Rep. Robert Pittenger
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) has returned to Washington after hosting a major international forum on terrorism financing, Intelligence cooperation, and civil liberties protections on Monday in Vienna, Austria.
More than 100 Members of Parliament and other high-ranking officials from nearly 30 European nations, Argentina, South Korea, and Taiwan, joined Congressman Pittenger to discuss joint efforts to defeat radical Islamist terrorism with experts from U.S. Treasury, Homeland Security, U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Argentina’s Financial Intelligence Unit, Bank of America, SAS Corporation, Ericsson, and Northeastern University. Delegates also received an update on current security concerns from Lt. General Ben Hodges, Commander of the U.S. Army in Europe.
“Together, we identified specific opportunities to collaborate on efforts to intercept terrorist financing and enable critical data and Intelligence sharing,” said Congressman Pittenger. “We face a common enemy who seeks our destruction. As with previous generations who worked together to defeat Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, we must work together to defeat radical Islamist terrorism.”
Because terrorist organizations are increasingly using Latin America for funding operations, Congressman Pittenger invited Mariano Federici, President of Argentina’s Financial Intelligence Unit, to offer expert advice at the Vienna forum. Mr. Federici will host a similar forum specifically for South American countries.
This was the fourth Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum organized by Congressman Pittenger, who serves as Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare and Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Committee Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing. A fifth forum has been requested by delegates and will be held this December in Washington.
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