NEW YORK CITY—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations Committees and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, yesterday joined Mornings With Maria on Fox Business to discuss yesterday’s BRICS Summit, the Biden-Harris Administration’s weakness towards China, and his stablecoin legislation to establish a clear regulatory framework for the regulation and supervision of stablecoin issuers.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on the BRICS Summit: “Were it not for the tremendous leadership void that exists today because of America’s exit from the international stage, we wouldn’t be seeing this happen. And under President [Donald] Trump, this would have never happened. They’ve expanded BRICS now to 32 nations, as you’ve said. This is all about Vladimir Putin trying to find a way to get around the type of sanctions regime that we will come back and put in place once President Trump is back in office. Interestingly, I noticed that the UN Secretary General Gutierrez is going to be there in Russia for this event. You know, were this event held anywhere else, Gutierrez, I think, would be obligated to enforce the arrest warrant that his own international criminal court has put out for Putin. It’s just shocking to me that these nations would step up and participate in this, and that Gutierrez himself would be involved in a situation where Iran is actually going to be brought into this group. It’s amazing. The only common bond, it seems, is that America’s not part of it, and they want to demonstrate their pushback. And the fact that the UN is engaged in this as well [is] really quite shocking and disturbing to me as it should be to all of us.”
Hagerty on China’s economic leverage against BRICS nations: “You mentioned China; that is another common bond here: China’s economic ties and leverage over these countries with the Belt and Road Initiative and the fact that they’re buying oil from Iran and from Russia. That is another common bond that these guys share. But if you think about how the Harris Administration would respond, look no further than what they did with the spy balloon that they allowed to fly over the entirety of the United States of America. And then send four cabinet members over to kowtow, just to beg them to come to San Francisco for a meeting, I’m very concerned. Americans should be deeply concerned what would happen and should Kamala Harris be put in a position to stand up to Xi. I’ve been with President Trump when he’s met with Xi. Xi respects Trump. President Trump will bring respect and order back to these types of relationships. I cannot imagine how Kamala Harris would stand up to that type of pressure.”
Hagerty on Obama’s former AG suing the Pentagon on behalf of a Chinse company: “This is exactly why President Trump has said we must drain the swamp. This is just another example of the revolving door. And the fact is that the first time this DJI was cited was back in 2017 when President Trump was in office—the Army took them down then—there’s no way that Loretta Lynch would be bringing the suit under the Trump Administration. But again, they’re trying to squeeze everything in that they can in the last days, the waning days of this Administration. You’ve got to ask yourself: who are they working for? Because every one of the foreign policies that Biden and Harris have pursued basically make China the net winner. We’ve got to stop this […] Ever since 2018, that’s been the case, because that’s what the Chinese National Security law says. Chinese companies that collect data anywhere in the world need to and have to expose that data to the Chinese intelligence services when asked. So, of course, that’s what it means. That’s the vulnerability that was seen back in the Trump Administration; that seems to be something that Loretta Lynch wants to undo and make these Chinese companies have access to the most sensitive data that our U.S. military would pick up. It’s unconscionable that she’d do this […] Barack Obama’s top law enforcement officer, the former Attorney General, is the one defending this Chinese company trying to get them off of this list, when she knows the exposure [and] the national security risk that would pose to America. It is just shocking.”
Hagerty on his stablecoin legislation to establish clear regulatory framework: “As you mentioned, this builds upon some excellent work that was done in the House of Representatives. I’ve come in and made some adjustments that I think it’ll make it easier to get through both bodies [in Congress]. The impact of this, though, actually gets back to the beginning of the story that you and I talked about. You think about the efforts that Vladimir Putin and these BRICS nations undertaking to get around the United States as the reserve currency of the world. This will actually strengthen our posture as a reserve currency. It will increase demand, not only for U.S. treasuries, but also the stablecoins will increase demand for U.S. dollars on a global basis. We need the proper regulatory framework in place here in America—we need legal certainty—the Biden and Harris Administration have done everything they can to destroy that sort of legal certainty. This will begin to chip away at the Democrats’ war on cryptocurrency and put us back in the driver’s seat when it comes to maintaining the reserve currency status that the dollar has enjoyed and should continue to enjoy […] The assumption is very clear that this legislation will move through and be ripe for a new Administration.”
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