Ralph Norman Asks Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen Point Blank: ‘Who Are The Lynch Pins For This Economy?'

2 months ago

On Tuesday, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) questioned Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on the Biden Administration's economic policies during a House Financial Services Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, Secretary Yellen, for coming today. I think the Chairman

00:06Voigt, when he was in the chair, mentioned about the beneficial ownership. How is your

00:12office going about educating the 32.6 million businesses that had never heard of FinCEN?

00:20You got a penalty of a quarter of a million dollars plus two years imprisonment on something

00:26that's been ruled unconstitutional by a court in Alabama. What are you doing to, one, inform

00:32it, inform the businesses who are the linchpin for this economy? And secondly, is any thought

00:41to extending the 12-month deadline to a year, another year for two years?

00:47Well, as I mentioned, there is an extensive outreach and education program that's taking

00:55place across the country. People with FinCEN are hosting events, and we're happy to work

01:05with members of Congress to explain what this is about in different parts of the country.

01:15So if you have an interest in that, please just contact us. But there is an extensive

01:22outreach effort. It's a very simple process. It takes 15 or 20 minutes, I believe, for

01:29most firms to be able to file. There's a very user-friendly website where the information

01:39can be input. It's not a difficult process. And I don't think, you know, we've seen a

01:47good response so far, and don't think it's going to be necessary to extend the time frame.

01:55It goes through the end of this year.

01:58What's the numbers that have already complied in your opinion?

02:00I believe 2.7 million is the most recent number I've seen.

02:052.7 million out of 31 million. That's kind of a low percentage. Now, if the penalty is

02:13going to stay into place, you say this is simple, but for the businesses, these businesses

02:19are struggling. They're just trying to make ends meet with this Biden administration,

02:23what they're doing with inflation, what they're doing with the supply chain, all of the above.

02:27And to put another regulation on them at this point in time and not know, put me on your

02:32list for what FinCEN is doing. Your average plumber is not going to go on a website and

02:39try to find out how to comply with the beneficial ownership. So, if you could, and I'll send

02:48you a letter after this, if you could comply and consider extending it. A quarter of a

02:53million dollars fine is ridiculous.

02:55So, you know, the fine is for willful violation, as I understand it.

03:00The fine, willful violation.

03:01The rules, and your plumber example is not somebody who is willfully violating the rules.

03:08FinCEN is not going to go after, prioritize going after small businesses who are in the

03:16way.

03:16Secretary Yellen, you realize that's in the print. The fine, you realize the fine is in

03:22the, is printed.

03:23For willful.

03:24How do you define willful?

03:26Well, someone who knows they have an obligation and fails to.

03:30Does that apply to the plumber who doesn't know what FinCEN is? In the example I used,

03:35does that contractor, that plumber, that welder, if he has a business, is it willful

03:42if he just doesn't comply?

03:45Well, there is a massive education and outreach effort, and I would not regard, personally,

03:54I wouldn't regard that as willful.

03:57Okay. If you could clarify that then. In print, not talking. I think that would mean a whole

04:04lot.

04:05Now, another subject, the, I'm in South Carolina. The Chinese are buying up farmland all over

04:12this country. What's the role of the Secretary of Agriculture, what's your role in, I guess,

04:19allowing this to take place, if any?

04:22Well, CFIUS has the ability to ban land purchases or, in some cases, even ban land purchases

04:34and insist on divestiture of activities taking place in the vicinity.

04:39Are they doing that now?

04:42Define, how are they banning it? It's taking place now. They're doing it through separate

04:47entities, LLCs. Tell me, walk me through, and I've only got 12 seconds, I'll write you

04:51a letter, if you could define for me what banning means and how specifically you're

04:56stopping it.

04:56We work closely with the Defense Department. This is national security oriented, and yesterday

05:03we issued a new proposed rule that adds 50 additional military bases to the existing

05:14ones and changes some parameters.

05:19It follows a thorough Department of Defense review.

Ralph Norman Asks Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen Point Blank: ‘Who Are The Lynch Pins For This Economy?'

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