The Minnesota representative Tom Emmer has introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives that could limit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC.
In a February 22 announcement, Rep. Emmer said who had introduced the “CBDC Surveillance State Law” in an apparent effort to protect Americans’ right to financial privacy. According to the Minnesota lawmaker, the bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar “directly to anyone,” prohibit the central bank from conducting monetary policy based on a CBDC, and require transparency on projects involving a digital dollar.
“Any digital version of the dollar must uphold our American values of privacy, individual sovereignty and free market competitiveness”Emmer said. “Anything else opens the door to the development of a dangerous surveillance tool.”
Today, I introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to halt efforts of unelected bureaucrats in Washington, DC from stripping Americans of their right to financial privacy. pic.twitter.com/lONbHFZMk7
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) February 22, 2023
Today I introduced the CBDC Act against the Surveillance State to stop attempts by unelected bureaucrats in Washington DC to strip Americans of their right to financial privacy.
If passed in both the House and Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden, the bill would amend the Federal Reserve Act to limit the Federal Reserve’s authority over CBDCs. Emmer is the majority speaker in the House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a majority of the seats. Cointelegraph contacted the office of representative Emmer, but did not hear back at press time.
Many on social media hailed the bill as a step in the right direction.. Bitcoiner Dan Held applauded the shares of Emmer, and others quoted financial privacy as one of the reasons they supported the legislation.
Emmer introduced a similar bill in January 2022, during the last session of Congress in which Republicans held the minority in the House. At that moment, US lawmaker cited “China’s digital authoritarianism” to limit the Fed’s authority over a digital dollar: China had announced that its digital yuan would be available to foreign athletes at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, and is making progress on the project.
For much of his recent tenure, Rep. Emmer has been considered a pro-crypto legislator who has called on the government to reduce regulation to promote innovation in the sector. In December, he asked Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler to appear before Congress to “answer questions about the cost of his regulatory failures.”
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