ICYMI—Hagerty JoinsMornings with Maria on Fox Business to Discuss CLARITY, the SAVE Act, Reconciliation 3.0 and Lindsey Graham’s Legacy

Washington-Today, United States Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations, Appropriations, and Banking Committees, joined Mornings with Maria on Fox Business to honor the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, and to discuss the CLARITY Act, the SAVE America Act and Reconciliation 3.0.

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Partial Transcript

Hagerty on Lindsey Graham's passing: There is a pall over all of D.C. Frankly, over much of the world. Lindsey was very well traveled as a legislator and very well liked. We will all dearly miss him. He played a critical role in the Senate. He always brought levity to everything that he did… I remember him walking into an important meeting with members of the House of Representatives, and Lindsey announced, "I am from the United States Senate, and I'm here to help." It just broke the room, it broke the ice. And he had a way of piercing even the most tense situation with a little bit of levity. He always also was very clear in his goals. You might not always agree with his goals, but Lindsey always had a plan to get them accomplished. And I think he is resting better-God bless him-knowing that he accomplished so much, particularly with the situation in Ukraine right now. His breakthrough efforts that just occurred with Russian sanctions, I think will make a big difference in terms of bringing peace to that area that he's worked so hard at […] Lindsey was chair of the [Senate Budget Committee] and we've made great progress on the Reconciliation 3.0 package. We need that to get critical aspects of legislation done. We are at a point in the political environment right now where it is difficult to get any cooperation from the Democrats and getting the SAVE America Act passed, which is so important to us, many elements of that can be done through Reconciliation 3.0. There are a number of other impacts to the economy, to the housing market: indexing capital gains on housing, the budget for the Defense Department, and a number of other matters that we do need to address. Lindsey was riding front and center on that in the budget committee. It is going to take a lot of dedication. I think we should dedicate our efforts in memory of him to get that done as well […] Having [Sen. Graham] on the [Senate Judiciary Committee] was certainly an advantage for Republicans. [Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche] will be a great [United States Attorney General]. He is already doing a very good job, but I think having Lindsey there would have been a plus. We will certainly figure out how to address the gap that Lindsey's departure leaves, but again, I say we will miss his voice in so many areas-Judiciary, of course, as you point out, being one of those critical points.

Hagerty on the SAVE America Act: I think we should try every aspect available to us. I'm one of the co-sponsors of this bill and am very keen to see it passed. What Lindsey Graham was working on in the Reconciliation 3.0 package does not require Democrat votes. I think that was one of the paths that offered the most promise, and I think we need to continue our efforts full bore to make sure we get it done, and this is the time to do it. I agree that this is the legislative period before August to work hard to get it done. We have got a lot on the agenda. We need to get the National Defense Authorization Act passed; Lindsey was a strong voice there as well. We have made great progress there. I think we're very close to being ready to do that… I put great effort forward last year to get the Genius Act passed, and what the Genius Act did for stable coins in bringing America to the absolute lead on an international basis can be done as well with the CLARITY Act for the remainder of the digital assets industry, we need to get that passed also. So, there are a lot of pressures on us right now and a lot of work ahead.

Hagerty on Reconciliation 3.0: I think we're going to have to be able to both walk and chew gum at the same time. We're going to be working on multiple components of this, and it will be up to [Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-SD,] to decide which is ready and which is most, most passable on any given day. But we're going to have to be proceeding side by side with these incredibly important pieces of legislation that is in the Senate Banking Committee. A lot of good work has gone into that, I think we are very close there. The SAVE America Act being "budgetized," if you will, in the Senate Budget Committee, a lot of work has happened there. The House is working very hard right now to send something our way. And again, the National Defense Authorization Bill has got a lot of elements in it that, um, that will be critical to our national security. I think Leader Thune will be looking at which [bills] are prime and ready to go. But we are going to be voting and pushing this forward at a very rapid pace… Nobody will be able to fill [Sen. Graham's] place, there is no question about that. But there are procedures in place to roll in a new chair of the budget committee. There are procedures in place for the governor of South Carolina to replace Lindsey, and all of that will be taking up a good part of this week, I am certain.

Hagerty on the CLARITY Act: [The CLARITY Act] certainly has the momentum, and I think the interest to get it done. I will just say this: it has been transformative to see what the GENIUS Act has done to the stablecoin arena. We have the opportunity to maintain that lead for America on a global basis if we can get CLARITY done. And the right time to do it is right now. The elements are there in front of us. I would hate to see us kick the can down the road any further, but we have a lot ahead of us on the agenda. I certainly hope we can get this done soon.

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