Cbdc Anti-Surveillance State Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HILL. Madam Chair, I rise in support of the Central Bank Anti- Surveillance State Act.

The Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 create the foundation of our money and our economic policy in this country. Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution states that only Congress has the authority to coin money and regulate the value of such money.

Today, Congress is exercising its Article I authority to state clearly that the Federal Reserve does not have the authority to create a central bank digital currency.

This shouldn't be controversial. It shouldn't be partisan. We know that is the case. We will see how the vote falls today, Madam Chair, but this legislation is necessary, as you have heard this morning, because we live in a world where government can abuse the tools that they have.

As noted by the whip, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was freezing bank accounts of people protesting COVID-19 restrictions in his country. We read reports from the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government of how FinCEN, a bureau of the Treasury Department, pressured banks to screen private transactions of their customers for words like ``MAGA'' or ``Trump'' on behalf of Federal law enforcement.

Is that really the country we want to live in? They even tracked people, according to that subcommittee, if you shopped at Bass Pro Shops. I shop at Bass Pro Shops all the time in my district.

This kind of Big Brother-style surveillance of our financial lives by the government is alarming to Americans because it represents the political targeting of citizens in this country.

We don't need a retail central bank digital currency. We have a payment system that can capitalize on the private sector. For example, private sector payment stablecoins are a terrific innovation that will become a ubiquitous way for people to transact and expand and enhance the dollar dominance of our currency around the world.

Madam Chair, a vote for this bill is to vote to safeguard our freedom, protect our privacy, and preserve the integrity of our financial system.

I urge a ``yes'' vote.

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Mr. HILL. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ogles) for yielding the time.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of Mr. Ogles' commonsense resolution.

Yes, it doubles down on the views of Congress in this bill, no doubt. The underlying bill already prohibits the use of a central bank digital currency to implement monetary policy.

However, this sense of Congress further clarifies our intent. As Chairman McHenry just noted, the Federal Reserve is not permitted to develop, create, or implement a CBDC or to use a CBDC to implement monetary policy without authorization of Congress. Part of the reason we are here is due to the Fed officials having been ambiguous or noncommittal as to public statements related to their legal authorities under the Federal Reserve Act as it relates to a CBDC.

I agree with Mr. McHenry that certainly this Chairman, Jay Powell, has been quite clear to our committee that issuing a retail CBDC is not something he could do without an authorization of Congress.

That is why I think reiterating it in this resolution is an important step. I commend the gentleman from Tennessee for bringing this amendment. I hope all our colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support it and the underlying bill.

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