On the recordJuly 20, 2023
China is plotting a government-backed digital currency which will be used to survey and manipulate financial activities of its citizens and to crack down on dissent. A central bank digital currency, known as the digital dollar, poses significant privacy and government surveillance concerns. Republicans have been clear that the Federal Reserve does not have the authority to issue a digital dollar without an act of Congress. The United States shouldn't have the ability to build and test one behind the scenes either. Right now the Federal Reserve is contracting with the private sector to build digital dollars far beyond what we considered traditional research. That is why I introduced H.R. 3712, the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act which closes this loophole. Make no mistake, government-backed digital dollars are not about innovation; they are about control. We must stop the Fed's current development dead in its tracks, and my legislation does exactly that. ____________________





