[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12182]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             IT'S TIME TO HOLD FEDERAL RESERVE ACCOUNTABLE

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. On a day Congress will decide whether to audit the Fed, 
The Washington Post reports that the New York Fed ``did not communicate 
in key meetings with top regulators that British bank Barclays had 
admitted to Fed staffers that it was rigging LIBOR,'' the index which 
sets interest rates worldwide.
  The Fed wants to be spared a full audit. They want monetary 
deliberations private. Then they use that privacy shield to keep 
irregularities from regulators and from congressional view, exposing 
investors and consumers to massive losses.
  Of course the Fed wants to continue a system where there is no 
transparency, no accountability, where they can cover up manipulations 
of markets and interest rates. But should we endorse this system? When 
things fall apart, who do the banks come to clean up the mess? 
Congress.
  The Fed creates trillions of dollars out of nothing and gives it to 
banks; Congress is in the dark. The Fed sets the stage for the subprime 
meltdown; Congress is in the dark. The Fed takes a dive on LIBOR; 
Congress is in the dark. The Fed doesn't tell regulators what's going 
on; Congress is in the dark.
  It's time to bring the Fed into the sunshine of accountability. Vote 
for the audit.

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