WASHINGTON — Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., chaired his final hearing as head of the House Financial Services Committee before his retirement from Congress, and said that he believes legislation about artificial intelligence in the banking sector could come as soon as the next Congress.
McHenry and the panel's ranking member Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., — donned in a bow tie in recognition of McHenry's last hearing —
"When I became chairman, I said these two years of policy would set the terms of debate for the next decade," McHenry said. "This body of work shows it. But as policymakers, setting the terms of debate is not the end of our work."
The current Congress has only weeks left before it adjourns. Those bills, and ongoing debates about how to safeguard both innovation and the financial system from the impact of AI, are likely to continue when Congress resumes under Republican control in both chambers next year.
"I hope many of these initiatives are seen through to enactment next Congress," McHenry said.
Waters, meanwhile, was more optimistic.
"Over the past two Congresses, we worked relentlessly over several years to craft legislation around stablecoins," Waters said. "I have long appreciated Mr. McHenry's commitment to good-faith negotiation and I'm hopeful he will pull another rabbit out of the hat to pass this deal into law before the year ends."
The hearing also previewed some of the main areas of concern for the incoming Congress. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., who's in contention to become the next chairman of the committee, asked witnesses, including Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley, about the recent interview of Marc Andreeson on the Joe Rogan podcast, which
"The comments on Joe Rogan's podcast were just the most recent," he said. "When Republicans have the legislative and executive branch united next year, I hope we'll be able to halt and reverse this kind of investigation."
He said that there's support for continued action on that point from both sides of the aisle, including from Waters.
"No one has any patience on that on either side of the aisle here," he said. "Legal businesses in the United States, in this great country, have the freedom to bank and have financial services. This committee is going to take a strong position on that."
