Washington, DC– Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) introduced an amendment to the CLARITY Act that would prohibit federal elected officials from issuing a digital asset or holding a financial interest in an issuer of a digital asset. These restrictions would apply to the President, Vice President, Senate-confirmed members of the executive branch, Members of Congress, and the spouses and children of these individuals.
“We have all been treated to one of the most egregious, shocking abuses from the White House[…]imaginable,” Himes said. “And my Republican colleagues know that if the Bidens had done this we wouldn’t get near this building, it would be white hot with impeachment. So, all I’m asking for in this amendment, and I’m interested to see what the substantive arguments are against it, is that any elected official that is tasked with regulating this instrument that we’re breathing life into, the digital commodity, not be able to issue a digital commodity.”
Himes continued: “It is madness that we should be allowed to issue a memecoin or a digital asset or a digital commodity because it’s just a vehicle for a bribe. And that should be as true of the freshman member on this Committee as it is to the President of the United States, who is accruing increasing authority, thanks to the Supreme Court, over the independent regulatory agencies.”
Watch the full remarks here.