The republicans had created this new definition. And this new definition is known as the investment contract assets. Now, we talked about this but, you know, even in the rules committee, while they were, you know, talking about how this bill was going to protect consumers, they did not debate us about this investment contract asset because they know that it created a void. It created a no mans land. This was created basically so that the Crypto Companies could be in a space without regulation. But it goes further than that. It also covers traditional securities so they can be in a space without regulation. It is not enough to says this about a bad bill. This is not only a bad bill,s that bill where the Crypto Companies decided they didnt like the s. E. C. They do not want to be regulated. And they were going to come to the congress of the United States and they were going to use their power and they were going to use their influence to change the rules of the game. And that they were going to now go to where the commodities are regulated and theyre going to take the securities over there. I explained to you that the cftc is a small agency, i explained to you that they dont have a lot of money. I explained to you how much smaller they are than the s. E. C. The s. E. C. Are the experts. It is 90 years old in the development of regulations for the country. And it is 90 years old and it is respected all over the world. Were the envy they have world because we have an s. E. C. And so when i talk about this void that has been created, there is no way that the members of this congress can allow that to happen. To allow this no mans land to exist where the same Crypto Companies that are now refusing to register, who are unlawful, that youre going to exonerate and then youre going to further give them the opportunity to operate without regulation. This is unbelievable. How can this happen . In the congress of the United States, in the house of representatives . Where we are supposed to represent the people. We have an s. E. C. That is the cop on the block. We have an s. E. C. That is expert in securities. These this s. E. C. Goes into the courts and they fight tough battles. These battles are long. These battles are hard. Because theyre fought by the Crypto Companies. But they dont give up because at least they have people who can begin to work on it. We try to give them more money to do their work but they are denied additional appropriations by the opposite of the aisle. The chair the gentleladys time has expired. Mr. Mchenry how much time do i have remaining . The chair two minutes. Ms. Waters i urge a no vote. Mr. Mchenry i yield myself such time as i may consume. Let me speak to this. The void is a lack of definition of what is a Digital Asset in federal law. This bill established it. We have no Consumer Protections for crypto today. This bill establishes it. The cftc with robust oversight of this industry and the s. E. C. With real clarify. Thats what this bill does, provide clarity for investor, consumers and innovators. We are falling behind europe. This bill catches up so we dont lose out on innovation policy to european to folks in the u. K. , to singapore, to japan, to hong kong that all have regimes. Similar to what we were doing in this bill. This is important bill. Its bipartisan work. Hundreds of hours have been put into developing this with members and staff. I want to thank the Great Partnership theyve had with french hill, on the Financial Services committee, and chairman g. T. Thompson on the ag committee, and dusty johnson on the ag committee. But i also want to thank the great staff on the house Financial Services committee, allison who has shepherded this bill to this point. And paul. On the ag committee. They have worked in Great Partnership, in friendship, and worked through major issues. And i want to thank them for this important legislative product. We can promote american innovation, Consumer Protection and leadership with a clear Regulatory Framework for Digital Assets. The next generation of technology is being written. It should be written by american innovators here in the United States. We can allow that innovation to pass us by or we can seize the opportunity and pass this bill to provide real clarity for innovation policy here in the United States. Regulatory clarity and Consumer Protection that is f. I. T. 21. Lets vote yes on this bill and establish bipartisan support for crypto in america. And i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields. All time for yen delaet as for general debate has expired in lieu of amendments in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on agriculture and Financial Services, included in the bill in the nature of a substitute including the text of rules Committee Print 118223, shall considered as adopted. The bill as amended shall be considered as the original bill for purpose of further amendment under the fiveminute rule and shall be considered as read. No further amendment to the bill as amended shall be in order except those printed in part b of house report 118516. Each such further amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, by a member designated in the report, shall be considered read, shall be debatable for a time specified in the report equally divide and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question. It is now in order to consider amendment number 1 printed in part b of house report 118516. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Mr. Ka car i have an amendment that the desk. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 1 printed in part b of house report 118516, offered by mr. Ka car of texas. The chair pursuant to House Resolution 1243, the gentleman from texas, mr. Casar, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Casar i yield myself as much time as i may use. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Casar from 2017 to 2022, americans who invested in the s. S. P. Index received about a 61 return on their investment. But americans who invested in one of the top 12 crypto currencies that existed during that fiveyear period did not make money, on the other hand, on average, they lost about half of their money. Three out of every four bitcoin traders in that time period also lost money. From f. T. X. To celsius to blockchain a. T. M. s, the industry has repeatedly lost Everyday Americans their money. So whether you are crypto booster or a crypto skeptic, we can all agree, based on the facts that crypto investment is a risk. And since it is a risk, we should want more oversight to protect americans. But this bill before us today doesnt provide us more regulation, it doesnt even provide Many Americans the same level of regulation as traditional finance. Instead it creates a light touch Regulatory Regime that can be manipulated by bad actors in both crypto and traditional finance. Putting americans and our 90year securities laws at risk. My amendment focuses on one key area where everyday people who would invest in crypto under this bill will in fact receive less protection than americans invested in traditional finance. The current flawed bill before us creates a crowd funding registration exemption for crypto that is 15 times weaker than the crowd funding exemption that exists in traditional finance. In the existing bill before us, someone could trod crowdfund up to 75 million from Everyday Americans, and those americans would receive just the most minimal of protections. We would never allow that in the noncrypto finance world. So my amendment changes the exemption cap to 5 million. Putting that cap in line with our current laws. So at the very least, americans making investments in crypto can get the same level of protection as crowd funding investors and traditional finance. I hope that whether you are for the underlying bill or against the underlying bill like me, we can agree that this commonsense amendment will help protect everyday people and i urge everyone support it. I reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from North Carolina rise . I rise in opposition, im opposed to the amendment. The chair the gentlemanis recognized. Mr. Mchenry today Digital Asset issuers rely on exemptions under current secures regime. And each exemption includes its own requirements. Under traditional securities law. What we provide in this act is purpose built for Digital Assets. What this does, today, if youre raising money for additional asset offering, the exemptions built for those other types of securities in the space. The s. E. C. s disclosure regime is supposed to give investors the information they need to make decisions. Its not built for additional assets. What we do in this sacramento provide certain diskilo nurse investors in Digital Assets such as source code, token supply, governance mechanisms and other aspects unique to crypto. Thats what this bill does. What the gentleman is rising to do is limit that aperture from 75 million to 5 million of those folks who can invest in these early stage innovations. What hes doing is siphoning off, im sorry, restricting the opportunity for average, everyday investors to get options like high wealth investors get today. Under securities law. The original exemption for regulation crowd funding was something we put in law with bipartisan support. With Maxine Waters as my cosponsor on regulation crowdfunding. This very exemption. I have enhanced this. I put additional requirements here. To make sure there are more disclosures. And we open up the aperture to 75 million so more folks can participate sound so blockchains can develop. When you make it to 5 million it makes it impossible for you to actually scale up. Especially with these inflationary times that our people are facing. So what i would urge is the house reject this amendment, the gentlemans arguments against this exemption have nothing to do with the exemption but have everything to do with opposition to the by i urge a no vote. I reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Casar i yield one minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from california, Ranking Member waters. The chair the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you very much, id like to thank the gentleman from texas for attempting this amendment. As a matter of fact, there have been any number of members from this side of the aisle who have been attempting to amend this bill to try and make it better. And while i have Great Respect for all of those attempts, and if they had listened, if they had accepted, perhaps they could have made this a better bill. But at this point in time no, unfortunately, with all the work that this gentleman has done, mr. Casar and others, they will not accept any amendments. Theyre not going to accept his amendment. They dont think that the bill can be made better and unfortunately, the bill is so bad, i dont think it can be made better either. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry im prepared to close, i reserve. The chair the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Casar i am prepared to close and yield myself the balance of the time. Our securities laws were created after the Great Depression when this country understood that strong regulation protects americans and is necessary for innovation and for our economy to thrive. We cannot hold crypto currency to a lower standard that traditional finance. And my amendment ensures that when it comes to crowd funding crypto currency is held to the same standard. I urge all to support it. Thank you and i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Mchenry can i inquire of the chair how much time i have remaining . The chair the gentleman has three minutes. Mr. Mchenry thank you. Let me close with this, mr. Chairman. We have this push and pull in the Financial Services committee. Generally speaking, we have elected officials that say the American Peoples hardearned savings are their hardearned savings. But then we have paternalistic amendments like this one before us today. That says no, youre not smart enough to invest your own money, we have to put in these safeguards to protect you from yourself. I think that goes way too far. What weve dwoan securities laws is take average, everyday investors and dis disintermediate them from the greater economy. So average, Everyday Americans dont get the benefit of Economic Growth, of wall street doing great, and earnings going up in corporate america. Weve separated it. Weve made it harder for average, everyday folks to invest in companies, have ownership of companies. What were tieing to do is trying to do is open that up a little bit. From 5 million exemption when youre raising money to 75 million. In the scope of our economy, in the scope of our capital market, in the scope of Economic Opportunity and innovation, that is a very small aperture were opening here. And weve done that, weve constructed this provision with a lot of democrat input and republican input and thats how we came to the number of 75 million. It is already a compromise. But with the gentleman what the gentleman offers with this amendment is nothing more than saying, im paternalistic. And im therefore going to restrict your opportunity to invest your money as you see fit. Reject the amendment, vote no, and vote yes on final pass fj for f. I. T. 21. I yield back. The chair the gentleman yields. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. The gentleman from texas. Id like to request a recorded vote, mr. Speaker. The chair pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas will be postponed. It is now in order to consider amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report 118516. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from colorado seek recognition . Ms. Pettersen thank you, mr. Chair. I have an amendment at the desk. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report 118516 offered by ms. Pettersen of colorado. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 1243, the gentlewoman from colorado and a member opposed will each control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from colorado. Ms. Pettersen thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Pettersen more than 20 of americans have owned or traded cryptocurrency. Despite this, the u. S. Still lacks a clear regulatory structure for Digital Assets which is hurting american competitiveness and incentivizing some companies, unfortunately, to move overseas. While there may be disagreement about how to best establish the appropriate market regulatory structure, there is broad bipartisan agreement for preventing criminals from using cryptocurrencies for illicit purposes such as money laundering, terrorist financing and sanction evasion. My amendment would provide clarity and conformity to how the Bank Secrecy Act and regulations safeguarding our Financial System from criminals are applied to Digital Assets. The base bill already calls for the Bank Secrecy Act to apply to Digital Assets. However, by amending the b. S. A. Directly and explicitly, expanding the definition of Financial Institution in the b. S. A. To cover Digital Asset entities, we are providing certainty to the regulators and the department of treasury in their authorities to protect our Financial System. Additionally, the amendment would also require a study to assess the risks posed by centralized intermediaries based in jurisdictions that lack robust antimoney laundering enforcement. While in most cases american Digital Asset companies are already complying with the applicable requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act, we also have to be think being the threat of Foreign Companies with u. S. Touch points that are not complying with the equivalent controls or reporting standards. I would like to thank the chairman, mchenry, and representative hill for working with me on this issue and their commitment to strengthening the antimoney laundering provisions in this bill. This amendment, combined with the underlying bill, will help provide more oversight into the Digital Asset market and supp