LISTEN: Laslo & Brown
Who?
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) — Chair of Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Ask a Pol asks:
Are we gonna see movement on any of these big measures — like crypto, marijuana banking (SAFER Act), rail safety, fentanyl, et. — before November’s elections completely consume the US Capitol?
Key Brown:
“We’ve got a House that’s still not moving on stuff that matters to Republicans,” Brown exclusively tells Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo. “The truth is that’s really pushed us back on what we can do in the Senate with floor time. But, you know, we wanna do RECOUP [Recovering Executive Compensation Obtained from Unaccountable Practices]. We wanna do SAFER [Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act]. We wanna do the rail bill. So, I’m hopeful there’s — we wanna do the tax bill, and that’s in the Senate — but all that’s sort of connected.”
Caught our ear: Where’s Crypto?
What about crypto? We don’t hear that on your list.
“Well, the House is looking at a bill. They keep talking about their bill, but, I mean, first: dead on arrival,” Brown says. “But what’s happened in the House, the House, originally — what’s his name? [House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick] McHenry (R-NC) — wanted an industry written, comprehensive crypto bill and that isn’t gonna happen.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Sherrod Brown
SCENE: Brown’s exiting the Capitol on the House side, heading towards the House Office Buildings on a bright and pleasant spring afternoon.
Matt Laslo: “Hey, are we gonna see SAFER?”
Sherrod Brown: “Hope so.”
ML: “‘Hope so’?”
SB: “Well, I mean, we’ve got — we’ve got a House that’s still not moving on stuff that matters to Republicans.”
ML: “Yeah.”
SB: “So, hey, the truth is that’s really pushed us back on what we can do in the Senate with floor time. But, you know, we wanna do RECOUP. We wanna do SAFER. We wanna do the rail bill. So, I’m hopeful there’s — we wanna do the tax bill and that’s in the Senate — but all that’s sort of connected.”
ML: “What about crypto? I don’t hear that on your list.”
SB: “Well, the House is looking at a bill. They keep talking about their bill, but, I mean, first: dead on arrival. Any of the what — I would include fentanyl in all that [his above list] too — but what’s happened in the House. The House, originally — what’s his name? [House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick] McHenry (R-NC) — wanted an industry passed, comprehensive crypto bill, an industry written, and that isn’t gonna happen.”
ML: “Yeah?”
SB: “Couldn’t even, I don’t think he can even get it out of committee, let alone what we do. But now they’ve narrowed it, and I’m open to it. I wanna see what they’re gonna do. But they keep talking about a bill but we see no language yet. So we will look at what they’re doing. [Sen. Debbie] Stabenow (D-MI) — not to speak for her — but she’s looking at what they are doing. In Ag. [Committee].”
ML: “Yeah?”
SB: “I mean, I want a pro-consumer crypto bill. I will always want a pro-consumer crypto bill, but I really mean pro-consumer. Not one industry loves and that can cause more problems than it’s solving.”
ML: “Are you guys just kinda waiting on them?”
SB: “Yeah.”
ML: “I’ll be watchin.”
As they start crossing Independence Ave., Laslo breaks off and starts heading back to the Capitol.
SB: “Yeah. 'Cause they’ve said they’ve got a bill.”
ML: “Yeah. They keep saying they’re close. Preciate ya.”
Matt Laslo covers tech politics for WIRED, lectures on technology’s impact on government at Johns Hopkins and is the founder of Ask a Pol — a new people-powered press corps. @MattLaslo / @AskaPol_crypto
Ask a Pol — asking your lawmakers your questions at your US Capitol.
Chair Sherrod Brown's waiting for House crypto bill: "they’ve narrowed it, and I’m open to it"