Emmer Introduces CBDC Privacy Bill

Representative Tom Emmer has reintroduced legislation that seeks to prevent “unelected bureaucrats in Washington” from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Emmer and 49 original co-sponsors reintroduced the “CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act” in the House of Representatives on September 12 in an effort, so they claim, to safeguard the financial privacy rights of Americans.

“That’s why I’m reintroducing my landmark legislation to put a check on unelected bureaucrats and ensure the United States’ digital currency policy upholds our values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free-market competitiveness,”

“The administration has made it clear that President Biden is willing to compromise the right to financial privacy of the American people in exchange for a surveillance-style CBDC,” Emmer, a Republican, said in a statement, adding that he introduced a bill to address CBDCs for the first time in January 2022.

It was formally introduced to Congress in February 2023 with the intent of preventing the Federal Reserve from minting a programmable digital dollar, which Emmer claims is a “surveillance tool that would be used to undermine the American way of life.

The measure prohibits the Fed from issuing CBDCs to individuals, which, according to Emmer, would prevent the Fed from becoming a retail bank capable of collecting personal financial information.

In addition, the measure prohibits the central bank from using CBDCs to implement monetary policy. As the federal government seeks to maintain and expand financial control, Tom Emmer cautioned against the weaponization of money in March.

In May, U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. echoed this sentiment, stating, “This is why I oppose CBDCs, which will vastly increase the government’s ability to stifle dissent by cutting off access to funds with a keystroke.

Senators French Hill, Warren Davidson, and Mike Flood are additional backers of the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act.