Bipartisan Bill for Technological Improvements for Law Enforcement Passes the House

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH-16), co-chair of the Congressional Future Caucus, introduced H.R. 2613, the Advancing Innovation to Assist Law Enforcement Act, on May 9, 2019. It passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote on September 19 of that year. The bill was bipartisan and was cosponsored by fellow Future Caucus member Rep. Ben McAdams (D-UT-4). The intent of the bill is to require the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to study their use of artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies, digital identity technologies, and other innovations in order to determine how the Network could best make use of these tools to combat money laundering.

FinCEN is a bureau within the Treasury Department whose goal it is to collect data on financial crimes to eliminate money laundering, and to protect the United States from financial terrorism and other illicit activities. Within six months of the passage of the bill, FinCEN would have to provide to Congress a study and policy recommendations based on its research into the use of new and emerging technologies to interpret data and share such information with other federal, state, local, and tribal entities.

 Congressman Gonzalez remarked in a  speech on the floor of the House:

“It is my firm belief that we must leverage the use of emerging technologies in order to make our government operations more efficient and upgrade the toolkit that enables our law enforcement to effectively go after bad actors.”

Another section of the bill that Gonzalez touted in his speech was the use of these technologies to establish better and more efficient lines of communication between federal law enforcement like FinCEN and state and local entities. This would allow for more effective collaboration between the law enforcement agencies and the elimination of unnecessary redundancies that eat up resources. 

This common sense legislation helps move American law enforcement into the 21st century by ensuring the best possible use of available technology. By leveraging our strengths, and tapping our national innovative predilection, these Future Caucus members are embodying a post-partisan ethos that will drive our country towards safer, and more just outcomes. By separating the whims of the party from the core task of legislating, more victories like this will become possible.