May 28th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today called upon the House of Representatives to enact legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve to “ensure that American taxpayers have a full accounting of the Fed’s irresponsible activities of kicking trillions of dollars out the nation’s back door, manipulating markets, and crashing the economy.”
“The American people have barely any idea what the Fed is up to, although we do know that they’ve put American taxpayers on the hook for $7.76 trillion in less than two years,” said Wilson. “The House has no clue where the $7.76 trillion is going either, because Congress’ best attempts at oversight have been met with consistent stonewalling by the Fed.”
Wilson added, “All of this money simply cannot be accounted for, including nearly $2 trillion of loans made by the Fed—for no other reason than because the Fed refuses to disclose any information about the transactions.”
On February 26th, Congressman Ron Paul introduced the “Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009,” legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Banks.
According to Bloomberg News, the Federal Reserve has committed, lent or disbursed over $7.76 trillion in the past 20 months. This includes nearly $2 trillion in loans, although it is unclear who received these loans.
According to Bloomberg, “The Federal Reserve so far is refusing to disclose loan recipients or reveal the collateral they are taking in return.” The Fed has argued it is actually allowed to withhold “internal” memos as well as commercial and trade secrets information. Bloomberg, on the other hand, has actively filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, demanding the information.
Thus far, the Fed’s Board of Governors has refused to comply with Bloomberg’s FOIA requests. In addition, the Fed’s regional banks are arguing that they are private institutions beyond the reach of the Freedom of Information Act.
In answering questions from Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) recently, Fed Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman testified she could not account for “$1 trillion-plus that the Fed extended and put on its balance sheet since last September…”
An email to Bloomberg by Coleman’s office also revealed that “By law, we are the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors only… Consistent with our authority, we cannot conduct a direct audit of Reserve Bank operations.”
Wilson called for the Federal Reserve to be reined in. “The Fed, although it was created by Congress, is responsible for the nation’s monetary policy, and has engaged in over $7.76 trillion in transactions is beyond the oversight according to its own inspector general, and even beyond the oversight of Congress. For the House to continue to refuse to audit this unaccountable government monstrosity is inexcusable.”
“The real questions are: What is the Fed hiding? And why are members of the House aiding them? Is the money going to foreign banks? Perhaps to central banks overseas? To China?” Wilson added.
H.R. 1207 would require the Comptroller General to issue an audit of both the Board of Governors and Reserve Bank operations, which are run by member banks of the Fed. The audit would have to be issued to Congressional leadership by the close of 2010.
So far, the Act has 179 cosponsors, including 33 Democrats and 146 Republicans.
“It is up to the constitutional duty of the House to account for these trillions of taxpayer dollars, before it is too late, and before the nation is drowned in insolvency,” Wilson concluded.
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