[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1492 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1492

  To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to 
focus on price stability in establishing monetary policy to ensure the 
stable, long-term purchasing power of the currency, to repeal the Full 
  Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 4, 1999

   Mr. Mack (for himself, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Allard, Mr. Bennett, Mr. 
    Brownback, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Helms, and Mr. Shelby) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to 
focus on price stability in establishing monetary policy to ensure the 
stable, long-term purchasing power of the currency, to repeal the Full 
  Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Economic Growth and Price Stability 
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) during periods of inflation, the United States has 
        experienced a deterioration in its potential economic growth;
            (2) a decline in inflation has been a crucial factor in 
        encouraging recent robust economic growth;
            (3) stable prices facilitate higher sustainable levels of 
        economic growth, investment, and job creation;
            (4) the multiple policy goals of the Full Employment and 
        Balanced Growth Act of 1978 cause confusion and ambiguity about 
        the appropriate role and aims of monetary policy, which can add 
        to volatility in economic activity and financial markets, 
        harming economic growth and costing workers jobs;
            (5) recognizing the dangers of inflation and the 
        appropriate role of monetary policy, political leaders in 
        countries throughout the world have directed the central banks 
        of those countries to institute reforms that focus monetary 
        policy on the single objective of price stability, rather than 
        on multiple policy goals;
            (6) there is a need for the Congress to clarify the proper 
        role of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 
        economic policymaking, in order to achieve the best environment 
        for long-term economic growth and job creation; and
            (7) because price stability is a key condition for 
        maintaining the highest possible levels of productivity, real 
        incomes, living standards, employment, and global 
        competitiveness, price stability should be the primary long-
        term goal of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
        System.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States 
that--
            (1) the principal economic responsibilities of the 
        Government are to establish and ensure an environment that is 
        conducive to both long-term economic growth and increases in 
        living standards, by establishing and maintaining free markets, 
        low taxes, respect for private property, and the stable, long-
        term purchasing power of the United States currency; and
            (2) the primary long-term goal of the Board of Governors of 
        the Federal Reserve System (hereafter in this Act referred to 
        as the ``Board'') should be to promote price stability.

SEC. 3. MONETARY POLICY.

    (a) Amendment to the Federal Reserve Act.--Section 2A of the 
Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 225a) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 2A. MONETARY POLICY.

    ``(a) Price Stability.--The Board and the Federal Open Market 
Committee (hereafter in this section referred to as the `Committee') 
shall--
            ``(1) establish an explicit numerical definition of the 
        term `price stability'; and
            ``(2) maintain a monetary policy that effectively promotes 
        long-term price stability.
    ``(b) Congressional Consultation.--Not later than February 20 and 
July 20 of each year, the Board shall consult with the Congress at 
semiannual hearings before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services of the House of Representatives, about the objectives and 
plans of the Board and the Committee with respect to achieving and 
maintaining price stability.
    ``(c) Congressional Oversight.--The Board shall, concurrent with 
each semiannual hearing required by subsection (b), submit a written 
report to the Congress containing--
            ``(1) numerical measures to help assess the extent to which 
        the Board and the Committee are achieving and maintaining price 
        stability in accordance with subsection (a);
            ``(2) a description of the intermediate variables used by 
        the Board to gauge the prospects for achieving the objective of 
        price stability; and
            ``(3) the definition, or any modifications thereto, of 
        `price stability' established in accordance with subsection 
        (a)(1).''.
    (b) Compliance Estimate.--
            (1) In general.--Concurrent with the first semiannual 
        hearing required by section 2A(b) of the Federal Reserve Act 
        (as amended by subsection (a) of this section) following the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall submit to the 
        Congress a written estimate of the length of time it will take 
        for the Board and the Committee to fully achieve price 
        stability. The Board and the Committee shall take into account 
        any potential short-term effects on employment and output in 
        complying with the goal of price stability.
            (2) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
                    (A) the term ``Board'' means the Board of Governors 
                of the Federal Reserve System; and
                    (B) the term ``Committee'' means the Federal Open 
                Market Committee.

SEC. 4. REPEAL OF OBSOLETE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978.--The Full 
Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) is 
repealed.
    (b) Employment Act of 1946.--The Employment Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 
1021 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 3 (15 U.S.C. 1022)--
                    (A) in the section heading, by striking ``and 
                short-term economic goals and policies'';
                    (B) by striking ``(a)''; and
                    (C) by striking ``in accord with section 11(c) of 
                this Act'' and all that follows through the end of the 
                section and inserting ``in accordance with section 
                5(c).'';
            (2) in section 9(b) (15 U.S.C. 1022f(b)), by striking ``, 
        the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978,'';
            (3) in section 10 (15 U.S.C. 1023)--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``in the light 
                of the policy declared in section 2'';
                    (B) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``section 9'' 
                and inserting ``section 3''; and
                    (C) in the matter immediately following paragraph 
                (2) of subsection (e), by striking ``and the Full 
                Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978'';
            (4) by striking section 2;
            (5) by striking sections 4 through 8; and
            (6) by redesignating sections 3, 9, 10, and 11 as sections 
        2 through 5, respectively.
    (c) Congressional Budget Act of 1974.--Title III of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 301--
                    (A) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (1) 
                and redesignating paragraphs (2) through (9) as 
                paragraphs (1) through (8), respectively;
                    (B) in subsection (d), in the second sentence, by 
                striking ``the fiscal policy'' and all that follows 
                through the end of the sentence and inserting ``fiscal 
                policy.'';
                    (C) in subsection (e)(1), in the second sentence, 
                by striking ``as to short-term and medium-term goals''; 
                and
                    (D) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 
                following:
    ``(f) [Reserved.]''; and
            (2) in section 305--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting before the 
                period at the end ``, as described in section 2 of the 
                Economic Growth and Price Stability Act of 1999'';
                    (B) in subsection (a)(4)--
                            (i) by striking ``House sets forth the 
                        economic goals'' and all that follows through 
                        ``designed to achieve,'' and inserting ``House 
                        of Representatives sets forth the economic 
                        goals and policies, as described in section 2 
                        of the Economic Growth and Price Stability Act 
                        of 1999,''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``such goals,'' and all 
                        that follows through the end of the paragraph 
                        and inserting ``such goals and policies.'';
                    (C) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting before the 
                period at the end ``, as described in section 2 of the 
                Economic Growth and Price Stability Act of 1999''; and
                    (D) in subsection (b)(4)--
                            (i) by striking ``goals (as'' and all that 
                        follows through ``designed to achieve,'' and 
                        inserting ``goals and policies, as described in 
                        section 2 of the Economic Growth and Price 
                        Stability Act of 1999,''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``such goals,'' and all 
                        that follows through the end of the paragraph 
                        and inserting ``such goals and policies.''.
                                 <all>