[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17124-17125]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           TEXT OF AMENDMENTS

  SA 3335. Mr. SANDERS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
to amendment SA 3312 submitted by Mr. Paul and intended to be proposed 
to the bill S. 3637, to temporarily extend the transaction account 
guarantee program, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on 
the table; as follows:

       On page 3, after line 3, add the following:

     SEC. __. ELIMINATING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN THE FEDERAL 
                   RESERVE SYSTEM.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) In October 2011, the Government Accountability Office 
     found the following:
       (A) Allowing members of the banking industry to both elect 
     and serve on the boards of directors of Federal reserve banks 
     poses

[[Page 17125]]

     reputational risks to the Federal Reserve System.
       (B) Eighteen former and current members of the boards of 
     directors of Federal reserve banks were affiliated with banks 
     and companies that received emergency loans from the Federal 
     Reserve System during the financial crisis.
       (C) Many of the members of the boards of directors of 
     Federal reserve banks own stock or work directly for banks 
     that are supervised and regulated by the Federal Reserve 
     System. These board members oversee the operations of the 
     Federal reserve banks, including salary and personnel 
     decisions.
       (D) Under current regulations, members of a board of 
     directors of a Federal reserve bank who are employed by the 
     banking industry or own stock in financial institutions can 
     participate in decisions involving how much interest to 
     charge to financial institutions receiving loans from the 
     Federal Reserve System, and the approval or disapproval of 
     Federal Reserve credit to healthy banks and banks in 
     ``hazardous'' condition.
       (E) Twenty-one members of the boards of directors of 
     Federal reserve banks were involved in making personnel 
     decisions in the division of supervision and regulation under 
     the Federal Reserve System.
       (F) The Federal Reserve System does not publicly disclose 
     when it grants a waiver to its conflict of interest 
     regulations.
       (2) Allowing currently employed banking industry executives 
     to serve as directors on the boards of directors of Federal 
     reserve banks is a clear conflict of interest that must be 
     eliminated.
       (3) No one who works for or invests in a firm receiving 
     direct financial assistance from the Federal Reserve System 
     should be allowed to sit on any board of directors of a 
     Federal reserve bank or be employed by the Federal Reserve 
     System.
       (b) Ending Conflicts of Interest.--
       (1) Class a members.--The tenth undesignated paragraph of 
     section 4 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 302) 
     (relating to Class A) is amended by striking ``chosen by and 
     be representative of the stockholding banks'' and inserting 
     ``designated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
     System, from among persons who are not employed in any 
     capacity by a stockholding bank''.
       (2) Class b.--The eleventh undesignated paragraph of 
     section 4 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 302) 
     (relating to Class B) is amended by striking ``be elected'' 
     and inserting ``be designated by the Board of Governors of 
     the Federal Reserve System''.
       (3) Limitations on boards of directors.--The fourteenth and 
     fifteenth undesignated paragraphs of section 4 of the Federal 
     Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 303) (relating to Class B and Class C, 
     respectively) are amended to read as follows:
       ``No employee of a bank holding company or other entity 
     regulated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
     System may serve on the board of directors of any Federal 
     reserve bank.
       ``No employee of the Federal Reserve System or board member 
     of a Federal reserve bank may own any stock or invest in any 
     company that is regulated by the Board of Governors of the 
     Federal Reserve System, without exception.''.
       (c) Reports to Congress.--The Comptroller General of the 
     United States shall report annually to Congress, beginning 1 
     year after the date of enactment of this Act, to ensure that 
     the provisions in this section and the amendments made by 
     this section are carried out.
                                 ______
                                 
  SA 3336. Mrs. MURRAY proposed an amendment to the bill S. 3313, to 
amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the reproductive 
assistance provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to severely 
wounded, ill, or injured veterans and their spouses, and for other 
purposes; as follows:

       At the end, add the following:

     SEC. 8. FUNDING.

       Amounts for a fiscal year to carry out this Act, section 
     7330B of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 
     2(a), section 1787 of such title, as added by section 4(a), 
     and the amendments made by this Act shall be derived from 
     amounts made available for an overseas contingency operation 
     in that fiscal year, if amounts were made available for an 
     overseas contingency operation in that fiscal year.
                                 ______
                                 
  SA 3337. Mr. REID (for Mr. Burr) proposed an amendment to the bill S. 
2045, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require judges of the 
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to reside within 
fifty miles of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes; as 
follows:

       On page 2, line 19, strike ``the District of Columbia'' and 
     insert ``the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area''.

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