[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 57 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 57

To preserve the constitutional role of the House of Representatives to 
    provide for the expenditure of public money and ensure that the 
executive branch of the United States Government remains accountable to 
   the House of Representatives for each expenditure of public money.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 1995

  Mr. Taylor of Mississippi (for himself, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Danner, Mr. 
DeFazio, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Klink, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Visclosky, Mr. Taylor 
    of North Carolina, Mr. Duncan, and Mrs. Thurman) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Banking 
                         and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
To preserve the constitutional role of the House of Representatives to 
    provide for the expenditure of public money and ensure that the 
executive branch of the United States Government remains accountable to 
   the House of Representatives for each expenditure of public money.

Whereas rule IX of the Rules of the House of Representatives provides that 
        questions of privilege shall arise whenever the rights of the House 
        collectively are affected;
Whereas, under the precedents, customs, and traditions of the House pursuant to 
        rule IX, a question of privilege has arisen in cases involving the 
        constitutional prerogatives of the House;
Whereas section 8 of Article I of the Constitution vests in Congress the power 
        to ``coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coins'';
Whereas section 9 of Article I of the Constitution provides that ``no money 
        shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations 
        made by law'';
Whereas the President has recently sought the enactment of legislation to 
        authorize the President to undertake efforts to support economic 
        stability in Mexico and strengthen the Mexican peso;
Whereas the President announced on January 31, 1995, that actions are being 
        taken to achieve the same result without the enactment of legislation by 
        the Congress;
Whereas the obligation or expenditure of funds by the President without 
        consideration by the House of Representatives of legislation to make 
        appropriated funds available for obligation or expenditure in the manner 
        proposed by the President raises grave questions concerning the 
        prerogatives of the House and the integrity of the proceedings of the 
        House;
Whereas the exchange stabilization fund was created by statute to stabilize the 
        exchange value of the dollar and is also required by statute to be used 
        in accordance with the obligations of the United States under the 
        Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund; and
Whereas the commitment of $20,000,000,000 of the resources of the exchange 
        stabilization fund to Mexico by the President without congressional 
        approval may jeopardize the ability of the fund to fulfill its statutory 
        purposes: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
prepare and transmit, within 7 days after the adoption of this 
resolution, a report to the House of Representatives containing the 
following:
            (1) The opinion of the Comptroller General on whether any 
        of the proposed actions of the President, as announced on 
        January 31, 1995, to strengthen the Mexican peso and support 
        economic stability in Mexico requires congressional 
        authorization or appropriation.
            (2) A detailed evaluation of the terms and conditions of 
        the commitments and agreements entered into by the President, 
        or any officer or employee of the United States acting on 
        behalf of the President, in connection with providing such 
        support, including the terms which provide for collateral or 
        other methods of assuring repayment of any outlays by the 
        United States.
            (3) An analysis of the resources which the International 
        Monetary Fund has agreed to make available to strengthen the 
        Mexican peso and support economic stability in Mexico, 
        including--
                    (A) an identification of the percentage of such 
                resources which are attributable to capital 
                contributions by the United States to such Fund; and
                    (B) an analysis of the extent to which the Fund's 
                participation in such efforts will likely require 
                additional contributions by member states, including 
                the United States, to the Fund in the future.
            (4) An evaluation of the role played by the Bank for 
        International Settlements in international efforts to 
        strengthen the Mexican peso and support economic stability in 
        Mexico and the extent of the financial exposure of the United 
        States, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
        System, with respect to the Bank's activities.
            (5) A detailed analysis of the relationships between the 
        Bank for International Settlements and the Board of Governors 
        of the Federal Reserve System and between the Bank and the 
        Secretary of the Treasury, and the extent to which such 
        relationships involve a financial commitment to the Bank or 
        other members of the Bank, on the part of the United States, of 
        public money or any other financial resources under the control 
        of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
            (6) An accounting of fund flows, during the 24 months 
        preceding the date of the adoption of this resolution, through 
        the exchange stabilization fund established under section 5302 
        of title 31, United States Code, the manner in which amounts in 
        the fund have been used domestically and internationally, and 
        the extent to which the use of such amounts to strengthen the 
        Mexican peso and support economic stability in Mexico 
        represents a departure from the manner in which amounts in the 
        fund have previously been used, including conventional uses 
        such as short-term currency swaps to defend the dollar as 
        compared to intermediate- and long-term loans and loan 
        guarantees to foreign countries.
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