J. Hill

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote from both sides of the aisle, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1764) to accord securities issued by the International Development Association the same exemption from the securities laws that applies to the securities of other multilateral development banks in which the United States is a member, as amended.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1764, the Aligning SEC Regulations for the World Bank's International Development Association Act, the bill offered by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters). Mr. Speaker, this legislation classifies securities issued by the IDA as exempted securities, subject to appropriate reporting requirements as determined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This change would place the IDA on equal regulatory footing with the other World Bank divisions such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the African Development Bank. Prior to 2018, the IDA did not issue debt in the securities markets. Its funding came primarily from donor contributions and repayments on past loans. As the IDA evolves to meet the needs of the world's poorest nations, it has entered the capital markets to expand its resources and its impact. It is only logical and fair that its securities receive the same exempted status consistent with previous treatment of multilateral development bank securities. Supporting IDA's access to efficient financing would reflect the United States' leadership in global development and our commitment to the world's most vulnerable populations. Ms. Waters' bill is bipartisan. It is practical. It is overdue. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate on this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this very practical bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1716) to deter Chinese aggression towards Taiwan by requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to publish a report on financial institutions and accounts connected to senior officials of the People's Republic of China, to restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1716, the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act of 2025. This excellent bill, introduced by our Conference chair, Mrs. McClain, demonstrates that the United States is a vital partner in supporting Taiwan. We must remain committed to supporting Taiwan as China continues to increase its military presence across the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. and Taiwan have maintained a firm stance against any forceful efforts to change Taiwan's status for nearly five decades. That posture is as important now as ever. A component of the Taiwan Relations Act mandates that the President inform Congress when China makes any attempt to threaten Taiwan's national security. Once that notification is made to Congress, Conference Chair McClain's bill would require the Secretary of the Treasury to disclose the estimated illicit funds of China's top officials in Beijing. This bill is modeled after the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act, a bipartisan bill that I was pleased to sponsor, which became law last year. Congresswoman McClain's bill does exactly what the title says. It seeks to deter China from making a terrible mistake and promises financial penalties for senior Chinese officials should they make the wrong decision and choose to attack Taiwan. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this excellent bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate on this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. McClain), our Conference chair and the author of this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this important bill to deter China, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1450) to require the Office of Foreign Assets Control to develop a program under which private-sector firms may receive a license to conduct nominal financial transactions in furtherance of the firms' investigations, and for other purposes.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1450, the OFAC Licensure for Investigators Act. When it comes to combating illicit finance, effective public-private partnerships are critical. Tracking and disrupting sophisticated crime networks requires cooperation between our government and private-sector experts. These partnerships play an integral role in our ability to safeguard the U.S. financial system and our national security. Mrs. Beatty's commonsense bill authorizes private-sector firms, operating under an OFAC license, to conduct nominal transactions with sanctioned entities, allowing them to more effectively trace funds and uncover illicit networks during financial crime investigations. The gentlewoman and I agree that while the private sector can provide a helping hand in tracking down bad actors, it is ultimately the government's responsibility to provide clear legal guidance and guardrails to support their efforts. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include the Congressional Budget Office estimate for this bill in the Record.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nunn) to talk about the aspects of this bill from his perspective of being a former intelligence officer.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 580, I call up the bill (H.R. 3633) to provide for a system of regulation of the offer and sale of digital commodities by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill in the Record.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support this morning of the CLARITY Act. We have been here before, Mr. Speaker. Just last year, we passed landmark legislation, FIT21, with an overwhelming bipartisan majority to apply strong Federal standards to digital asset markets. For more than 5 years, our committee has heard from dozens and dozens of experts, held numerous roundtables and hearings with market participants of all sizes in all segments of the market to learn more about the emerging digital asset ecosystem. We learned about the value proposition and relevant risks associated with digital assets and the use of blockchain technology. We have heard time and time again from market participants and regulators about the need for clear regulatory guardrails. We have talked about the need to fill those regulatory gaps that have left millions participating in crypto markets vulnerable. In fact, Mr. Speaker, both President Biden in his Executive Order 14067, and President Trump in his Executive Order 14178, identified those market regulatory gaps, asking Congress to act to fill those gaps. In 2022, we certainly witnessed consumer harm when the Financial Services Committee heard unprecedented testimony from an expert called in to clean up the failed digital asset crypto firm FTX and the mess it left behind. In his words, never had he seen such an utter failure in corporate controls. In its wake, then-Chairwoman Waters wisely stated: ``We need legislative action to ensure that digital assets entities cannot operate in the shadows outside of robust Federal oversight and clear rules of the road.'' If we needed actions then, we certainly need it now. We risk history repeating itself, and that is why we gather today on the House floor. After years of bipartisan work and numerous iterations, this bill would apply rigorous rules to digital asset firms, prohibiting commingling of customer funds, and requiring capital recordkeeping and conflict of interest mitigation standards. Importantly, the bill recognizes that decentralized finance, or DeFi, developers do not take custody of user assets nor do they control user assets. Therefore, we should not treat them in the same way that we treat centralized actors who do have custody and who do have control over assets. It is important to note that in an Agriculture Committee hearing, the former general counsel of FTX USA himself testified: Had we the regulatory structure provided for in CLARITY applied to FTX, its story--and he goes on to say--would almost certainly have had a much different ending. Let's ensure that we learn from the past, Mr. Speaker, the digital asset ecosystem is evolving at a remarkable pace, enabling real-time settlement of peer-to-peer transactions, initiating a renaissance in applied cryptography and laying the groundwork for the next generation of the internet. The United States has long had the most innovative financial and technology sectors and the deepest and most liquid capital markets, but while other jurisdictions are building frameworks for the future of finance to be on-chain and digitally native, our great country, with those great characteristics, is lagging. For too long our digital asset regime has been the worst of both worlds: regulation by enforcement, which has pushed good actors to leave the United States, and the regulatory gaps that I talked about identified in both President Biden and President Trump's executive orders that have left consumers unprotected from the bad actors. Now, today, we have an opportunity to reverse course and reestablish the United States as the global hub for digital innovation. To do so, we must close the regulatory gaps with commonsense rules. Mr. Speaker, the CLARITY Act does just that by leveraging the expertise of our two market regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to ensure wraparound oversight of digital asset markets, from initial sales, raising capital, to daily trading, it provides clarity for banks engaging in this ecosystem. As we said in the last Congress, Mr. Speaker, these rules need to be fit for purpose for the digital ecosystem. All of us on this House floor know that the status quo is simply unacceptable. We all know American consumers and innovators deserve this clarity. They deserve better. They deserve rules of the road. The choice before us is whether to lead in the financial markets of the future or watch the next FTX fail while we are left saying once again: Well, we have been here before. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me on both sides of the aisle and support the CLARITY Act. Let's fill these regulatory gaps with the proper Federal oversight. Let's create a competitive digital ecosystem. I support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Steil). Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is an essential leader in our committee and also the chairman of our Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence.