WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced the Say No To the Silk Road Act to require new standards and guidelines for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Bank’s digital currency, the Digital Yuan. The Digital Yuan could allow countries like Russia to bypass specialized financial messaging systems such as SWIFT and empower the CCP to further violate the rights of their citizens.

Senator Blackburn was joined by Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and Tommy Tuberville (R- Ala.) on this legislation.

“Under Joe Biden’s failed leadership, the new Axis of Evil is thriving,” said Blackburn. “If left unchecked, technologies including China’s Digital Yuan will empower Russia to evade global sanctions on systems such as SWIFT and enable the CCP to further surveil and threaten their citizens. This legislation provides the United States with more information about the Digital Yuan to hold the new Axis of Evil to account.”  

“China hopes its centralized digital currency and blockchain networks will provide new opportunities for financial surveillance and control,” said Young. “Our bill will take steps now to understand these risks and identify ways to protect the American people and the international financial system from this dystopian vision. Fostering American private sector innovation in digital finance is the solution, not Chinese Trojan horses.”

“The Chinese Communist Party is continuing its effort to control every aspect of life through their digital yuan, and this has serious privacy concerns for anyone using it. The American people deserve the truth about how China’s government will use this digital currency to spy on and manipulate its people, and anyone who adopts it. I’m proud to work with Senator Marsha Blackburn to keep the American people safe from the digital yuan,” said Lummis.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s plan for a central bank digital currency poses many risks to Chinese citizens and Americans who work and travel in China. Transactions with the “digital yuan” would strengthen the CCP’s authoritarian regime by allowing direct control and access to the financial lives of individuals,” said Braun.

Scott said, “The Chinese Communist Party has proved again and again that it has no intention of playing by the rules. So let me be clear: Xi's oppressive regime cannot be trusted when it comes to the creation and exchange of digital currency, like the Digital Yuan. Communist China will stop at nothing to compromise our country, which is why we must pass the Say No to Silk Road Act to ensure Americans are not left vulnerable to the impacts of this communist digital currency.”

“China’s digital-yuan allows the CCP to collect personal data on their own citizens and foreign users alike,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill holds China accountable as they introduce their new digital currency.”

“The introduction of a Chinese digital currency raises all sorts of red flags considering the historic willingness of the Chinese Communist Party to monitor and control everything.  This legislation represents responsible actions our government should be taking now to better understand, prepare for, and manage the risks associated with the CCP blockchain and digital currency,” Hyde-Smith said.

The Say No to the Silk Road Act would:

• Require the Department of State to issue a warning on the Digital Yuan.
• Require the Secretary of Commerce to report to relevant Congressional committees on the Blockchain-Base Service Network and provide recommendations related to the report.
• Require the Secretary of Commerce to report on trade enforcement actions with respect to the Digital Yuan.
• Require United States Trade Representative to report on the effect of the Digital Yuan on trade and investment agreements.
• Require Office of Management and Budget to develop standards and guidelines for agencies that transfer, store, or use Digital Yuan.
• Require that any foreign government that receives assistance through the Foreign Military Financing Program to disclose if the government uses Digital Yuan as a settlement or reserve currency.