House Committee Passes CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act Despite Push Back from Democratic Lawmakers

HFSC Approves CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act

On Friday, the HFSC (House Financial Services Committee) approved the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act. The bill will now be presented in the House for voting.

Introduced by crypto-friendly lawmaker Tom Emmer, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act is intended to block the Federal Reserve from developing and issuing a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). Over the last few months, Emmer has labeled a Fed-issued CBDC as a financial surveillance tool.

Several Presidential hopefuls, including Robert Kennedy Jr. and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have opposed the Fed’s CBDC plans. They two have been promising voters that they won’t allow the central bank to issue such a digital currency if elected.

“CBDCs are not Healthy for Our Financial System,” Says Tom Emmer

While delivering his speech, following the HFSC decision to approve his proposal, Emmer said a CBDC was “un-American,” citing examples of other countries’ governments using these centralized digital currencies to weaponize the financial systems against citizens. The Congressman claimed that the Chinese government has been using its CBDC to monitor citizens’ purchasing activities. He also said Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, tracked down the bank accounts of protestors and froze them.

Per the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, the Federal Reserve will not be allowed to use CBDCs to conduct monetary policy. Earlier this year, the European Central Bank explained how CBDCs could strengthen or weaken monetary policy depending on their application.

Although stablecoins function similarly to CBDCs, except that they are issued by private companies, Emmer’s bill doesn’t affect them.

Democrats Criticize Republicans for Passing Emmer’s Bill

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers still want a CBDC. All the Democrats (20) on the House Financial Services Committee voted against the bill. Lawmaker Brad Sherman criticized Republicans for promoting stablecoins over CBDCs. He continued to say that he would have supported the legislation if it proposed ending crypto.

Maxime Waters is another Democrat Representative who criticized the supporters of Emmer’s bill. She said the legislation would hinder the implementation of an innovation that United States’ rivals like China have embraced. She also claimed that the proposal would cause Americans to lose out on cheaper and faster financial transactions. Moreover, Waters fears the USD might lose its “world’s reserve currency” status.