Congressman Emmer Takes Aim at CBDC Surveillance with New Anti-Snooping Bill

Pro-crypto Republican Senator Tom Emmer is raising concerns about the potential American central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Emmer, who hails from Minnesota, recently introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance Act to “halt efforts of unelected bureaucrats in Washington from stripping Americans of their right to financial privacy.”

Emmer strongly opposes the idea of the Federal Reserve issuing a CBDC, which he believes will give the government unprecedented levels of financial control and surveillance capabilities, just like in China.

The proposed legislation aims to prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC directly to anyone, from using it to implement monetary policy and control the economy, and to ensure full transparency to Congress and U.S. citizens central for the Fed’s CBDC projects.

The rest of the world has already made headway with their CBDC plans, but Emmer is concerned that the U.S. government could use it as a method of surveillance.

He insists that any digital version of the dollar must uphold American values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market competitiveness. Failure to do so would open the door to the development of a dangerous surveillance tool.

There is a lot of support for the bill, with proponents of the proposed legislation including House Committee on Financial Services Vice-Chairman and newly appointed digital assets subcommittee Chairman French Hill.

Emmer began his campaign more than a year ago, urging the Fed not to issue a CBDC, and stressing the need to prioritize blockchain technology with American characteristics, rather than mimic China’s digital authoritarianism out of fear.

Emmer’s latest move comes on the back of a scathing attack on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its Chairman, Gary Gensler, whom he accused of using enforcement to expand its jurisdiction at the expense of public resources and trust. “Under Chair Gensler, the SEC has become a power-hungry regulator,” he said.