Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
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The Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence is a position within the United States Department of the Treasury responsible for directing the Treasury's efforts to cut the lines of financial support for terrorists, fight financial crime, enforce economic sanctions against rogue nations, and combat the financial support of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Under Secretary is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The current Under Secretary, confirmed on July 21, 2004, is Stuart A. Levey.
The Under Secretary heads the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Both were created when the administration of President Bush announced on May 8, 2004 that the Executive Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and allocated resources from the Treasury Department would be brought under the new office's control. The Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence also possesses oversight of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
The position's predecessor, the Under Secretary for Enforcement, managed law enforcement aspects of the Department prior to the reorganization. The Under Secretary for Enforcement provided oversight and policy guidance for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the U.S. Customs Service, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the U.S. Secret Service, the Executive Office for Asset Forefeiture, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The Under Secretary also provided policy guidance over the Internal Revenue Service's Crime Investigation.
Several of these agencies are now non-existent or have been moved into other federal departments. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was split into two separate bureaus, with one handling certain law enforcement aspects and the other handling tax collection aspects. The former was moved into the United States Department of Justice, while the latter was kept within the Department of the Treasury, according to the Treasury's organization chart, under the Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. The U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center are now within the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. Customs Service was moved into the Department of Homeland Security when it became part of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
[edit] External links
- The biography of the current Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
- The biography of the last Under Secretary for Enforcement
- The Department of the Treasury's descriptions of the Under Secretary's duties and functions
- The press release from the Department of the Treasury announcing the creation of the new Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
- The history of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
- The U.S. Secret Service website
- The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center website
- The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website