Rep. Tom Emmer: Digital assets will be a ‘sleeper issue’ for 2024 elections
Tom Emmer, majority whip of the United States House of Representatives and crypto proponent, says that digital assets have become a “sleeper issue” in U.S. politics, both at the state and federal levels.
Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Permissionless II conference in Austin, Texas on Sept. 11, Emmer said certain candidates running for office in 2024 may underestimate the impact of issues surrounding crypto and blockchain. He pointed to financial privacy concerns, specifically mentioning government oversight of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs.
“It’s politically potent regardless of your political persuasion,” said Emmer. “Democrats, Republicans and others believe that your personal information is supposed to be yours, and you get to choose when you get to share it.”
According to Emmer, there is a generational divide in the U.S. in which residents could push back on policies that potentially inhibit the digital space and, in doing so, “flush out” technologically ignorant lawmakers. At least three candidates from both major U.S. political parties have taken a public position on CBDCs for the 2024 race.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican polling second behind former president Donald Trump, promised in July to ban CBDCs in the U.S. should his campaign be successful. In May, he signed a Florida bill into law aimed at largely prohibiting the use of a federally issued digital dollar in the U.S. state. Other longshot candidates who have taken positions opposing CBDCs include Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“We have a whole host of laws and regulations that say when you have to disclose, what you have to disclose, but it shouldn’t be just a blanket [statement on CBDCs],” said Emmer. “[The U.S. government] can do a central bank digital currency if it’s open, permissionless and private. It has to emulate cash.”
Related: Blockchain could authenticate AI as crypto racks up court victories: Rep. Emmer
Emmer has reintroduced a bill aimed at limiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC in the United States. He has also backed an appropriations amendment for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s funds, which could reduce the commission’s ability to follow through with enforcement actions on crypto firms.
On Sept. 20, the House Financial Services Committee will meet in a markup session for the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act — legislation that could prohibit the Fed from initiating CBDC pilot programs without approval from Congress. The committee discussed CBDCs in a Sept. 14 hearing for the first time since Congress’ August recess.
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MP Rupert Lowe alerted the coastguard to potential migrants on a boat – who turned out to be a charity rowing crew.
The independent Great Yarmouth MP posted a picture on social media on Thursday night of a boat near some wind turbines off the Norfolk Coast, saying he had alerted the authorities.
He wrote dinghies were coming into Great Yarmouth, “RIGHT NOW”.
“If these are illegal migrants, I will be using every tool at my disposal to ensure those individuals are deported,” he added.
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But the “dinghy” was actually an ocean rowing boat crewed by ROW4MND, a team of four attempting to row from Land’s End to John O’Groats for motor neurone disease research.
Rupert Lowe MP. Pic: PA
Mr Lowe, who was suspended from Reform UK in March, posted on Friday morning that it was a “false alarm” and was a boat of charity rowers, “thank goodness”.
He said he would donate £1,000 to their charity “as a well done” – but warned people to “watch out for any real illegal migrants”.
“We received a huge number of urgent complaints from constituents – I make no apologies over being vigilant for my constituents. It is a national crisis,” he wrote.
“No mass deportations for the charity rowers, but we definitely need it for the illegal migrants!”
The ROW4MND crew were passing Great Yarmouth on their way to John O’Groats. Pic: PA
Police wanted to send a boat to check
It is the first of four gruelling rows the crew will take over four years in an attempt to raise £57m for motor neurone disease research, inspired by the deaths of rugby players Rob Burrow and Doddie Weir from the condition.
Matthew Parker, Mike Bates, Aaron Kneebone and Liz Wardley said the coastguard initially contacted them and asked if they could see a dinghy nearby.
Ex-Royal Marine Mr Bates, a British record holder for rowing across the Atlantic solo, said it soon became clear the coastguard was asking about their boat.
“I looked to my right and there was maybe a dozen individuals stood on the shoreline staring at us,” he told the PA news agency.
After the coastguard accepted they were not carrying migrants, they rowed on through the night but hours later were contacted again by the coastguard because the police had “asked if they could send a lifeboat out to check who we were”.
The crew leaving Newlyn Harbour in Cornwall last week after starting their challenge again. Pic: PA
‘I’ve not been mistaken for a migrant before’
A friend then forwarded Mr Lowe’s post, which Mr Bates said was “a moment of light relief”.
“We found it hilarious. I’ve not been mistaken for a migrant before,” he said.
“The best comment was the one asking where the Royal Navy were when you need them. I’m a former Royal Marine, so the Royal Navy were on the boat.
“But it was almost like a vigilante-style, people following us down the beach.
“They hadn’t twigged that we were parallel to the shore for hours and not trying to land.”
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Gruelling four-year challenge
The crew set off from Land’s End on 25 July, heading north, but bad weather forced them to stop, and they decided to return to Land’s End and start again, heading anticlockwise around the UK.
Next year, the team is hoping to row from John O’Groats to Land’s End, then from California to Hawaii in 2027 and New York to London in 2028.
Mr Bates said: “We’re rowing for hope, we’re rowing to find a cure, and hopefully we’ll raise £57m – we certainly will if MPs keep talking about us. Maybe Rupert will give us a donation.”
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