U.S. Representative Tom Emmer has introduced the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Anti-Surveillance State Act “to stop the efforts of unelected bureaucrats to strip Americans’ rights to financial privacy . to strip Americans of their rights to financial privacy.” The bill also prohibits the Federal Reserve from “directly issuing CBDCs to anyone.”
CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Bill Introduced
U.S. Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) announced Tuesday that he has introduced the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Anti-Surveillance State Act in the House of Representatives. The recently elected House Majority Whip tweeted.
Today I introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to stop unelected bureaucrats in Washington, DC from attempting to strip Americans of their right to financial privacy.
In a subsequent tweet, Emmer elaborated that the bill “does three things” by amending the Federal Reserve Act. First, it would “prohibit the Fed from issuing CBDCs directly to anyone,” the congressman wrote. Second, it would “prohibit the Fed from using CBDCs to conduct monetary policy and control the economy,” and third, it would “require that the Fed’s CBDC project be transparent to Congress and the American people.”
The bill was supported by Representatives French Hill, Warren Davidson, Andy Biggs, Mike Flood, Byron Donald, Pete Sessions, Barry Loudermilk, Young Kim, and Ralph Norman.
“Proud to join forces with @GOPMajorityWhip on legislation to prevent the Fed from issuing a central bank digital currency; the Fed should focus on its core mission of stabilizing prices and maximizing jobs, not tracking our transactions forever.” Rep. Loudermilk tweeted in support of the bill on Wednesday.
Rep. Emmer noted that “America remains a technological leader not because we let innovation adopt our values under regulatory coercion, but because we let these core values thrive.”
Every digital version of the dollar must uphold the American values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market competitiveness. Anything that does not will open the door to the development of dangerous surveillance tools.
Last year, Emmer and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz introduced similar bills in the House and Senate, respectively. Cruz’s bill similarly seeks to prohibit the Federal Reserve from competing with the private sector by issuing CBDCs directly to individuals. The senator from Texas warned that CBDCs could be used “as a direct surveillance tool into the private dealings of Americans.”
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