by the online defense journal quoted comments made by Rand analyst David Ochmanek during a panel discussion at the Center for a New American Security.

Asked about reports that the U.S. is losing these simulations, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton said, “I don’t want to get into classified war games but I will say that the gap between the United States on the one hand and Russia and China on the other hand has shrunk pretty dramatically over the last 10 years; really over the last 28 years since the first Gulf War when they saw what we did to what was then the fourth-largest army in the world.”

The loss of dominance is cause for concern, the Republican from Dardanelle said.

“Security competition in a dangerous world is not like a horse race. It’s not enough to win by a nose because the closer the gap is, the more likely your rival is to take a shot at the title and go for the jugular,” he said. “We want to make it so clear to Beijing and Moscow that they could never compete with us in the military domain, that they would never even consider such a foolhardy position.”

Asked whether Chinese is now a superpower, Cotton said yes.

“China’s the second-largest economy in the world, it’s still growing, it’s the largest nation in the world, it has very clear strategic goals to dominate first its region and then the world. It views itself as playing a long game to displace the United States,” he said.

“It cheats us out of jobs, it cheats us out of good trade, it steals our intellectual property. China is a rival and adversary in almost every way,” he said. “It’s a good thing that more and more leaders and the American people are awoken to the risk that China poses.”

Boozman applauds American Legion

U.S. Sen. John Boozman highlighted the achievements of the American Legion on Monday during a speech on the Senate floor.

The veterans organization, which was founded on March 15, 1919, is celebrating its centennial this year.

Formed by World War I veterans in Paris four months and four days after Armistice Day, it was chartered by Congress on Sept. 16, 1919.

Today, it claims 2 million members in more than 13,000 posts around the globe.

Boozman described the Legion as “the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization” and noted its contributions to American society.

“Since its founding, Legionnaires have proudly worked to strengthen our country and our communities, while upholding the promise our country made to those who have worn our nation’s uniform,” the Republican from Rogers said.

The Legion fought for the creation of the U.S. Veterans Bureau in 1924, a precursor to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The organization also pushed for passage of the GI Bill. It also has tried, but has yet to secure passage of a constitutional amendment to prohibit desecration of the U.S. flag.

This week, during Congress’ March recess, Boozman plans to visit American Legion posts in Harrison, Batesville and Jasper to help them mark the anniversary.