[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2424 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2424

  To amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize reviews by the 
    Comptroller General of the United States of any credit facility 
established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or 
 any Federal reserve bank during the current financial crisis, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2009

Mr. Kucinich (for himself, Mr. Towns, Mr. Issa, and Mr. Jordan of Ohio) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                    Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize reviews by the 
    Comptroller General of the United States of any credit facility 
established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or 
 any Federal reserve bank during the current financial crisis, 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 ``Federal Reserve Credit Facility 
Review Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) In August 2007, liquidity abruptly dried up in credit 
        and securities markets.
            (2) This lack of access to affordable credit was initially 
        limited to financial firms with interests in mortgage-backed 
        securities that contained subprime and predatory mortgages.
            (3) The lack of access to credit quickly spread throughout 
        the financial services industry, and eventually worldwide.
            (4) At the inception of the financial crisis, the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System responded by exercising 
        its authorities in the traditional manner to effect the Federal 
        funds rate target, which culminated in a December 16, 2008, 
        decision to establish a Federal funds rate target range of 0 
        percent to 0.25 percent.
            (5) The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 
        as it employed its traditional tools to provide liquidity and 
        stability to the financial markets, came to acknowledge the 
        severity of the current crisis by exercising its authority to 
        act in response to ``unusual and exigent circumstances''.
            (6) The Federal Reserve has exercised its authority to 
        address ``unusual and exigent circumstances'' no less than 11 
        times since the beginning of the financial crisis.
            (7) Before this financial crisis, the Board of Governors of 
        the Federal Reserve System last exercised its authority to 
        address ``unusual and exigent circumstances'' in 1934.
            (8) In connection with the Board of Governors of the 
        Federal Reserve System's efforts to address unusual and exigent 
        circumstances, the Board extended assistance to nonmember 
        institutions, something it had not done since 1959.
            (9) In connection with the Board of Governors of the 
        Federal Reserve System's efforts to address unusual and exigent 
        circumstances, the Board has purchased debt obligations from 
        government-sponsored enterprises, something it had not done 
        since 1981.
            (10) In the course of the crisis, the Federal Reserve 
        established joint programs with the Department of the Treasury 
        to aid financial markets, such as the guarantee of Citigroup's 
        and Bank of America's assets, the Term Asset-Backed Securities 
        Lending Facility, and the Public-Private Partnership Investment 
        Program.
            (11) On February 10, 2009, Chairman Ben Bernanke affirmed 
        his commitment to transparency when he testified to the 
        Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives 
        that ``the Federal Reserve is committed to keeping the Congress 
        and the public informed about its lending programs and balance 
        sheet''.

SEC. 3. REVIEWS OF SPECIAL FEDERAL RESERVE CREDIT FACILITIES.

    Section 714 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Reviews of Credit Facilities of the Federal Reserve System.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (3) and 
        notwithstanding any limitation in subsection (b) on the 
        auditing and overseeing of certain functions of the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal reserve 
        bank, the Comptroller General may conduct reviews, including 
        onsite examinations when the Comptroller General determines 
        such actions are appropriate, of credit facilities established 
        by the Board or any Federal reserve bank, and of the 
        establishment of such credit facilities by the Board or any 
        Federal reserve bank--
                    ``(A) in carrying out any action or function 
                approved by the Board under the 3rd undesignated 
                paragraph of section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 
                U.S.C. 343) as the lender of last resort; or
                    ``(B) in providing temporary assistance to private 
                institutions as the lender of last resort.
            ``(2) Description.--As of the date of the enactment of the 
        Federal Reserve Credit Facility Review Act of 2009, the credit 
        facilities to which this subsection applies include the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Money Market Investor Funding Facility.
                    ``(B) Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market 
                Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility.
                    ``(C) Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility.
                    ``(D) Term Auction Facility.
                    ``(E) The Primary Dealer Credit Facility.
                    ``(F) The Commercial Paper Funding Facility.
                    ``(G) The Term Securities Lending Facility, 
                including the Term Securities Lending Facility Options 
                Program
                    ``(H) Maiden Lane, LLC.
                    ``(I) Maiden Lane II, LLC.
                    ``(J) Maiden Lane III, LLC.
                    ``(K) The Revolving Credit Facility.
                    ``(L) Reciprocal currency arrangements with foreign 
                central banks.
                    ``(M) Mortgage Backed Securities Purchase Program, 
                as well as the purchase of debt obligations from a 
                Government Sponsored Enterprise.
                    ``(N) Any special purpose vehicle through which any 
                such credit facility conducts any activity or lending.
            ``(3) Termination of authority.--Paragraph (1) shall cease 
        to apply after the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on 
        the date of the enactment of this subsection.
            ``(4) Report.--
                    ``(A) Required.--A report on each review conducted 
                under paragraph (1) shall be submitted by the 
                Comptroller General to the Congress before the end of 
                the 90-day period beginning on the date on which such 
                review is completed.
                    ``(B) Contents.--The report under subparagraph (A) 
                shall include a detailed description of the findings 
                and conclusion of the Comptroller General with respect 
                to the review that is the subject of the report, 
                together with such recommendations for legislative or 
                administrative action as the Comptroller General may 
                determine to be appropriate.''.

SEC. 4. ACCESS TO RECORDS.

    (a) Access to Records.--Section 714(d)(1) of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ``or any credit 
        facility established by an agency'' after ``an agency''; and
            (2) by inserting after the first sentence the following: 
        ``The Comptroller General shall have access to the officers, 
        employees, contractors, and other agents and representatives of 
        any agency or any credit facility established by an agency (as 
        specified in subsection (e)) at any reasonable time as the 
        Comptroller General may request. The Comptroller General may 
        make and retain copies of such records as the Comptroller 
        General determines appropriate.''.
    (b) Unauthorized Access.--Section 714(d)(2) of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``, copies of any records,'' after 
        ``records''; and
            (2) by inserting ``or any credit facility established by an 
        agency (as specified in subsection (e))'' after ``agency''.
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