Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I am proud we are here today to pass this bill about public safety, accountability, and respecting States' rights. Forty- seven States, four U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have spoken and legalized some form of recreational or medical cannabis, including CBD products. 318 million people live in those 47 States. That is 97.7 percent of the population of America.

However, because cannabis remains illegal under Federal law, the Controlled Substance Act, businesses in these States are forced to deal in cash; and the businesses, their employees, and ancillary businesses can't access the banking system.

The fact is that the people in States and localities across the country are voting to approve some level of cannabis use, and we need these cannabis businesses and employees to have access to checking accounts, payroll accounts, lines of credit, credit cards, and more. This will improve transparency and accountability and help law enforcement root out illegal transactions to prevent tax evasion, money laundering, and other white-collar crime.

Most importantly, this will reduce the risk of violent crime in our communities. These businesses and their employees become targets for crime, robbery, assault, and more by dealing in all cash, and this puts the employees and the store owners at risk.

Over the last year in Oregon alone, a string of more than 100 robberies and burglaries at cannabis businesses culminated in a murder when Michael Arthur, a dispensary employee, was shot to death during a robbery.

Just last week in Colorado, an innocent bystander was shot during an attempted break-in at a medical cannabis business. And in Colorado, we are always reminded of Travis Mason, the young father and Marine Corps vet, who was murdered while working as a security guard for a cannabis business.

We must do better for these employees, their families, and all our communities.

The SAFE Banking Act will create a safe harbor for financial institutions and their employees who choose to do business with a cannabis company. Section 3 of the bill is particularly important to not only cannabis businesses, but everyone who might do business with a cannabis-related company. This section would protect ancillary businesses, like real estate owners, accountants, electricians, and vendors, by clarifying the proceeds from legitimate cannabis businesses are not unlawful under Federal laws. This proceeds section is the key provision allowing all cannabis-related businesses and their service providers and landlords to access the banking system without fear of reprisal.

This bill now has 177 bipartisan cosponsors, and one-third of the Senate is cosponsoring the companion bill from Senators Merkley and Daines.

Last Congress, the SAFE Banking Act passed the House 321-103, with the support of 91 Republicans. The broad base of support for this legislation generated a diverse group of cosponsors and endorsing organizations from banking, credit union, and insurance trade associations to labor unions, cannabis businesses and advocates, and State government leaders.

There are, obviously, many more marijuana issues we need to address working together, including additional research, tax issues, and criminal justice reforms. Passing this bill will show that Congress can work together in a bipartisan way to address outdated marijuana laws. I hope this bill is an icebreaker for the House to take up other reforms and finally remove the conflict between State and Federal laws.

In summary, even if you are opposed to the legalization of cannabis, you should support this bill. American voters have spoken and continue to speak, and the fact is that you can't put the genie back in the bottle. Prohibition is over. The SAFE Banking Act is focused solely on taking cash off the streets and making our communities safer, and only Congress can take these steps to provide this certainty for businesses, employees, and financial institutions across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Velazquez, Stivers, Davidson, Joyce, Correa, and Blumenauer for their partnership on this bill and their commitment to making our communities safer. I also thank Representatives Luetkemeyer, Barr, and Porter for their contributions to the text of this bill and their support. Finally, I thank Chairwoman Maxine Waters for her support over the years and for continuing to make this a priority.

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Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his many compliments. I would just remind him, we are the Financial Services Committee. We have a certain amount of jurisdiction that deals with financial institutions and financial services, and that is what this bill is focused on, dealing with so much cash generated by this industry, whether we do anything or not, and to try to advance public safety in the process.

Velazquez), the chair of the Small Business Committee, who had a lot to do with writing the Small Business piece of this.

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Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record these endorsements for the SAFE Banking Act, including from the American Bankers Association, the American Council of Independent Laboratories, the American Council of Life Insurers, the American Financial Services Association, the American Land Title Association, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, the Arizona Dispensaries Association, the California Cannabis Industry Association, and the National Armored Car Association. It goes on forever. I am not going to list all of these. There are about 50 different endorsements. H.R. 1996, the SAFE Banking Act of 2021--Endorsements

American Bankers Association; American Council of Independent Laboratories; American Council of Life Insurers; American Financial Services Association; American Land Title Association; American Property Casualty Insurance Association; American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp; Arizona Dispensaries Association; California Cannabis Industry Association; California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues; Cannabis Business Association of Illinois; Colorado Bankers Association; Colorado Municipal League; Credit Union National Association; Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers; Electronic Transactions Association; Independent Community Bankers of America; Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America; Law Enforcement Action Partnership; Mountain West Credit Union Association; National Armored Car Association; National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies; National Association of Professional Insurance Agents; National Association of Realtors.

National Cannabis Roundtable; National Cannabis Industry Association; National Medicinal Cannabis Coalition; National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws; Minority Cannabis Business Association; Policy Center for Public Health & Safety; Reinsurance Association of America; Rural County Representatives of California; The Real Estate Roundtable; United Food and Commercial Workers; U.S. Cannabis Council; U.S. Hemp Roundtable; Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association; TerrAscend USA; NUG, Inc.; Cresco Labs; 4Front Ventures; Terrapin Care Station; Full Spectrum Omega, Inc.; National Association of State Treasurers; Four Attorneys General from Colorado, the District of Columbia, North Dakota, and Ohio; 21 Governors from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin; 51 state and territory banking associations.

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Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina. To his point that there is a broader discussion that has to take place, the purpose of this bill is a public safety purpose. Its purpose is to keep people from being killed, from being robbed, and from being assaulted. That is within the Financial Services Committee arena because, at this point, the cannabis industry and the people who serve it in one way or another have to deal in cash, which really creates the potential for the robberies, for the murders, and for the assaults.

We have been able to gather a lot of support for this. I mentioned the bankers, the credit unions, the insurance industry, the cannabis industry, obviously, the real estate industry, the armored cars, and the minority cannabis industry. Law enforcement is supportive of this. We have the National Treasurers Association, 21 Governors, and attorneys general because they know this is a public safety matter and that we really need to address it.

We have been working on it for some time, as the gentleman from North Carolina mentioned, but we need to get this to the Senate. They need to take whatever action they want to take, but we have to make our communities and these businesses safer.

The SAFE Banking Act is about public safety. Our bill is narrowly tailored to get cash off the streets and improve public safety.

I thank my lead cosponsors on this bill, Representatives Velazquez, Stivers, and Davidson, and all of my colleagues who have listened to me talk about the need to address this problem for the last 8 years.

I also thank the staff of the Committee on Financial Services, the staff from my lead cosponsors, and my own staff, who put so much time into this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the SAFE Banking Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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