[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 14, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H4441-H4445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1520
PROTECTING PRIVACY IN PURCHASES ACT
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1423,
I call up the bill (H.R. 1181) to prohibit payment card networks and
covered entities from requiring the use of or assigning merchant
category codes that distinguish a firearms retailer from general-
merchandise retailer or sporting-goods retailer, and for other
purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1423, the
amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on
Financial Services printed in the bill is adopted, and the bill, as
amended, is considered read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:
H.R. 1181
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Privacy in
Purchases Act''.
SEC. 2. DISTINGUISHING FIREARM RETAILERS PROHIBITED.
(a) Prohibitions Relating to Merchant Category Codes.--
(1) For payment card networks.--A payment card network may
not require--
(A) a firearms retailer to use a merchant category code
that--
(i) is used only or primarily for firearms retailers; or
(ii) identifies such retailer as engaged in the business of
selling firearms, ammunition, accessories of firearms, or
components of firearms; or
(B) a covered entity to assign a merchant category code
that is used only or primarily for firearms retailers or that
identifies a firearms retailer as engaged in the business of
selling firearms.
(2) For covered entities.--A covered entity may not assign
to a firearms retailer any merchant category code that is
used only or primarily for firearms retailers or that
identifies such retailer as engaged in the business of
selling firearms, ammunition, accessories of firearms, or
components of firearms.
(b) Enforcement.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall enforce this
section and shall, not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this section, establish a process for
individuals, including firearms retailers, to submit
complaints relating to alleged violations of this section.
[[Page H4442]]
(2) Investigation.--The Attorney General shall investigate
any complaint received through the processes established by
the Attorney General under paragraph (1).
(3) Written notice.--If the Attorney General determines,
after conducting an investigation under paragraph (2), that a
payment card network or covered entity has violated this
section, the Attorney General shall send a written notice of
such violation to such payment card network or covered entity
that requires the payment card network or covered entity to
remedy the violation not later than 30 days after the date on
which the payment card network or covered entity receives
such notice.
(4) Injunction.--
(A) In general.--If a payment card network or covered
entity does not remedy a violation within 30 days of
receiving a written notice under paragraph (3), the Attorney
General may bring an action in Federal court to enjoin the
violating behavior.
(B) No private right of action.--This Act does not create a
private right of action.
(c) Preemption.--
(1) In general.--Any law of a State or local government
regulating the assignment, use, or disclosure of merchant
category codes that are used only or primarily for firearms
retailers or that identifies a retailer as engaged in the
business of selling firearms, ammunition, accessories of
firearms, or components of firearms is hereby preempted.
(2) Limitation.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), nothing in
this Act may be construed to prevent a payment card network
or a covered entity from complying with any Federal, State,
or local law or regulations related to dispute processing,
fraud, compliance management, or protecting transaction
integrity from concerns related to illegal or suspicious
activities, data breaches, or cyber risks.
(d) Report.--The Attorney General shall, each year, submit
a report to the Congress that--
(1) identifies the number of investigations undertaken by
the Attorney General under subsection (b);
(2) includes a summary of such investigations and their
disposition; and
(3) provides any available data and analysis that relates
to the effectiveness of this Act.
(e) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Ammunition.--The term ``ammunition'' has the meaning
given the term in section 921(a)(17)(A) of title 18, United
States Code.
(2) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means any
entity that--
(A) has on the date of the enactment of this section, or
establishes after the date of the enactment of this section,
a relationship with a merchant for the purposes of processing
credit, debit, or prepaid transactions; or
(B) has on the date of the enactment of this section, or
establishes after the date of the enactment of this section,
a relationship with an entity that establishes a relationship
with a merchant for the purposes of processing credit
transactions, debit transactions, or prepaid transactions.
(3) Firearm.--The term ``firearm'' means--
(A) a ``firearm'' as such term is defined in section
921(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code;
(B) a ``shotgun'' as such term is defined in section
921(a)(5) of title 18, United States Code;
(C) a ``rifle'' as such term is defined in section
921(a)(7) of title 18, United States Code;
(D) an ``antique firearm'' as such term is defined in
section 921(a)(16) of title 18, United States Code;
(E) a ``semiautomatic rifle'' as such term is defined in
section 921(a)(29) of title 18, United States Code; and
(F) a ``handgun'' as such term is defined in section
921(a)(30) of title 18, United States Code.
(4) Firearms retailer.--The term ``firearms retailer''
means a person, entity, or retail location physically located
in the United States that is engaged in the business of
selling or trading--
(A) firearms;
(B) ammunition;
(C) accessories of firearms; or
(D) components of firearms.
(5) Merchant category code.--The term ``merchant category
code'' means a multi-digit code, issued by the International
Organization for Standardization, for the purposes of
enabling the classification of merchants into specific
categories based on the type of business, trade, or services
supplied.
(6) Payment card network.--The term ``payment card
network'' means an entity that directly or through a network
participant, processor, or agent provides proprietary
services, infrastructure, software, or hardware used to
authorize, clear and settle credit, debit, or prepaid
transactions.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for
1 hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Financial Services or their respective
designees.
The gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) and the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Waters) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).
General Leave
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Arkansas?
There was no objection.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Mr. Moore's Protecting
Privacy in Purchases Act.
Financial privacy is fundamental to consumer trust and confidence in
our financial system. As technology continues to transform financial
services, protecting Americans' financial privacy remains an essential
part of Congress' oversight role.
Merchant category codes were designed to help process transactions,
not create mechanisms for tracking or categorizing lawful purchases.
Maintaining trust in the payment system requires clear safeguards to
ensure that these tools are used for commerce, not consumer
surveillance.
H.R. 1181 establishes those safeguards by preventing payment card
networks and processors from using merchant category codes to target
firearms retailers and their customers. The Protecting Privacy in
Purchases Act provides important protections for consumers by
preventing the misuse of payment systems to monitor lawful purchasing
activity.
Consumers should not have to sacrifice their financial privacy in
order to participate in our modern economy. Protecting financial
privacy helps reinforce confidence in the institutions and
infrastructure that our payment systems operate around.
Americans should be able to participate in the economy with
confidence that their lawful transactions are simply being processed,
not tracked or categorized or scrutinized beyond what is never
necessary to essentially facilitate the payment. This bill helps
preserve the integrity of that payment system by keeping it focused on
facilitating commerce and efficient movement of funds.
Importantly, this bill does not interfere with any existing law
enforcement authorities, anti-money laundering requirements, fraud
prevention efforts, or other obligations designed to protect consumers
and safeguard our financial system.
H.R. 1181 is a commonsense measure that simply safeguards financial
privacy while maintaining the integrity of our Nation's payment
network.
I urge all my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose this bill because it limits efforts to
detect and investigate gun violence and acts of terrorism.
Before I discuss the bill, let's start with a few sobering
statistics:
46,000 Americans die from gun violence every year. That comes out to
an average of more than 125 Americans losing their life each day due to
gun violence.
Of course, America is unusual in this regard. Americans are 26 times
more likely to be shot and killed than if you lived in any other high-
income country.
Nearly one in five Americans say they have personally witnessed
someone shot.
In the past decade, more than 1.2 million Americans have been shot,
with more than 400,000 who died from gun violence. For many who survive
a gunshot, they may still suffer a lifetime of devastating
consequences.
Most of these data points come from GIFFORDS, a gun violence
prevention group set up by our former colleague in the House, Gabby
Giffords. Of course, she herself was shot when she served as a
Congresswoman, and she later set up the group following the Sandy Hook
Elementary mass shooting when 20 children and 6 educators lost their
lives.
Now, a few States, including California, New York, and Colorado, have
taken action to require payment card networks to use a merchant
category code, or an MCC, to distinguish firearms retailers from other
types of retailers.
Many different types of retailers have unique MCC codes, including
florists, barbershops, art dealers, automotive tire shops, and even
candy stores. While these merchant codes don't reveal what individual
goods are purchased, they can indicate an unusually large purchase at a
type of business that might reveal a risk. This information could help
law enforcement track suspicious purchases and prevent even more gun
violence.
[[Page H4443]]
Leading gun safety groups, including Brady, Community Justice,
Everytown for Gun Safety, GIFFORDS, Guns Down America, and Newtown
Action Alliance, sent the House a letter to urge Members to vote ``no''
on this harmful legislation.
In the letter that was sent to me, they said: ``We write in strong
opposition to H.R. 1181, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act. This
bill would make it easier for mass shooters, gun traffickers, and even
terrorists to abuse our financial systems to stockpile firearms and
ammunition undetected.''
They go on to note that between 2007 and 2018, credit cards were used
to finance at least eight major mass shootings. One of these included
the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people
were killed and nearly 60 more were injured a decade ago last month, in
June 2016.''
Now, listen to this: Just days before the shooter opened fire, his
internet search history included the terms ``credit card unusual
spending,'' ``FBI,'' and ``why banks stop your purchases.''
He had opened six new credit card accounts in the 8 months prior, and
12 days before the shooting, he spent more than $26,000 on things like
a rifle, a semiautomatic pistol, several large magazines, and thousands
of rounds of ammunition. Before this, his average monthly spending on
his single card was $1,500.
None of the credit card operators, payment processors, or banks were
alerted to the types of transactions being undertaken, and they did not
notify law enforcement officials about these purchases.
We don't know for sure, but had these MCC codes been in place for gun
shops back then, a financial institution would have been empowered to
report these suspicious credit card purchases to law enforcement.
{time} 1530
Americans are tired of the senseless gun violence and want Congress
to do something to curb it.
Unfortunately, this bill goes in the opposite direction and would
implement a ban on such merchant reporting on the Federal level and
would literally preempt existing State laws like those in California,
New York, and Colorado.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from West Virginia (Mr. Moore), who is the sponsor of this bill.
Mr. MOORE of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my
bill, H.R. 1181, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act. My bill
preserves two fundamental rights: the right to privacy and the right to
bear arms. Americans should not be forced to disclose to payment
processors when they buy firearms.
The bill preserves Americans' rights by prohibiting the creation of a
separate merchant category code for firearms. This would, of course,
become a de facto gun registry. The bill also preempts harmful State
laws and gives the Attorney General authority to take any bank or
payment processor that assigns or requires a separate code to Federal
court.
For too long, the American people have had their rights undermined by
the radical left. The bill's premise is simple: no gun registries,
period. In fact, this very body has twice prohibited these unjust
registries, once in 1986 and again in 1993, to prohibit the left from
destroying Americans' rights.
However, the gun-grabbing left never stops trying. In 2021, the
progressive Amalgamated Bank lobbied the International Organization for
Standardization to create a separate merchant category code for firearm
retailers to advance a backdoor gun registry. Previously, these
retailers had always been accurately categorized as miscellaneous
retail stores or sporting goods stores.
Amalgamated Bank was hell-bent on tracking firearm purchases. It
pressured a faceless, unaccountable, foreign standards body in Geneva
to stand up a new merchant category code explicitly targeting American
gun owners and American businesses. When I was State treasurer in West
Virginia, we said ``no'' to the gun-grabbing progressive bank
partnering with a European NGO destroying American rights.
Under my leadership as State treasurer, West Virginia enacted one of
the first bans on separate merchant category codes for firearms
retailers, protecting the privacy of our State's gun owners. Nineteen
States after that followed suit.
However, a patchwork of State regulations is not enough. California,
Colorado, and New York currently mandate that firearm stores have a
separate merchant category code, creating a de facto registry in some
of the most populous States in our country. This cannot be allowed to
stand. We have already seen the Biden administration pressure financial
institutions to hand over data on their customers. A private database
of gun owners falling into the hands of a future anti-gun
administration is a threat that we cannot accept.
Our God-given right to own a firearm does not stop at the border of
blue States.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Representatives Barr and Hudson,
for their work on this bill. I also thank Chairman Hill for getting it
across the finish line. I also thank Representative Stefanik for her
leadership on this issue.
These are our God-given rights, spelled out in our Constitution, and
we proudly exercise them. We will not allow an elitist bank partnered
with a foreign, faceless bureaucracy to rob Americans of their right to
protect themselves. In West Virginia, we don't ask permission to
protect ourselves and our families, and no American should ever have to
wonder whether buying a firearm will land them on a government watch
list. Privacy and gun ownership go hand in hand.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Thompson), who is a leader in this Congress against gun
violence.
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1181, a bill which makes it
harder to catch criminals and makes our communities less safe.
Today, under current law, financial institutions are required to
report suspicious transactions to law enforcement. They do this every
day, and that helps catch human traffickers. These alerts give law
enforcement leads that uncover human trafficking rings and evidence
that help put these bad guys away.
The bill on the floor today blocks States from using this same
process to flag suspicious firearms transactions to uncover gun
trafficking rings.
Many gun traffickers don't buy guns like responsible gun owners, and
once guns are trafficked, we know bad things happen.
Approximately 60 percent of trafficked guns are delivered to
convicted felons. The felons who seek out and obtain trafficked
firearms are the people who pose the greatest risk to everyone's
safety.
Mr. Speaker, gun violence is the leading cause of death for children,
for teenagers, and for law enforcement in the line of duty. We should
be working to break up gun trafficking rings which supply the guns that
kill kids and cops.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman
from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), who chairs the Subcommittee on Financial
Institutions and Monetary Policy.
Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1181, the
Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act. I thank my friend, the gentleman
from Arkansas, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, for
his leadership on the bill and for yielding.
I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation.
I thank Congressman Riley Moore for his leadership on this important
bill. I thank Congressman Richard Hudson for his longstanding work
defending the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens, and our
colleague from New York, Elise Stefanik, for her original introduction
of this bill in several previous Congresses.
At its core, this bill is about protecting privacy and preventing
government surveillance on citizens simply for exercising their
constitutionally enshrined Second Amendment rights.
[[Page H4444]]
H.R. 1181 prohibits payment card networks and financial institutions
from requiring or assigning merchant category codes, or MCCs, that
single out firearm retailers for separate tracking and monitoring.
Unfortunately, we have seen repeated examples of progressive
regulators and government officials pressuring financial institutions
to target lawful industries and lawful customers.
From Operation Choke Point under the Obama administration and Choke
Point 2.0 under Biden to New York financial regulators pressuring
insurance companies to abandon longstanding relationships with the NRA,
Americans have legitimate reasons to be concerned about the
weaponization of the financial system.
Despite what those on the other side of the aisle may say, this bill
does nothing to prevent law enforcement or regulators from
investigating criminal activity, nor does it change the stringent
requirements on financial institutions to comply with existing anti-
money laundering laws or suspicious activity reporting requirements.
However, what my friend from California who just spoke doesn't say,
but it needs to be said, is that the lawful purchase of a firearm
protected by the Second Amendment is not in and of itself suspicious
activity, nor should it be surveilled by the government.
What it does is prevent the creation of a framework that could be
used to monitor, flag, and discourage lawful purchases from federally
licensed firearm retailers.
This is about preventing government actors from using financial data
to target Americans who are engaged in conduct expressly protected by
the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms, a fundamental
liberty for Americans.
Americans should not have to worry that lawful purchases that they
made will be used to create lists, databases, or surveillance tools
aimed at this constitutionally protected activity.
{time} 1540
My friend, the ranking member from California, cited statistics about
annual and daily deaths that she says are the result of gun violence.
Respectfully, the right to bear arms is not the cause of violence. One
murder is too many in America, period. We all agree on that.
Rather than blaming gun violence, Congress would be more productive
focusing on the root causes of homicide: the breakdown of the family,
lack of active parenting, mental illness, open-border policies,
policies to defund the police, soft-on-crime policies like no cash
bail, and politically motivated violence, like the kind that was behind
the murder of Charlie Kirk. Addressing these societal problems does not
require unconstitutional surveillance of Americans.
H.R. 1181 establishes commonsense guardrails to prevent regulatory
abuse and safeguards constitutional freedoms.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Frost) who has been active on this issue of gun violence.
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose the Protecting Privacy in
Purchases Act.
Sponsors claim this bill prevents the privacy of gun owners, but in
reality, it protects mass shooters, terrorists, gun traffickers, and
the profits of the firearms industry.
Financial institutions have already been using merchant codes to
detect crimes like money laundering and human trafficking. They should
be allowed to use that same responsible monitoring to help prevent gun
violence.
I know personally why this matters. The Pulse nightclub shooter
opened up six new credit cards in 8 months. He racked up more than
$26,000 in credit card charges on guns and ammunition in the days
before his killing spree in the middle of my district in my home of
Orlando, Florida.
Our system failed to turn those warning signs into an alert for
police. He murdered 49 angels in my community and wounded another 49.
Instead of helping to prevent the next tragedy, this bill makes it
easier for those warning signs to be missed yet again. It strips law
enforcement of an essential tool to stop violence before it happens,
making every community in our Nation less safe.
For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to
recommit this bill back to committee. If the House rules permitted, I
would have offered an important amendment to make clear that nothing in
this bill should prevent law enforcement from using merchant category
codes to assist in investigating and preventing acts of terrorism.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of this
amendment into the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion
to recommit.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. DesJarlais). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting
for the motion to recommit.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), the distinguished chair of the House Judiciary
Committee.
Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, you don't give up your Fourth Amendment rights when you
are exercising your Second Amendment rights. That is what is happening
out there: People's privacy is being invaded. These merchant codes are
there so the government can abuse them and track you.
If you don't think I am right about this, we have the evidence:
January 15, 2021, an email from the FBI to Bank of America saying give
us every debit card and credit card purchase for anyone in Washington,
D.C., for these particular dates. That is bad enough. You are allowed
to travel in this country, too. That is a right we have. Here is what
they also say: Also, overlay that with any historic purchase for
weapons or weapons-related purchases.
What? We want to know what you bought when you were at a certain
location, and we want to know if you ever purchased a gun anytime in
your life with that credit card or debit card. That is what the FBI
asked Bank of America to do.
That is how dangerous this practice is. That is why the sponsor from
West Virginia, the chairman, and the committee's work is so good. God
bless them.
You don't give up your Fourth Amendment rights. Our Constitution
protects our First, Second, and Fourth Amendment liberties--all of
them. They are all important. That is why this legislation is critical.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his good work and Mr. Moore
from West Virginia for sponsoring the bill.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Green), the ranking member of the Oversight and
Investigations Subcommittee, who has always been an advocate against
gun violence.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank those who had the foresight
to declare that all persons are created equal and endowed by their
creator with certain unalienable rights, among them: life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.
You are not giving up your constitutional rights when you are doing
what you can to protect life. I have been to the funerals. I have seen
the people who have lost their loved ones to gun violence. At some
point we have to do more than contend that privacy trumps the right to
life. The person's right to life trumps privacy, especially when no
court has said that this is unconstitutional.
Mr. Speaker, that is pure speculation on behalf of some people. I
believe that the right to life trumps this right to privacy that they
are contending.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).
Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill.
This is not about crime. It is about control. Once you can flag a
purchase, any purchase, you can flag a person. Once you can flag a
person, you can control what they buy, what banks they use, and even
what they believe. It is wrong. It is un-American.
This bill is not just about guns. It is about the precedent that was
set. If we allow financial institutions to become the surveillance arm
of one party's political agenda today, there will be no limit to what
gets flagged tomorrow.
[[Page H4445]]
Let me be clear: Buying a firearm is not extremism; buying a Bible is
not extremism; reading the news you choose and want to read is not
extremism; exercising a constitutional right is not extremism.
The extreme position is using America's banks to build a permanent
list to track who people worship, what they read, and what
constitutional rights they happen to choose to exercise.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for privacy, freedom, and
the Constitution of the United States of America.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Frost).
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to say because we
hear over and over from our colleagues about the Constitution: If using
merchant category codes violated the Fourth Amendment, where is your
bill on amending this for every purchase at a pharmacy, liquor store,
or casino?
This is a standard accounting tool that is used by banks. This
argument, unless you are going to follow it up with legislation to
essentially make it illegal to track and have the same codes, which is
just a four-digit number, for pharmacies, casinos, liquor, and other
things as well, the argument falls flat. Law enforcement needs to go
through a legal process to access the financial records here.
Mr. Speaker, it is not a good argument. We are talking about
something that doesn't track what you are buying. It doesn't track the
guns you are buying. It won't tell them that, but it is just a general
tool to help us stop some of the worst of the worst mass shootings.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lee).
Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R.
1181, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act.
The Second Amendment is a constitutional right. Americans should not
have their lawful purchases singled out simply because they choose to
exercise that right.
This bill stops efforts to create a special system for identifying
and organizing purchases made at firearm and ammunition retailers.
{time} 1550
While its proponents present this as simply an administrative tool,
in practice it raises serious concerns about privacy and the unjust
treatment of lawful conduct.
Americans are increasingly concerned about how much information is
collected, stored, and shared. Those concerns are especially valid when
it comes to information being tracked that relates to the exercise of a
constitutional freedom. Here is the reality: Tracking the lawful
purchase of firearms and ammunition creates a framework for collecting
information about law-abiding citizens who have done nothing wrong.
My home State of Florida already prohibits this type of surveillance.
Floridians understand something that most Americans agree with: Your
bank should process your transaction, not track your activities.
This bill prevents payment networks and financial institutions from
requiring special codes for firearms retailers, while preserving
existing tools used to combat fraud, protect consumers, maintain
cybersecurity, and report suspicious activity.
At its core, this legislation is about privacy, fairness, and the
principle that the exercise of constitutional rights should never
become the basis for surveillance.
I thank the chairman and the bill's sponsor for their work on this
important issue. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1181.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
As I conclude, I will point out that when our committee held a
hearing last year, none of the majority's witnesses said a single
positive thing about this bill in their testimony. That is probably
because there is nothing positive to say about this harmful bill.
Now, using merchant category codes for firearm retailers won't solve
this problem, not even close. The codes themselves don't identify what
is purchased, but it might have triggered a flag for unusual and
suspicious purchases that get reported to law enforcement. Mr. Speaker,
that might save 1 life or 10 lives or 100 lives or 1,000 lives or
10,000 lives. Even if it is a fraction of the 416,000 who have died
from gun violence over the past decade, wouldn't it be worth it?
Mr. Speaker, the audacity of the opposite side of the aisle to tell
States they cannot use these merchant codes, any State in the United
States of America, even those who started in some way using these
codes, they are now saying they want a law that would preempt your
State from being able to use the merchant codes.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for this debate. I
thank Mr. Moore for writing this bill, drafting it, persuading the
support that he has. I urge all Members on both sides of the aisle to
support this bill in the name of privacy in the United States.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1423, the previous question is ordered
on the bill, as amended.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
Motion to Recommit
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Frost of FL moves to recommit the bill H.R. 1181 to the
Committee on Financial Services.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Frost is as follows:
Mr. Frost moves to recommit the bill H.R. 1181 to the
Committee on Financial Services with instructions to report
the same back to the House forthwith with the following
amendment:
Add at the end the following:
SEC. 3. TERRORISM EXCEPTION.
Nothing in this Act shall prevent law enforcement from
using merchant category codes as part of an investigation
relating to an act of terrorism or suspected act of
terrorism, or to prevent an act of terrorism.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XIX, the
previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit.
The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
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