House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told – News in an exclusive interview on Thursday that pro-crypto legislation moving through Congress proves that anti-crypto dinosaurs are going extinct.
Emmer spoke to – News as the House is poised to pass three major pro-crypto bills that would ensure American dominance for the United States Dollar, ensure a clear regulatory approach for the burgeoning crypto industry, and ensure that unelected bureaucrats cannot issue a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The first bill is the Senate-passed GENIUS Act, a bill that would create a light-touch regulatory framework for the issuance of stablecoins, which are digital assets that are pegged to the value of a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar.
Emmer explained, “The beauty of that is someday, and maybe it’s in the very near future, it will be… very important domestically. But for me, as a policymaker today, and having worked in this space for the last ten years and been a member of the Financial Services Committee in the House that’s charged with jurisdiction, responsibility over the topic [of] exporting U.S. dollars, it’s really about — it’s going to be as significant as Ronald Reagan looking at Gorbachev and saying, ‘Tear down this wall.’”
He continued, “Everybody around the globe would love to do business in U.S. dollars. That cab driver down in Brazil right now would love to do business in U.S. dollars. A dollar-backed stablecoin will allow that that young woman in Africa who doesn’t even have access to traditional financial services, she is now going to have a fighting chance to participate in some of the greatest financial markets in the world right here in the United States. So, it supports and enhances the reserve status of the U.S. dollar, but more importantly, by exporting it, it’s part of our national security.”
The Clarity Act would set a clear regulatory framework for the digital asset industry while also prioritizing consumer protection and fostering innovation.
He said that the bill will “create a certainty and predictability so that people will invest in this country and they won’t have to worry about what they experienced under the Biden administration, which is regulation by enforcement,” noting that the Biden Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hounded pro-crypto businesses and drove them out the country.
The third bill the House will consider is Emmer’s own CBDC Anti-Surveillance Act which would bar unelected bureaucrats such as the Federal Reserve — the nation’s central bank — from issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), thereby undermining America’s right to financial privacy. It would also prevent the Fed from using CBDC’s as a tool to implement monetary policy.
Emmer remarked that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and other anti-crypto advocates want a CBDC to further control Americans’ lives.
Using the example of China’s extreme control over their citizens, the Minnesota congressman said, “The Marxist Democrat Party of today literally wants to control every aspect of our lives. What better way to do it? You start by controlling the water in your environment, and you finish it off by surveilling your citizens, every purchase, every financial transaction. Look, they used it very effectively in China, when the Wuhan flu broke out — literally, they would just turn off your card. You weren’t able to get transportation out of Wuhan. You weren’t able to rent a hotel room. In fact, there are stories that you weren’t able to go get groceries unless the government gave you permission and unlocked your resources. We don’t want that in the United States of America, and frankly it’s contrary to everything we believe about individual freedom and self determination.”
He added that crypto allows for more “decentralization which puts me back in charge of my own decisions.”
Emmer said that the legislations’ progress through Congress just proves that anti-crypto “dinosaurs” are going extinct, noting that the “herd is “thinning out.”
The Minnesota congressman has noted in prior interviews with – News that some of the most prominent anti-crypto lawmakers tend to be older compared to younger, pro-crypto advocates.
He credited this to the digital assets community creating more influence in Washington, DC as well as the loss of key anti-crypto lawmakers during the 2024 elections, including Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jon Tester (D-MT).
Emphasizing that there is now bipartisan interest in cryptocurrency, Emmer said that Americans elected “the most pro-crypto Congress and the most pro-crypto president and vice president that we have ever had in this country.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for – News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
