FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Doug McGinn
March 4, 1999 (202) 225-3031

RYAN VOTES TO BLOCK PRIVACY INFRINGEMENT

Proposed Program Would Have Granted International Agency Access to Individual Americans' Financial Information

WASHINGTON - First District Congressman Paul Ryan today joined the side of privacy advocates in helping to strike down legislation that would have allowed the federal government and international groups access to American citizens' financial information. As a member of the House Banking and Financial Services Committee, Ryan voted to successfully block the implementation of a controversial program named "Know Your Customer."

A proposal of the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of Currency and Office of the Thrift Supervisor, the "Know Your Customer" program would have imposed draconian new regulations requiring banks and other financial institutions to develop a profiling system on every account holder.

If an account holder were to deviate from their profile, "Know Your Customer" regulations would require their bank to file a "suspicious activity" report with the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, an international agency charged with overseeing the implementation of "Know Your Customer" on a global scale. Also startling, financial institutions would be forbidden from informing their customers that they had been the subjects of such reports.

"This program would have had a devastating affect upon every Americans' right to privacy," said Ryan. "The Know Your Customer program would have been a direct violation of the fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, that no citizen should be subjected to this sort of search and seizure. The government takes enough of our hard-earned money-they have absolutely no business knowing what we do with the part they let us keep."

"This was simply bad policy and an overt effort to infringe upon the privacy of every American," continued Ryan.

For additional information, or to speak with Congressman Ryan, please contact Doug McGinn at (202) 225-3031.