The
Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence is a position within the
United States Department of the TreasuryThe Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
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 destructionThe term weapon of mass destruction is often used to describe a weapon that can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general....
. The Under Secretary is appointed by the
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
and confirmed by the
SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
. The current Under Secretary, confirmed on July 21, 2004, is
Stuart A. LeveyStuart A. Levey is the incumbent and first Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence within the United States Department of the Treasury. He was sworn in on July 21, 2004. According to the Bush administration, Stuart Levey has played a central role in their efforts to combat North...
.
The Under Secretary heads the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Both were created when the administration of President
BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
announced on May 8, 2004 that the Executive Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, the
Financial Crimes Enforcement NetworkThe Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions in order to combat money laundering, terrorist financiers, and other financial crimes.As reflected in its name, the Financial...
, the
Office of Foreign Assets ControlThe Office of Foreign Assets Control is an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury under the auspices of the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S...
, 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 (Treasury Department).
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 CenterThe Federal Law Enforcement Training Center serves as an interagency law enforcement training organization for 82 United States Government Federal Law Enforcement agencies.-Location:...
; the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the U.S. Secret Service, the Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The Under Secretary also provided policy guidance over the
Internal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. It is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is responsible for interpretation and application of Federal tax law. The official U.S...
'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 JusticeThe United States Department of Justice is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans...
, while the latter was kept within the Department of the Treasury. 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 ProtectionU.S. Customs and Border Protection is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing hundreds of U.S...
.
Former Under Secretaries of Enforcement include Jimmy Gurule, James E. Johnson, and Ronald Kenneth Noble.