Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the SAFE Banking Act.

Kentuckians have a deep interest in the production, cultivation, and sale of nonintoxicating industrial hemp and hemp-derived products, including CBD. In fact, Kentucky boasts a proud heritage and agricultural tradition in industrial hemp. Henry Clay, the great Speaker of the House who once represented the district that I now represent, was, in fact, an industrial hemp farmer.

More recently, the Commonwealth has seen a revival in the industrial hemp industry, resulting in much growth and job creation in this area. Much of the growth of the industry occurred as a result of the Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program established under the 2014 farm bill and the 2018 farm bill, which took it a step further and fully legalized industrial hemp.

Despite these positive steps forward, hemp businesses still have trouble accessing certain financial services. Just today I spoke with a CBD retailer in my district who confirmed that while the situation has improved somewhat over the last few years, access to card processing services is uneven and uncertain. This bill will provide additional clarity for banks, insurance companies, and card processors that they can, in fact, do business with legally operating hemp businesses. It would also direct our Federal financial regulators to update best practices for serving hemp and CBD businesses.

Since we last debated this bill, conditions have improved for hemp financing. In December 2019, financial regulators jointly issued guidance confirming that banks are free to provide banking services to the hemp industry, just as they are for any other agricultural commodity. Unfortunately, there is still work to do to ensure that these legal hemp businesses have full access to the financial system. There remains some ambiguity, specifically regarding payment processors' dealings with hemp businesses. This bill makes needed clarifications.

I want to thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) for working across the aisle on this bill. He and his team took great care to ensure that these changes were incorporated into the bill and made the needed clarifications. I thank him for his cooperation. This will have a meaningful impact on Kentucky farmers, small businesses, and a burgeoning industry in Kentucky and across the country.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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