Comment on FR Doc # 2010-17505

RE: Docket number TREAS–FinCEN–2009–0007, RIN 1506-AB07 Dear Director Freis: I am writing to provide comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) entitled, “Amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations – Definitions and Other Regulations Relating to Prepaid Access” that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released on June 21. As one of only ten Members of Congress with a district on the U.S.-Mexico border, I appreciate this opportunity to provide some context on how the use of stored-value devices by drug cartels is impacting my district in southern Arizona. In my state and all along the U.S.-Mexico border, law enforcement agencies have determined that drug cartels are using stored-value devices to launder money. A threat assessment by the U.S. Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center called the cards “an ideal money-laundering instrument,” citing loose regulation; cardholder anonymity; and liberal limits on value, reloading, withdrawal and spending on some types of the cards. We know that cash earned from U.S. drug sales are the life-blood of the cartels. According to a March 7 article in the Arizona Daily Star, the average amount of the 415 seizures on the southwest border in 2009 was $89,565 – more than double the average seizure in the previous five years. The Tucson Sector, which I represent, is the most porous area along the 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexico border, with more illegal immigrants apprehended and drugs seized than anywhere else in the country. In my ongoing effort to strengthen border security, I worked with Congressman Brian Bilbray, a Republican from California, to introduce the Stored-Value Device Registration and Reporting Act on April 22, 2010. Our bill is aimed at imposing tough new regulations on stored-value devices which includes requiring cardholders to declare if they are carrying $10,000 or more on a stored-value device to customs officers. Currently, federal officials have no way of knowing how