[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 38 (Thursday, March 8, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

           By Mr. BRADY of Texas:
        H.R. 4180.
        Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant 
     to the following:
       The United States Constitution provides the legal 
     foundation for the Federal Reserve in Article I, Section 8, 
     Clause 5, which give Congress the power ``to coin money [and] 
     regulate the value thereof,'' and Clause 18, which gives 
     Congress the power to make laws ``necessary and proper for 
     carrying [out] the foregoing powers.''
       For a more thorough legal brief on power of the federal 
     government to charter a central bank, see Alexander Hamilton, 
     ``Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank'' in 
     Alexander Hamilton: Writings (New York: Literary Classics, 
     2001), pp. 613 646.