House Plans Votes on State Dept.-Focused Telecom, Cryptocurrency Bills

The House was to vote as soon as Monday night on three telecom and cryptocurrency bills from the Foreign Affairs Committee under suspension of the rules: the Russia Cryptocurrency Transparency Act (HR-7338), Securing Global Telecommunications Act (HR-8503) and Countering Untrusted Telecommunications Abroad Act (HR-8520). HR-7338 would require the State Department to appoint a digital currency security director within the Office of Economic Sanctions Policy and Implementation to assist in developing sanctions enforcement mechanisms resilient to malevolent actors’ use of digital currencies. The measure would also require the department to notify Congress when it pays out rewards in cryptocurrencies. HR-8503 would require State to develop a comprehensive strategy to promote trusted vendors of critical telecom infrastructure components. It also orders a report to Congress on Chinese and Russian efforts to advance their interests at the ITU. HR-8520 would require publicly traded companies to disclose whether they contracted to use untrusted telecom equipment or services. It would also direct the State Department to report on U.S. collective defense allies using untrusted telecom equipment or services in their 5G networks.