Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the chairman yielding.

I want to thank Chairman HUIZENGA for his good work on the FORM Act. I think this is a commonsense set of reforms that make the Federal Reserve more accountable to the American people, which means they are more accountable to the United States Congress.

I would ask my colleagues across the aisle and my good friend from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore), who says that the FORM Act is one that would provide for the Congress to set monetary policy, where in the FORM Act does it say that? Just because we ask for oversight, just because we want to have the Federal Reserve accountable to the Congress and to the American people, doesn't mean that Congress is taking the role of setting monetary policy. Again, that is just setting up a straw man and trying to knock it down in the argument.

This is important stuff. There is a distinct difference between the two sides of the aisle. We do think there should be accountability and transparency. But my friends across the aisle will continue to advocate for very powerful government institutions empowering bureaucrats that are not elected and that are not accountable to the American people to make decisions that have huge impacts on the American people.

What we say on our side of the aisle is, in our form of government, the people have a right to have a say in their government, which means you need to empower the Congress and the Senate to have oversight over these very powerful organizations.

That is the great debate that we are having here. We want oversight and transparency. We don't want to set monetary policy.

I chair the Committee on Oversight, and we have asked the Federal Researve for documents that we are entitled to in regard to an FOMC leak. The Federal Reserve has basically said:

Yes, you are entitled to these documents. But, guess what, we are not going to give them to you.

What is the reason, Madam Chair?

I don't have a really good reason. Some people asked me not to give them to you. I know you are entitled, but I am not going to send them over to you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

We had to go to extreme measures to get the Federal Reserve to comply with our subpoenas to provide us the documents that this institution is entitled to. That shows how arrogant this institution--the Fed--really is.

A rules-based approach makes sense. An audit of the Fed taking a look back that is not political, but a retrospective look at the Fed's monetary policy, makes absolute sense.

And to think that we are going to talk about the blackout period at the Fed that, yes, you can have a blackout for monetary policy, but you can't use that blackout when we are talking about the supervisory and prudential functions of the Federal Reserve.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source