June 28, 2018

Castro, Donovan Bill Approved by Foreign Affairs Committee, Heads to House Floor

Bipartisan Measure Includes Wildlife Trafficking in U.S. Rewards for Justice Program, Seeks to Limit Illegal Poaching and Trafficking

WASHINGTON—Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on intelligence, and Congressman Dan Donovan (NY-11), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Homeland Security Committee, today welcomed approval by the Foreign Affairs Committee of their bipartisan measure, the Rescuing Animals with Rewards Act (H.R. 6197).

The Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program allows the United States to issue rewards for information leading to the arrest or conviction of individuals involved in terrorism or transnational crime. The Rescuing Animals with Rewards Act will help take down terrorists and transnational criminal organizations engaged in wildlife trafficking and poaching by making these activities a top rewards priority under the Rewards for Justice Program. This will limit the ability of terrorist groups and criminal organizations to finance their malicious activities through illegal poaching and trading in illegal wildlife products.

“We know that terrorist organizations and other extremist actors like al-Shabaab use human and wildlife trafficking to routinely finance their nefarious activity, and it’s critical that the United States government choke off this financial source,” said Reps. Castro and Donovan. “The Rescuing Animals with Rewards Act would expand the U.S.’s Rewards for Justice Program that enables rewards for information leading to arrest or conviction of individuals involved in terrorism or transnational crime to include instances of wildlife trafficking. This would limit the ability of these actors to finance their malicious activity through illegal activities like poaching and trading in illegal wildlife products. We’re glad to see this legislation approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee today, bringing us one step closing to stopping this funding source with the programmatic tools already available in our government.”

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