Dear Friend, 

Yesterday, one of our biggest legislative priorities, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, passed the House of Representatives with nonpartisan support.

Watch: Congressman Emmer discusses the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act on the House floor

The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act is simple. It prevents unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats at the Federal Reserve from issuing a financial surveillance tool that would fundamentally undermine the American way of life.

For those who are unfamiliar, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a digital form of sovereign currency designed and issued by a government, which transacts on a digital ledger controlled and monitored by that government. Simply put, a CBDC is a government-controlled programmable money that, if designed without the privacy protections of cash, would give the federal government the ability to monitor, track, and restrict Americans’ individual transactions.

Watch: Congressman Emmer discusses the dangers of CBDCs on CBS News

This is more than alarming; it’s un-American.

We have already seen examples of foreign governments weaponizing their financial system against their citizens. In China, the Communist Party uses a CBDC to monitor and control its citizens’ spending habits. This data is being used to develop a social credit system that rewards or penalizes individuals based on their behavior.

Think this could never happen in the United States? Think again. In 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order placing urgency on CBDC research and development.

For years, we’ve worked to educate our colleagues on the dangers of this insidious technology. President Trump understands the dangers and has already issued an Executive Order preventing the development of a CBDC. Now that our legislation has passed the House of Representatives, we are one step closer to codifying this Executive Order in law and ensuring that no future administration is able to weaponize this technology against the American people.

This type of financial control and surveillance has no place in the United States. We are grateful to our colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, for recognizing the threat CBDCs present and for supporting our legislation to ban their development permanently.  

Sincerely,