Time and time again, the biggest proponents of the Bank Secrecy Act have been quick to defend its intrusion on the liberties of Americans with the argument that it stops crime. Yet, despite tens of millions of reports being filed each year, proponents can rarely name more than a few anecdotes of crimes actually being stopped. In fact, even the agency in charge of monitoring Bank Secrecy Act surveillance can’t say how many reports have actually been used to apprehend criminals.

Luckily, not everyone in Congress is content with the status quo on the Bank Secrecy Act regime. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R‑MO) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland at the Department of Justice (DOJ) stating just how unacceptable this disregard for the law is:

The DOJ’s disregard for section 6201 has cemented a lack of transparency into the usefulness of the reported data. If the DOJ is unable to state the usefulness of BSA reporting [data], it begs the question if the burdensome reporting is worthwhile.

The section that Rep. Luetkemeyer noted is section 6201 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, or NDAA. In short, this section of the law required a report detailing how data reported under the Bank Secrecy Act is actually used by law enforcement.

Yet, as Rep. Luetkemeyer pointed out, the DOJ has failed to provide any meaningful information as required by the law. In fact, the DOJ is not alone. The Department of the Treasury likewise appears to have failed to provide similar reports as required by sections 6204 and 6205 of the NDAA.

In April of 2022, Reps. Patrick McHenry (R‑NC), Jim Himes (D‑CT), John Rose (R‑TN), Brad Sherman (D‑CA), David Kustoff (R‑TN), and Bryan Steil (R‑WI) all questioned FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das on the status of those reports because they were four months late at the time. Acting Director Das failed to supply any meaningful information, but he said that he recognized that “in terms of this hearing, it’s clear that we need to do a better job in terms of communicating how effective FinCEN’s work is.” In saying so, he noted that detailed reports would be ready by the end of 2022.

Now two months into 2023, there has been no indication that those reports exist.

Members of Congress should not have to go chasing down government agencies to ensure they fulfill their statutory duties. However, it’s good to see that Rep. Luetkemeyer is holding these agencies to the letter of the law. Considering the available data suggests the Bank Secrecy Act regime is a failure, it is all the more important that these agencies be held accountable.