–House Approves Bill On Sweeping 327 to 98 Vote
–Senate Is Not Expected To Consider Paul’s Fed Audit Bill This Year
By John Shaw
WASHINGTON (MNI) – In a largely symbolic but also stunning rebuke
of the Federal Reserve Board, the House voted Wednesday to approve a
bill by Republican congressman Ron Paul that calls on the Government
Accountability Office to conduct a full audit of the Federal Reserve
Board.
The bill was approved a 327 to 98 vote.
The measure was considered under the House’s suspension calendar
and so it required support from two-thirds of the House members who
voted. The bill required 288 votes if all 435 members of the House were
to vote, a threshold it easily cleared.
The bill soared through the lower chamber with almost all
Republicans supporting the bill and about half of the Democrats.
Senate Democratic leaders have said they have no plans to consider
Paul’s bill this year.
The bill would repeal current restrictions on the GAO’s authority
to perform audits of the Fed’s monetary policy activities.
In defending his bill, Paul accused the Fed of operating in a
secret way that is not appropriate for a democracy.
“I think when people talk about independence and having this
privacy of the central bank means they want secrecy and secrecy is not
good,” Paul said Tuesday.
The bill reflects deep anger at the Fed in the aftermath of the
2008 financial crisis.
It also marks the emergence of the Republican party as an
increasingly vehement, even fierce, critic of the Fed. The legislation
has 270 co-sponsors: 225 Republicans and 45 Democrats.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week in
congressional testimony that he believes strongly in enhanced
transparency of the Fed and cited the policy changes he has implemented
in this regard.
But he said that he believed that there should be some limits to
GAO audits.
** MNI Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **
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