[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1540 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1540

               To reform the Exchange Stabilization Fund.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 22, 1999

  Mr. Saxton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
               To reform the Exchange Stabilization Fund.

    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 ``ESF Transparency and Accountability 
Act''.

SEC. 2. REFORMS TO THE EXCHANGE STABILIZATION FUND.

    (a) Transparency.--Section 5302(c) of title 31, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``all agreements made or renewed'' 
                and inserting ``the terms and conditions of all 
                outstanding loans and guarantees and other actions 
                taken, directly or indirectly, with respect to the 
                assets or liabilities of the fund, a detailed 
                description of all agreements made or renewed, directly 
                or indirectly, during the month with respect to such 
                assets or liabilities,''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, a statement that contains a 
                detailed accounting of any change in the balance in the 
                fund or in any component of the fund since the giving 
                of the most recent prior statement under this 
                subsection, and an explanation of any such change, and 
                a description of any material that will be redacted in 
                the public report of such statements under paragraph 
                (2)'' before the period; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, and shall take such 
        steps as may be necessary to make the contents of such report 
        (with redactions of any material the disclosure of which would 
        disrupt markets or damage national security interests of the 
        United States) readily available to the public'' before the 
        period.
    (b) Presidential Certification Required for Use of $1 Billion or 
More; Waiver Authority.--Section 5302 of such title is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(e)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the 
Secretary of the Treasury may not make any expenditure or loan, incur 
any other obligation, or make any guarantee through the stabilization 
fund involving $1,000,000,000 or more, unless the Congress has, by 
joint resolution, approved the expenditure, loan, obligation, or 
guarantee.
    ``(2)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an expenditure, loan, 
obligation, or guarantee if there is in effect a certification under 
subparagraph (B) with respect to the expenditure, loan, obligation, or 
guarantee.
    ``(B) A certification under this subparagraph with respect to an 
expenditure, a loan, an obligation, or a guarantee is a written 
certification by the President to the Committee on Banking and 
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate that the making of 
the expenditure or loan, the incurring of the obligation, or the making 
of the guarantee is necessary to address a financial crisis that poses 
a serious threat to the international financial system.
    ``(C) A certification under subparagraph (B) shall take effect 30 
days after it is made, unless there is earlier enacted a joint 
resolution which provides that the certification shall have no force or 
effect.''.
    (c) Elimination of Authority To Monetize Special Drawing Rights.--
Section 4 of the Special Drawing Rights Act (22 U.S.C. 286p) is amended 
by striking ``(a)'' and all that follows through ``(b)''.
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