'Loopholes So Big You Could Drive A Mack Truck Through It': Jim McGovern Shreds GENIUS Act

Forbes Breaking News

During a House Rules Committee hearing on Monday, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) spoke about crypto regulations.

Transcript

00:00...clear that this legislation must be passed so that we can continue to uphold that duty.

00:05As always, I certainly welcome our Democrat colleagues to join us in voting in favor of these four separate measures.

00:14With that, I yield to the ranking member, Mr. McGovern, for any comments he wishes to make.

00:19Well, thank you, Madam Chair, and let's just be honest about what's going on here.

00:24Fresh off ramming through their big, ugly tax scam, a shameless handout to billionaires,

00:30Republicans have decided that it wasn't enough.

00:33Huge tax giveaways to the rich and powerful weren't good enough.

00:36Now they want to give even more to those who already have the most.

00:40They're calling three bills they are putting forward this week as crypto reform.

00:46But let's be real. This is a rigged game.

00:49It's the GOP's crypto giveaway written for those at the top.

00:53These bills set in stone weak and ineffective crypto regulations with loopholes so big that you could drive a Mack truck through them.

01:03Loopholes for the rich, which seems to be the favorite pastime of my friends on the other side.

01:08I have not had one person in my district come up to me and say,

01:11please, please, Jim, make it easier for crypto millionaires to get richer.

01:16Please make it easier to con people.

01:18Yet that is exactly what is going on here.

01:21Democrats try to include protections for consumers, bans on fraud,

01:26even rules to stop elected officials from profiting off the laws they write.

01:31These common sense amendments were rejected by Republicans.

01:35Why?

01:36Follow the money.

01:38This isn't about innovation.

01:40It's about corruption.

01:41Get this.

01:42Trump and his family are making boatloads of money on their crypto schemes.

01:46And these bills even carve out special treatment for Trump's personal crypto ventures.

01:53Literally, that is like the definition of corruption.

01:57Now, I remember a time when presidents actually divested from personal business interests

02:02to avoid even the appearance of corruption.

02:04That used to be the standard around here.

02:07Now, we've got an administration openly using their power to pad their own bank accounts,

02:13cutting deals, cozying up to crypto backers,

02:17and inviting pay-to-play schemes and foreign influence operations to come in right through the front door.

02:23They aren't even trying to hide it.

02:25Again, this is corruption, plain and simple.

02:29Now, also on our agenda is the defense appropriations.

02:32And I want to say this until I'm blue in the face.

02:35We should not be writing massive blank checks to the Pentagon when they can't even pass a simple audit.

02:41This bill will continue shoveling millions and millions and millions of dollars to defense contractors

02:47who charge exorbitant prices after Republicans just snuck an additional $150 billion for defense spending into the big, ugly bill.

02:57This is the fleecing of America's taxpayers.

03:00And it's also defense contractors can continue to make an extra buck.

03:05If Republicans were serious about waste, this is where they would start.

03:10But they won't, because they're not serious about legislating at all.

03:14Now, let's not forget, the last time we were here, Republicans jammed through their one big, ugly bill,

03:21a trillion-dollar smash-and-grab that punishes working people and rewards the richest of the rich.

03:26That bill is now law, thanks to Republicans in Congress and to Donald Trump,

03:32a law that will kick 17 million Americans off their health care,

03:36shutter hospitals and assisted living facilities,

03:39take food out of the mouths of the hungry,

03:42raise energy costs for families while big oil cashes in,

03:45give the biggest tax cuts to the rich while hardworking people get scraps,

03:50and, oh, by the way, adds nearly $4 trillion to the debt.

03:55Why cut health care and food assistance from hardworking Americans

03:59when you're still going to add $4 trillion to the debt?

04:02Who is this helping besides the very rich in this country?

04:06I mean, you've got to admire the gall.

04:08Rob the poor, reward the rich, explode the debt,

04:11and then come in here with a straight face talking about responsibility and reforms.

04:16It's outrageous, and it is cruel, and it's going to catch up with you.

04:20So here's the truth.

04:21Republicans have the majority, and they used it to pass the most extreme,

04:26reckless, corrupt agenda in modern history.

04:29But the American people are watching.

04:31They're going to feel the pain brought to them by this Republican government

04:35when grocery bills go up, when the hospital down the street shuts its doors,

04:40when grandma loses her Medicaid.

04:42And they're going to remember it in November of 2026.

04:46Democrats aren't going to stop fighting.

04:47We believe in a government that works for the people,

04:51not just for hedge fund managers and crypto bros and Mar-a-Lago donors.

04:56So, no, we're not going to let Republicans change the subject.

04:59We're going to keep calling out the corruption and chaos,

05:02and we're going to keep standing up for the people who sent us here

05:05because they deserve better than this mess.

05:07And with that, I yield back.

05:09Thank you very much, Mr. McGovern.

05:13Without objection, any prepared statements that our witnesses may have

05:17will be included in the record.

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