Richard J. Durbin

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Mr. President, on another topic, the Senate may consider an initial procedural vote on the CLARITY Act as soon as tomorrow. Crypto enthusiasts and the crypto industry claim the Senate needs to pass this bill soon in the name of ``innovation,'' but I used to work for a fellow in politics who said, ``For every political issue there's a good reason and a real reason.'' And the real reason for this rush job is the crypto industry's willingness to spend millions against crypto-skeptic candidates and Trump's desire to continue to enrich himself and his allies. Back in 2019, President Trump said that crypto is ``based on thin air'' and a ``disaster waiting to happen.'' But when he found a way to profit from it, he suddenly changed his tune. In just the first year of his second term, the President and his family made more than $1.4 billion off cryptocurrency. And his allies, like Steve Witkoff and Todd Blanche, raked in hundreds of millions in crypto profits last year alone. President Trump has sold access to the White House through seedy schemes like his meme coin and pressured Federal banking regulators to grant his family's crypto firm--World Liberty Financial--a banking charter. He even pardoned Changpeng Zhao, a convicted crypto criminal and founder of Binance, the same company that helped the Trump family's crypto firm launch its stablecoin. However, my Republican colleagues want Senate Democrats to accept the CLARITY Act as written, even though it does not require President Trump to divest from his crypto fortune, which would allow the President to continue to profit off his crypto schemes. My Republican colleagues' version of the bill also lacks meaningful consumer protections. Although I am happy to see some provisions that regulate scandal- ridden crypto ATMs, the CLARITY Act does not do enough. The FBI received nearly 13,500 complaints about crypto ATM scams in 2025, resulting in $389 million in losses. Federal financial regulators have warned consumers about these scams, and it is high time for Congress to act. However, unlike my Preventing Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, the CLARITY Act fails to require verbal confirmation from consumers before processing transactions and does not allow the Federal Government to impose civil penalties on fraudsters. That is why legislators need to go back to the drawing board to create meaningful consumer protections. Congress also must ban the Social Security Trust Fund from investing in crypto and ensure the crypto industry cannot get one dime from a government bailout if and when there is a crypto crash. Americans' wallets are hurting, and they want real economic reform, not crypto regulation. Polling shows that just 1 percent of Americans rank crypto as a top priority for Congress. Congress should not help the President get richer or grant the crypto industry their wish list of deregulation. There is no reason to rush a vote on the CLARITY Act; let's take our time and get this right.