Congressman Ron Paul informed the Campaign for Liberty that the House Financial Services Committee will hold hearings on Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve (H.R. 1207). The hearings are currently tentatively set for Friday, September 25th at 9:00 AM.
H.R. 1207: the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 would require the Government Account Office to audit the Federal Reserve’s funding facilities, including the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, Term Securities Lending Facility, and Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility. The GAO would then provide a full report of its findings to Congress. Paul believes that the legislation will shine light on the Federal Reserve’s secrecy and demonstrate to the country that the Federal Reserve doesn’t have the country’s best interest in mind.
Currently H.R. 1207 has 284 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and a similar piece of legislation, S.604: the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act has 24 co-sponsors in the senate. A recent opinion poll indicated that 75% of the American People support the idea of auditing the Federal Reserve.
John Tate, president of the Campaign for Liberty, stated in a press release, “The Federal Reserve wields tremendous power and is at the center of our current economic storm of deficits, debt and bailouts. Congressman Barney Frank should be commended for his willingness to hold hearings on Fed transparency.”
Now that the legislation is gaining steam, some Libertarian activists are worried that the legislation will be attached to a larger financial regulatory reform bill that will provide increased power to the Federal Reserve or other agencies. Tate stated that attaching the bill to other legislation “would be a betrayal to the intent and spirit of H.R. 1207, and would be vigorously opposed by Campaign for Liberty.”
