U.S. House Passes Bill to Prevent the Creation of a CBDC

The U.S. House voted on Thursday to prevent the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) despite opposition from the vast majority of Democrats.

[RELATED: EU Takes Steps Towards Roll Out of New Digital ID Wallet…]

“My legislation ensures that the United States’ digital currency policy remains in the hands of the American people so that any development of digital money reflects our values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market competitiveness,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) on X.

The bill, H.R. 5403, which had 165 co-sponsors, prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing currency to, or holding accounts for individuals, and prohibits it from issuing CBDC funds to any individual.

It also seals possible loopholes by preventing the Federal Reserve from using any intermediary to implement a CBDC or substantially similar currency, or using a CBDC in any monetary policy.

The bill received unanimous support from the Republicans who voted, but was opposed by the vast majority of Democrats.

192 Democrats, including Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) voted against the bill, and, interestingly, 18 Democrats chose not to vote.

Only three Democrats broke with their party majority and voted in support of the bill, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), and Rep. Marie Perez (D-Wash.).

The bill ultimately passed with a 216-192 vote, with four Republicans and 18 Democrats declining to vote.

Although the bill passed through the house, it must now pass through the Democrat-controlled senate, and receive a signature from President Joe Biden before it can ultimately go into effect.

CBDC’s have become a contentious issue in recent years, with many expressing fears that, if a CBDC is implemented, cash will become unusable, and the government will gain unprecedented control over U.S. citizens.

A CBDC would allow the U.S. government to monitor every transaction made by anyone using the currency, and would allow them to prevent any undesired purchases.

This could be used to force through environmental rules, by forcing people to buy limited amounts of meat, or it could be used to freeze the bank accounts of anyone politically opposed to the regime.

[RELATED: Brakey Scores a Win for Bitcoin and Strikes a Blow Against CBDC Advocates…]

The CBDC battle is also being fought at the state level, with Maine’s Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) maintaining a staunch opposition to any laws that could facilitate the implementation of a CBDC.

Earlier this year, Sen. Brakey successfully killed a provision in a Maine bill which would have moved towards a CBDC and a ban on private, secure cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

That bill, LD 91, would have enacted the 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) as written by the Uniform Law Commission.

Although the majority of the changes were innocuous, the UCC amendments also included language which could have served as a precursor for a CBDC and a ban on other cryptocurrencies.

Brakey successfully amended the bill to allow Maine to accept the majority of the changes, while avoiding the problematic language.

As U.S. Republicans continue to fight against government measures such as a CBDC which would lead to a destruction of privacy, Europe and other parts of the world have moved to implement measures which will bring them closer to imitating the surveillance state practices of the Chinese Communist Party.

Earlier this month, the E.U. pushed forward with its plan to implement a digital ID wallet, where all citizens will hold all forms of identification, credentials, and sensitive, bank information.

Similar measures are being pushed in Australia as well.

The digital ID will allow the government greater control of its citizens, and would destroy their privacy.

A digital wallet has also been considered a potential precursor to a CBDC.