Congressman Denver Riggleman's SAFE Banking Act passes the House of Representatives
Floor Speech
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Thank you Madam Chairwoman, and thank you to my colleagues Mr. Perlmutter and Mr. Heck for their work on this issue.
I am going read a headline from yesterday's Wall Street Journal. I have it right here. It says, "Mainstream Companies Back Marijuana Banking." The article includes several examples as to why legislation is needed to provide clarity for financial institutions on how to bank with businesses ancillary to the cannabis industry.
To be clear, that is my main objective. By supporting this legislation, I aim to ensure that the thousands of legitimate businesses around cannabis and the millions of people they employ have complete and full access to the financial system.
I hear from bankers across the 5th District of Virginia that legislation on the financial regulatory front will ensure financial institutions have confidence and support from regulators to serve their legitimate business customers.
I agree with many of my colleagues that this legislation is not perfect. Addressing the federal treatment of marijuana through the Controlled Substance Act, or some other method, is likely necessary, and something I would likely support depending on how it's done.
Additionally, I would propose to my all my colleagues that if we are considering doing something on this issue in this Committee that we should be paying attention to all the concerns.
Some of these additional concerns I have include access to capital, equitable treatment under the tax code, and deposit insurance. Again, these are just some of the issues, and I would also like to add that financial regulators too often take the bend of whatever party is in power, and this issue is a prime example.
With the publication of the Cole Memo in 2013 and the recession of the Cole Memo in 2018, we need clarity and consistency through legislation. Even Attorney General William Barr, who does not personally support decriminalization of marijuana said, "If we want a federal approach, if we want states to have their own laws ?then let's get there and get there in the right way."
I believe this legislation is a part of doing it the right way. And for these reasons I support the SAFE Banking Act, and see it as a necessary, though not ultimate, resolution to the issues around cannabis banking. Thank you and I yield back my time.
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