[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 835 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 835

 To stimulate the economy and provide for a sound United States dollar 
      by defining a value for the dollar, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 2009

Mr. Poe of Texas (for himself and Mr. Franks of Arizona) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
 Services, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means and the 
 Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To stimulate the economy and provide for a sound United States dollar 
      by defining a value for the dollar, 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 ``Dollar Bill Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
        States provides that the Congress shall have Power to coin 
        money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix 
        the standard of weights and measures.
            (2) Congress effectively delegated the power to regulate 
        the value of United States money and foreign money to the 
        Federal Reserve System via the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.
            (3) The value of the United States dollar has fallen 
        dramatically relative to gold, crude oil, other real 
        commodities and major foreign currencies.
            (4) The value of the United States dollar has become 
        unstable and uncertain.
            (5) The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
        has not produced a stable and reliable value for the United 
        States dollar.
            (6) The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
        cannot reasonably be expected to produce a stable and reliable 
        value for the United States dollar.
            (7) An unstable dollar slows the growth of the economy by 
        increasing the cost of capital, increasing the risks attendant 
        to long-term capital investment, and increasing the effective 
        rate of the corporate income tax.
            (8) An unstable dollar reduces the real earnings of 
        American workers.
            (9) An unstable dollar reduces the real value of financial 
        assets held by the public.
            (10) An unstable dollar reduces the real value of pension 
        plans and retirement accounts upon which Americans depend for 
        their security.
            (11) An unstable dollar damages the economic and political 
        standing of the United States in the world community.
            (12) An unstable dollar gives rise to anxiety, uncertainty, 
        and risk among the financial markets and the public.

SEC. 3. DIRECTIVES TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE 
              SYSTEM.

    (a) In General.--Before the end of the 90-day period beginning on 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System shall make the value of the U.S. dollar equal to 
the market value of 0.002 of a troy ounce of gold and maintain the 
value of the United States dollar at this level.
    (b) Target.--In regulating the value of the United States dollar, 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall--
            (1) conduct open market operations against an explicit 
        target for the price of gold on the exchange operated by the 
        Commodities Exchange, Inc. (COMEX) of the New York Mercantile 
        Exchange, Inc.; and
            (2) shall not conduct open market operations indirectly, as 
        in the current practice of targeting the Federal Funds rate.
    (c) Promotion of Stable and Effective Financial Markets.--The Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall use the banking and 
bank regulatory powers of the Board to maintain and promote stable and 
effective financial markets during and after the transition to a 
defined value for the United States dollar.

SEC. 4. TAX DEPRECIATION.

    Effective January 1, 2009, all entities that depreciate capital 
assets for tax purposes shall be entitled to 100 percent expensing of 
all capital investment for tax purposes in the year that the investment 
is made.

SEC. 5. DIRECTIVE TO THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE.

    In addition to the scoring that the Congressional Budget Office 
will do of the tax changes provided in this Act in the normal course of 
events, the Congressional Budget Office shall also calculate the impact 
on Federal revenues on a present value basis. This calculation shall be 
done in the manner that such calculations are done by the Social 
Security Trustees, and shall take into account the following:
            (1) That first year expensing of capital investment 
        accelerates, but does not change the total amount of the 
        depreciation that taxpayers take based upon their investments.
            (2) Capital investments by businesses have historically 
        earned much higher returns than the interest rate on government 
        bonds.

SEC. 6. CONFLICT OF LAWS PROVISION.

    In the event that any provisions of this Act are found to be in 
conflict with those of the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 
1978, the provisions of this Act shall supersede the provisions of such 
Act to the extent of the conflict.
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