ECASH Act
Bill: H.R.7231 | Sponsor: Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. (D-MA)
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Electronic Currency And Secure Hardware Act or the ECASH Act
This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to support the development of an electronic dollar.
The electronic dollar must be
The bill also provides for privacy requirements applicable to any hardware device used for electronic dollar transactions.
Merchants who accept physical currency and the federal government must accept electronic dollars as a form of payment.
The bill also establishes
Finally, the bill provides for the establishment of a Treasury Electronic Currency Innovation Fund Account to carry out related programs.

To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to develop and pilot digital 
 dollar technologies that replicate the privacy-respecting features of 
                             physical cash.

    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 ``Electronic Currency And Secure 
Hardware Act'' or the ``ECASH Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) ECIP.--The term ``ECIP'' means the Electronic Currency 
        Innovation Program established under section 4.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Treasury.

SEC. 3. ELECTRONIC DOLLAR.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall promote and 
facilitate the development and deployment of an electronic version of 
the United States dollar for use by the general public that replicates 
and preserves the privacy, anonymity-respecting, and minimal 
transactional data-generating properties of physical currency 
instruments such as coins and notes to the greatest extent technically 
and practically possible.
    (b) Electronic Dollar Requirements.--The electronic dollar 
described under subsection (a) shall be--
            (1) known as ``e-cash'';
            (2) payable to bearer;
            (3) legal tender, as described in section 5103 of title 31, 
        United States Code;
            (4) an obligation of the United States, as described in 
        section 8 of title 18, United States Code;
            (5) created and issued into circulation by the Department 
        of the Treasury, in such quantities, denominations, and 
        technical forms as the Secretary, in the Secretary's 
        discretion, determines to be appropriate;
            (6) distributed directly to, and capable of being owned, 
        held, and used directly by, the general public;
            (7) capable of instantaneous, final, direct, peer-to-peer, 
        offline transactions using secured hardware devices that do not 
        involve or require subsequent or final settlement on or via a 
        common or distributed ledger, or any other additional approval 
        or validation by the United States Government or any other 
        third-party payments processing intermediary;
            (8) inter-operable with all existing financial institution 
        and payment provider systems and generally accepted payments 
        standards and network protocols, as well as other public 
        payments programs, including the U.S. Debit Card and Digital 
        Pay Program and the EagleCash card program of the Department of 
        the Treasury and any other digital dollar or public banking 
        products;
            (9) classified and regulated in a manner similar to 
        physical currency for the purposes of anti-money laundering, 
        know-your-customer, counter-terrorism, and transaction 
        reporting laws, and thus not subject to third-party exemptions 
        to a reasonable expectation of privacy;
            (10) designed, issued, and administered to be consistent 
        with--
                    (A) the statutory objectives articulated in 
                subsection (c), as well as any rules, standards, and 
                criteria enacted to further those objectives;
                    (B) the consumer protections articulated in 
                subsection (d), as well as any rules, standards, and 
                criteria enacted to further those protections; and
                    (C) any and all other technical and policy criteria 
                established by this Act or by the Secretary or Director 
                under the authority granted to them under this Act;
            (11) distinguishable from other forms of electronic 
        currency issued by or on behalf of the United States 
        Government, including any such forms that--
                    (A) are issued by a department, branch, agency, or 
                instrumentality of the United States Government other 
                than the Department of the Treasury, including such 
                forms of ``central bank digital currency'' as may be 
                issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
                System or its designated agents;
                    (B) are legally classified as an account balance or 
                any other kind of financial instrument not payable to 
                bearer or that otherwise require identification and 
                account or device registration to hold, access, or use;
                    (C) are not distributed directly to, or otherwise 
                capable of being owned, held, or used directly by, the 
                general public;
                    (D) fail to replicate and preserve the privacy, 
                anonymity-respecting, and minimal transactional data-
                generating properties of physical currency instruments 
                such as coins and paper notes to the greatest extent 
                technically and practically possible; and
            (12) not included in calculations of public debt subject to 
        limit under section 3101 of title 31, United States Code.
    (c) Statutory Objectives.--The Secretary shall promulgate and 
enforce rules, standards, and criteria pertaining to the development 
and implementation of e-cash instruments, devices, technologies, 
platforms, and supporting and enabling infrastructure, as well as the 
issuance, dissemination, circulation, storage, and use of e-cash 
balances, including use in transactions, in such a manner and to such 
an extent as the Secretary determines to be necessary or appropriate to 
achieve the objectives of this Act, subject to the following 
conditions:
            (1) Ownership.--The Secretary shall require that any and 
        all e-cash instruments are capable of being owned, held, and 
        used directly by the general public via widely available 
        hardware devices, without the necessary involvement of third-
        party custodial or payment processing intermediaries.
            (2) Privacy.--The Secretary shall require that any hardware 
        device authorized to hold or otherwise facilitate transactions 
        involving e-cash shall be secured locally via cryptographic 
        encryption and other appropriate technologies, and shall not 
        contain or be subject to any surveillance, personal 
        identification or transactional data-gathering, or censorship-
        enabling backdoor features.
            (3) Universality.--The Secretary shall prioritize wherever 
        possible technologies, practices, and programs that promote 
        universal access and usability, particularly for--
                    (A) individuals with disabilities, including visual 
                impairment;
                    (B) low-income individuals; and
                    (C) communities with limited access to the internet 
                or telecommunications networks.
            (4) Inclusion.--The Secretary shall take into consideration 
        the unique needs and circumstances of marginalized communities 
        and populations that have historically been excluded from or 
        otherwise prevented from taking full advantage of traditional 
        and current financial institutions and payment services.
            (5) Transparency.--The Secretary shall seek out and 
        prioritize wherever practically feasible the use of hardware 
        and software technologies issued under open-source licenses, 
        and shall further require that all publicly funded research and 
        technology be released under a suitable open-source license and 
        made available for study and review by the scientific community 
        and the general public, except to the extent that doing so 
        would undermine or impair the security and integrity of e-cash 
        devices or instruments.
    (d) Consumer Protections.--
            (1) Fees.--The Government may charge reasonable prices when 
        selling e-cash-compatible hardware (henceforth ``e-cash 
        devices'') directly to the public, provided such prices are 
        proportionate to, and not unduly in excess of, actual 
        production and administration costs, but may in no instance 
        impose fees or other charges for holding, receiving, sending, 
        or otherwise transacting with e-cash balances using such 
        devices.
            (2) Solicited issuance of e-cash hardware devices.--The 
        Government or an authorized e-cash distributor may issue an e-
        cash device to a member of the public only in response to an 
        oral or written request for such device.
            (3) Solicited issuance of e-cash balances.--The Government 
        or an authorized e-cash distributor may issue e-cash 
        instruments to a user only in response to an oral or written 
        request to receive funds in the form of e-cash, and any such 
        requested funds shall be capable of being--
                    (A) received in the form of an increase in the 
                available balance of an existing e-cash device or as a 
                balance on a newly issued e-cash device; and
                    (B) paid for, to the extent such instruments shall 
                be paid for, through delivery of physical currency or 
                demand deposits at an interoperable exchange terminal.
            (4) Disclosures by e-cash distributors.--
                    (A) In general.--Disclosures by the United States 
                Government and any third-party authorized to distribute 
                e-cash devices or balances regarding usage, fees, 
                interoperability, security, privacy, data collection, 
                error resolution, and any other terms considered 
                relevant by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 
                shall be clear and readily understandable, in writing, 
                and in a form the e-cash instrument bearer can 
                reasonably maintain.
                    (B) Form of disclosures.--Disclosures described 
                under subparagraph (A) may be provided to the consumer 
                in offline electronic form, subject to compliance with 
                the consumer-consent and other applicable provisions of 
                the Electronic Signatures in Global and National 
                Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.).
            (5) Liability of issuers for unauthorized transfers.--
        Neither the issuing entity nor any other Government agencies or 
        approved e-cash distributors shall be held liable for 
        unauthorized transfer of e-cash balances, so long as the 
        appropriate disclosures and protections described in this Act 
        are made.
            (6) Fees by merchants.--It shall be unlawful for the United 
        States Government, authorized e-cash distributors, or any other 
        person to impose a service fee or an interchange fee, or other 
        processing fee or surcharge, for the use of e-cash in payments 
        or purchases.
            (7) Bankruptcy.--E-cash instruments and balances shall be 
        considered exempt property equivalent to physical currency for 
        the purposes of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy proceedings.
            (8) Transactional reporting.--Under no circumstance, 
        regardless of the particular technology involved, shall any 
        transaction data generated by e-cash payments be collected, 
        monitored, or retained by the United States Government, an 
        authorized e-cash distributor, or any other counterparty except 
        via the exemptions provided by this Act.
            (9) Preemption of inconsistent state laws.--State consumer 
        laws are pre-empted unless the Director of the Bureau of 
        Consumer Financial Protection determines, upon the Director's 
        own motion or upon the request of a State government, but 
        ultimately in the Director's sole discretion, that a State's 
        consumer protection laws are not pre-empted.
    (e) Requirement To Accept E-Cash.--
            (1) Federal government.--The Federal Government shall--
                    (A) accept e-cash for any payment to the Federal 
                Government, including payments for taxes, fines, and 
                fees; and
                    (B) upon request, provide any Federal Government 
                benefit in the form of e-cash.
            (2) Products and services.--Any person selling products or 
        services that accepts physical currency as a form of payment 
        shall also accept e-cash as a form of payment to the extent it 
        is practically feasible and reasonable to do so.
    (f) Illicit Flows.--
            (1) Presumption of legitimate use.--Under no condition 
        shall the acquisition, possession, or use of e-cash devices, 
        instruments, and balances under the parameters established by 
        this Act be treated as prima facie or intrinsic evidence of 
        criminal activity or intent, nor be established as a predicate 
        offense or factor in crimes not specified in or under the 
        authority established by this Act.
            (2) Including under the bank secrecy act.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 5312(a)(3) of title 31, 
                United States Code, is amended--
                            (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
                        ``and'' at the end;
                            (ii) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 
                        subparagraph (E);
                            (iii) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 
                        the following:
                    ``(D) e-cash, as defined under section 3 of the 
                ECASH Act; and''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (E), as so 
                        redesignated, by striking ``subparagraph (A), 
                        (B), or (C)'' and inserting ``subparagraph (A), 
                        (B), (C), or (D)''.
                    (B) Amendments to dollar thresholds.--At any time, 
                the Director of ECIP may increase the value thresholds 
                applicable to e-cash for any reporting requirement 
                under subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United 
                States Code, but may at no time decrease such value 
                thresholds.
    (g) Systemic Liquidity.--The Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System shall take appropriate measures to ensure that the 
implementation and adoption of e-cash does not disrupt or substantially 
impact the general availability or cost of liquidity for depository 
institutions, credit unions, or community development financial 
institutions, or their capacity to extend credit and other financial 
services to underserved populations, as described under the Community 
Reinvestment Act of 1977, and any other applicable Federal and State 
laws, however such measures may in no way impair, restrict, or 
otherwise limit the ability of the public to access, hold, and use e-
cash.

SEC. 4. ELECTRONIC CURRENCY INNOVATION PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish the Electronic 
Currency Innovation Program to direct, oversee, coordinate, and 
harmonize the development, implementation, maintenance, and regulation 
of e-cash instruments, devices, technologies, platforms, and supporting 
and enabling infrastructure in accordance with the technical and policy 
criteria established by this Act.
    (b) Director.--
            (1) Appointment.--
                    (A) In general.--The head of the ECIP shall be the 
                Director, who shall be appointed by the President, by 
                and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
                    (B) Term.--The term of the Director is 5 years.
                    (C) Removal.--The President may remove the Director 
                from office. On removal, the President shall send a 
                message to the Senate giving the reasons for removal.
                    (D) Interim director.--When a Director has not yet 
                been confirmed or appointed, the Secretary may, subject 
                to the consent of the President, appoint an Interim 
                Director, who shall enjoy the full powers and 
                privileges of the Director as established under this 
                Act until such time as a permanent Director is 
                confirmed and appointed. In the event neither a 
                Director or Interim Director is appointed, all 
                responsibilities and duties assigned to the Director 
                under this Act shall be assumed by the Secretary.
            (2) Duties and powers.--The duties and powers of the 
        Director are as follows:
                    (A) Promote innovation in, and ensure the 
                successful implementation and widespread adoption of, 
                e-cash instruments, devices, technologies, platforms, 
                and supporting and enabling infrastructure in 
                accordance with this Act, by--
                            (i) directing, conducting, sponsoring, and 
                        publishing research;
                            (ii) generating, collecting, analyzing, and 
                        publishing data;
                            (iii) acquiring, developing, disseminating, 
                        and sharing open-access technologies and 
                        technical knowledge;
                            (iv) developing and administering e-cash 
                        pilot programs, both individually and in 
                        partnership with other actors and entities that 
                        the Secretary determines appropriate;
                            (v) promulgating, and enforcing rules, 
                        objectives, standards, and criteria pertaining 
                        to the development and implementation of e-cash 
                        instruments, devices, technologies, platforms, 
                        and supporting and enabling infrastructure, as 
                        well as the issuance, dissemination, 
                        circulation, storage, and use of e-cash, 
                        including its use in transactions;
                            (vi) coordinating with other actors, 
                        including other departments, branches, 
                        agencies, and instrumentalities of the United 
                        States Government, as well as State, local, and 
                        foreign governments and international 
                        regulatory bodies, in furtherance of the 
                        general goals of this Act; and
                            (vii) developing and disseminating public 
                        educational materials and conducting public 
                        educational campaigns to foster awareness and 
                        understanding of e-cash and its economic and 
                        social significance in the broader monetary 
                        system.
                    (B) Such other duties and powers as the Secretary 
                may delegate or prescribe.
    (c) Staff, Equipment, and Facilities.--The Director shall be 
authorized to hire staff, purchase equipment, and rent or acquire 
facilities as the Director determines to be appropriate to achieve the 
goals and objectives established under this Act, subject to the 
approval of the Secretary.
    (d) Pilot Programs.--
            (1) Establishment.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the 
                enactment of this Act, the Director shall initiate a 
                two-phase e-cash pilot program in anticipation of 
                general deployment of e-cash to the public not later 
                than forty-eight months after the date of enactment of 
                this Act.
                    (B) Phase 1.--Phase 1 of the pilot program shall 
                consist of not less than three distinct pilots (in this 
                section referred to as ``Proof-of-Concept Pilots''), 
                each of which shall launch no later than 180 days after 
                the date of enactment of this Act, and run for no 
                longer than 360 days thereafter.
                    (C) Phase 2.--Phase 2 of the pilot program shall 
                consist of at least one large-scale deployment to a 
                segment of the public (in this section referred to as 
                ``Field Test Pilots''), which shall launch no later 
                than 2 years after the enactment of this Act, and run 
                for no longer than 2 years thereafter.
                    (D) Extension of timelines for pilot programs.--The 
                timelines for the implementation of the two phases of 
                the e-cash pilot program described in this paragraph 
                may be extended upon a determination by the Director 
                that such an extension is necessary to ensure the 
                security and integrity of the technologies to be 
                piloted in the program.
            (2) Administration.--
                    (A) In general.--The pilot programs shall be 
                administered by the Director, in coordination with the 
                Digital Dollar Council, and subject to the ongoing 
                oversight and review of the Monetary Privacy Board.
                    (B) Proof-of-concept pilots.--Proof-of-Concept 
                Pilots may be conducted--
                            (i) in partnership with one or more 
                        universities, non-profit entities, insured 
                        financial institutions, non-bank payment 
                        providers aimed at promoting financial 
                        inclusion, technology-focused financial firms 
                        and companies, financial technology companies, 
                        or foreign central banks; and
                            (ii) through, or in partnership with, any 
                        existing Federal, State, or local government 
                        fund disbursement and payments program, 
                        including those that rely on the U.S. Debit 
                        Card and Digital Pay Program, the EagleCash 
                        Card program, or any other payments technology 
                        offered by or in partnership with the Bureau of 
                        the Fiscal Service of the Department of the 
                        Treasury.
                    (C) Field test pilots.--Field Test Pilots may be 
                conducted in partnership with any entity capable of 
                partnering for a Proof-of-Concept Pilot, as well as 
                other departments, branches, agencies, and 
                instrumentalities of the United States Government, or 
                State, local, and foreign governments and international 
                regulatory bodies.
            (3) Objectives.--The objectives of the pilot programs are 
        to test the viability and capacity of various forms of e-cash 
        technologies to--
                    (A) preserve the privacy, anonymity-respecting, and 
                minimal transactional data-generating properties of 
                physical currency instruments such as coins and notes 
                to the greatest extent technically and practically 
                possible;
                    (B) enforce total balance and transactional 
                activity limits on a per-device basis without rendering 
                such devices vulnerable to surveillance or censorship 
                by third parties including the United States 
                Government;
                    (C) deploy rapidly, securely, and efficiently on a 
                mass scale; and
                    (D) maintain ease of use and interoperability with 
                existing financial institution and payment provider 
                systems, as well as any other digital dollar products.
            (4) Parameters and constraints.--
                    (A) All technologies selected for Proof-of-Concept 
                Pilots and Field Test Pilots shall be--
                            (i) designed as bearer instruments;
                            (ii) capable of instantaneous, final, 
                        direct, peer-to-peer, offline transactions; and
                            (iii) capable of being distributed directly 
                        to, and owned, held, and used directly by, the 
                        general public.
                    (B) At least two technologies selected for Proof-
                of-Concept Pilots shall be based on secured hardware-
                based architectures for the purposes of creation, 
                distribution, holding, and payment that do not involve 
                any common or distributed ledger.
                    (C) At least one technology selected for Proof-of-
                Concept Pilots shall include a stored-value or pin card 
                option for storage and payment of e-cash.
                    (D) At least one technology selected for Proof-of-
                Concept Pilots shall include a cell phone or SIM card 
                option for storage and payment of e-cash.
                    (E) All technologies selected for Field Test Pilots 
                shall have or at a minimum be capable of incorporating 
                stored-value card functionality.
            (5) Special tender authority.--In order to facilitate and 
        promote the effectiveness of the pilot programs, the Secretary 
        may grant special recognition of prototypical e-cash 
        instruments issued under a pilot program as legal tender, and 
        direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 
        other departments, branches, agencies, and instrumentalities of 
        the United States Government, any other federally regulated 
        financial institution to accept such prototypical e-cash 
        instruments in settlement of outstanding obligations on an at-
        par basis.
            (6) Reporting.--Not later than 180 days after the date on 
        which each phase of the pilot programs terminates, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a report regarding that 
        phase of the pilot programs, which shall--
                    (A) include--
                            (i) a description of which elements of the 
                        pilot programs were successful and which were 
                        unsuccessful;
                            (ii) recommendations regarding legislative 
                        changes to the pilot programs and related 
                        authority under this Act and elsewhere; and
                            (iii) recommendations for additional pilots 
                        and revisions to the pilot program; and
                    (B) make the nonsensitive analytical data available 
                for public review and comment.

SEC. 5. DIGITAL DOLLAR COUNCIL.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish the Digital Dollar 
Council (in this section referred to as ``the Council'') to coordinate 
the Secretary's ECIP-related activities with the efforts of other 
bureaus of the Department of the Treasury and other departments, 
branches, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States 
Government, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System and the United States Postal Service.
    (b) Membership.--The Council shall be comprised of the Secretary, 
the Director of ECIP, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, the Postmaster General of the United States 
Postal Service, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy, the Chief Technology Officer of the United States, and the 
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and any 
other Federal employees or representatives of Federal agencies as the 
Secretary, in the Secretary's discretion, determines to be appropriate.
    (c) Leadership.--The head of the Council shall be the Secretary, 
however, the Secretary may, at the Secretary's discretion, delegate 
administrative and decision-making responsibility to the Director.
    (d) Authority.--The Council shall have the power to redeploy 
personnel and resources among the various participating agencies, as 
well as establish or amend any rules and regulations promulgated by any 
participating agencies to the extent the Council determines such 
actions to be necessary to achieve the goals and objectives established 
under this Act.
    (e) Jurisdiction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed as 
taking away any powers heretofore or otherwise vested by law in the 
Secretary, and wherever any power vested in the Council appears to 
conflict with the powers vested in the Secretary under this Act, such 
powers shall be exercised subject to the supervision and control of the 
Secretary.
    (f) Joint Report.--Beginning 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and each 180 days thereafter, the Council and the National 
Institute for Standards and Technology shall issue a joint report to 
the Congress detailing a plan to achieve full interoperability with 
existing public and private payments systems within 1 year.

SEC. 6. MONETARY PRIVACY BOARD.

    (a) In General.--There is established a Monetary Privacy Board (in 
this section referred to as ``the Board'').
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The Board shall be comprised of 5 members, 
        appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent 
        of the Senate.
            (2) Chair.--The President shall appoint one member of the 
        Board as the Chair of the Board. Except as provided under 
        subsections (c) and (e), the Chair shall--
                    (A) make all decisions of the Board with respect to 
                staffing, hiring, and budget allocation; and
                    (B) conduct the meetings of the Board.
            (3) Term.--The term of each member of the Board is 3 years.
            (4) Removal.--The President may remove a member of the 
        Board from office. On removal, the President shall send a 
        message to the Senate giving the reasons for removal.
            (5) Interim members.--When a vacancy on the Board remains 
        open for more than three months, the President may appoint an 
        interim member to fill that vacancy. Interim members shall 
        enjoy the full powers and privileges of a full member until 
        such time as a permanent member is appointed and confirmed.
    (c) Member Offices.--Each member of the Board shall be entitled to 
spend 5 percent of the budget of the Board on the personal office and 
staff of the member.
    (d) Duties and Powers.--
            (1) In general.--The Board shall review the actions and 
        decisions of the Secretary, the Director of ECIP, and ECIP 
        generally on an ongoing basis to evaluate the extent to which 
        their decisions are consistent with their statutory 
        responsibilities under this Act, and more broadly, a general 
        commitment to preserving the privacy interests of individuals 
        and actors that use e-cash and other forms of digital dollar 
        technologies issued or administered by the United States 
        Government.
            (2) Semi-annual report.--The Board shall issue a report to 
        Congress no less than twice per year--
                    (A) detailing its findings from its ongoing review 
                process;
                    (B) providing an assessment of the general state of 
                monetary privacy in the United States; and
                    (C) offering recommendations for how to better 
                protect civil liberties and individual privacy 
                interests through legislative and regulatory reform.
            (3) Interim reports.--The Board, or one or more members 
        thereof, may publish interim reports or any other communication 
        at any time at their discretion, provided such reports and 
        communications are clearly distinguished from the reports 
        required under paragraph (2), and the particular authors and 
        co-signatories are clearly indicated.
    (e) Funding Authority.--The Board shall submit an annual budget 
request to the Secretary, and the Secretary shall transfer the 
requested amount to the Board, using the authorities provided under 
section 7(b), unless the Secretary determines that the amount is 
unreasonable in light of the Board's duties and powers under this Act.

SEC. 7. ENABLING AUTHORITY.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
    (b) Financing.--
            (1) Fund account.--The Federal Reserve Bank of New York 
        shall establish a new account on behalf of the Secretary, 
        called the ``Treasury Electronic Currency Innovation Fund 
        Account'' (in this section referred to as the ``Fund 
        Account'').
            (2) Use of fund account.--The Secretary shall effectuate 
        any and all spending under this Act by drawing an overdraft on 
        the Fund Account, which shall be accommodated and facilitated 
        automatically, on an indefinite basis, and without the 
        imposition of any interest charge or other form of maintenance 
        or overdraft fees by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and 
        the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
            (3) Overdraft treatment.--The Fund Account shall be exempt 
        from any overdraft prohibitions that currently apply to other 
        accounts administered on behalf of the Department of the 
        Treasury Department by the Federal Reserve System or a Federal 
        reserve bank, and any overdraft liability incurred by the 
        Department of the Treasury shall not be included in 
        calculations of public debt subject to limit under section 3101 
        of title 31, United States Code.
            (4) Treatment of losses.--The Federal Reserve Bank of New 
        York shall record any losses incurred as a result of spending 
        undertaken on behalf of the Secretary from the Fund Account as 
        a deferred asset (as described in section 11.96 of the 
        Financial Accounting Manual for Federal Reserve Banks, as in 
        effect on the date of the enactment of this Act) and shall be 
        excluded from calculations of the net operating position or 
        consolidated balance sheet of the Federal Reserve Bank of New 
        York or the Federal Reserve System, so as to not reduce or 
        impact the calculation of total income or revenue generated by 
        the Federal Reserve System, or otherwise reduce the total 
        amount of net operating profits to be made available for 
        remittance to the Treasury on an ongoing basis.
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