Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HR248 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	IV
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. RES. 248
5	5	Emphasizing the importance and power of distributed ledger technologies
6	6	(DLT) to support democratic governance, human rights, internet free-
7	7	dom, and transparency.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	MARCH25, 2025
10	10	Mr. A
11	11	MO(for himself and Mrs. KIM) submitted the following resolution; which
12	12	was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
13	13	RESOLUTION
14	14	Emphasizing the importance and power of distributed ledger
15	15	technologies (DLT) to support democratic governance,
16	16	human rights, internet freedom, and transparency.
17	17	Whereas distributed ledger technologies (DLT), including
18	18	various forms of blockchain technology, offers significant
19	19	potential benefits for strengthening democratic govern-
20	20	ance, enhancing transparency, promoting human rights,
21	21	and supporting sustainability;
22	22	Whereas DLT’s ability to ensure the integrity, authentica-
23	23	tion, and verification of shared information is critical for
24	24	the effective delivery of democratic governance and serv-
25	25	ices to citizens;
26	26	Whereas DLT has been applied in diverse areas such as iden-
27	27	tity management, land rights, citizen representation,
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30	30	•HRES 248 IH
31	31	tracking of goods and services, and has shown potential
32	32	to improve government accountability, combat misin-
33	33	formation, and facilitate transparent financial trans-
34	34	actions;
35	35	Whereas DLT has the potential to enhance the resiliency of
36	36	democratic institutions against corruption, misinforma-
37	37	tion, and inefficiencies by providing a tamper-resistant
38	38	and transparent platform for the recording and
39	39	verification of transactions and data;
40	40	Whereas DLT provides an innovative solution to combat cen-
41	41	sorship and empower people around the world by ena-
42	42	bling the creation of decentralized platforms that safe-
43	43	guard free expression and access to information by rout-
44	44	ing traffic through nodes in jurisdictions with robust
45	45	legal frameworks for digital rights;
46	46	Whereas the use of DLT in securing digitized government
47	47	documents, land registration, facilitating financial trans-
48	48	fers, countering deep fakes, and advancing justice and
49	49	the rule of law demonstrates its versatility and potential
50	50	to support democratic processes and human rights;
51	51	Whereas the strategic application of DLT can also address
52	52	global challenges, contribute to sustainability, and ensure
53	53	more inclusive access to services without compromising
54	54	privacy or stifling technological innovation;
55	55	Whereas DLT solutions can enhance the integrity, trans-
56	56	parency, and efficiency of distributing aid by supporting,
57	57	for example, direct cash transfers, reducing inter-
58	58	mediaries, lowering costs, and speeding up delivery;
59	59	Whereas DLT’s decentralized design boosts the resilience of
60	60	essential systems by spreading data across multiple
61	61	nodes, which avoids single points of failure and ensures
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64	64	•HRES 248 IH
65	65	continuous service, even during targeted attacks or local
66	66	disruptions, and such resilience is crucial for keeping
67	67	data intact and available in sectors vital to democratic
68	68	governance and humanitarian aid, helping these systems
69	69	stay robust and functional under different stress condi-
70	70	tions;
71	71	Whereas the innovative applications of DLT are still in the
72	72	early stages, requiring further exploration, under-
73	73	standing, and supportive policy frameworks to fully real-
74	74	ize their potential in strengthening democracies; and
75	75	Whereas the DLT community is committed to ensuring re-
76	76	sponsible use of DLT technology and promoting the
77	77	United States national security interests: Now, therefore,
78	78	be it
79	79	Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1
80	80	(1) urges the Department of State, the Devel-2
81	81	opment Finance Corporation, the United States 3
82	82	Agency for International Development, and other 4
83	83	agencies of the United States Government to explore 5
84	84	and support the development and application of dis-6
85	85	tributed ledger technologies to strengthen democratic 7
86	86	governance, promote human rights, enhance trans-8
87	87	parency, and support sustainability efforts and hu-9
88	88	manitarian aid delivery; 10
89	89	(2) encourages the promotion of the distributed 11
90	90	ledger technologies to combat censorship and ensure 12
91	91	the free flow of information as a cornerstone of de-13
92	92	mocracy and human rights, acknowledging the tech-14
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95	95	•HRES 248 IH
96	96	nology’s role in enabling citizens to access restricted 1
97	97	content and express themselves freely, thereby con-2
98	98	tributing to the global spread of democratic values 3
99	99	and the protection of freedom of speech; 4
100	100	(3) calls for deeper engagement from the 5
101	101	United States Government with technology experts, 6
102	102	civil society, and international partners to under-7
103	103	stand the opportunities presented by distributed 8
104	104	ledger technologies and its most practical applica-9
105	105	tions, ensuring its responsible and effective use; 10
106	106	(4) affirms the importance of United States 11
107	107	leadership in developing a regulatory and policy 12
108	108	framework that encourages the ethical use of distrib-13
109	109	uted ledger technologies, while promoting sustain-14
110	110	ability and addressing concerns such as accessibility 15
111	111	and the risk of misuse by malign actors; and 16
112	112	(5) encourages further research, innovation, 17
113	113	and investment in distributed ledger technologies 18
114	114	that can contribute to the public good, strengthen 19
115	115	democratic institutions, and ensure the integrity of 20
116	116	democratic processes. 21
117	117	Æ
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