[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17226]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-363. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the State of Michigan urging the United 
     States Congress to direct the Comptroller General to complete 
     a full audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
     System and the federal reserve banks; to the Committee on 
     Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

                        House Resolution No. 395

       Whereas, Created more than a hundred years ago, the Federal 
     Reserve is an independent federal agency. As leaders of the 
     central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve's 
     board of governors have enacted monetary policy that 
     influences our nation's money and credit conditions, 
     supervised and regulated banks and other financial 
     institutions, and provided financial services to the U.S. and 
     foreign governments. Through these powers, and with the help 
     of the federal reserve banks, this agency has considerable 
     influence on the well-being of our nation's economy, the 
     economy of the world, and the day-to-day lives of people 
     everywhere; and
       Whereas, American citizens have entrusted the Congress of 
     the United States with overseeing all federal agencies, and 
     Congress must hold the Federal Reserve accountable. However, 
     under the current law, the Comptroller General may audit the 
     Federal Reserve only if written consent has been given, and 
     even then, the purview of audits of the board of governors 
     and federal reserve banks is limited. Under the direction of 
     the Comptroller General, any General Accountability Office 
     audit is prohibited by law from auditing the board or federal 
     reserve banks' transaction history with foreign nations or 
     information related to monetary policy decisions, including 
     discount window operations, open market operations, 
     securities credit, and interest on deposits; and
       Whereas, The American public should receive the 
     accountability and transparency they deserve from their 
     government. Providing the Comptroller General the authority 
     and directive to thoroughly audit the Federal Reserve will 
     allow for better oversight and lift the cloak of secrecy off 
     this highly-profitable and influential government 
     institution. Congress must take the actions necessary to 
     fulfill its oversight responsibility: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the 
     Congress of the United States to direct the Comptroller 
     General to complete a full audit of the Board of Governors of 
     the Federal Reserve System and the federal reserve banks; and 
     be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     United States House of Representatives, and the members of 
     the Michigan congressional delegation.

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