The US Congress is finishing up its negotiations surrounding the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the 2021 fiscal year before the bill is set to appear before both the House of Representatives and Senate. The NDAA is a massive bill passed annually that includes budget authorizations for the Department of Defense. The bill’s final draft contains the Improving Laundering Laws and Increasing Comprehensive Information Tracking of Criminal Activity in Shell Holdings Act.
The Act broadens the “definition of ‘coins and currency’ to include digital currency.”
The annual Defense bill broadens the “definition of ‘coins and currency’ to include digital currency” being used for illicit activities. One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Senator Doug Jones, said that it is simply too easy in the United States for criminals to hide behind anonymous shell companies. He added, “our bipartisan bill gives the American law enforcement and national security officials the tools they need to fight back against the criminals that seek to exploit our financial system and fund their illegal activities.”
US President Donald Trump threatens to veto the bill.
US President Donald Trump, who is now settling into the reality of his lame-duck presidency, has been threatening to veto the defense bill unless it strikes Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies Facebook and Twitter from being held liable for what their users post. This has been a sticking point for Trump throughout the year, despite the apparent lack of relevance to the NDAA’s actual substance; he signed an executive order attempting to limit Section 230 back in May. Trump has tried to smuggle that revision into the bill, but for now, the majority of congress people on both the left and the right are refusing to fold.
Section 230, which is a liability shielding gift from the U.S. to “Big Tech” (the only companies in America that have it – corporate welfare!), is a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity. Our Country can never be safe & secure if we allow it to stand…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2020
