Audit the Fed: Dodd-Frank, QE3, and Fed Transparency

From the House Financial Services Committee: 

WASHINGTON -The Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Ron Paul, will hold a hearing on auditing the Federal Reserve and the need for transparency at the central bank.

The Subcommittee will receive testimony from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on its procedural audit and report, issued in July, of the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending facilities. The hearing will also examine the history of Federal Reserve audit legislation and the adequacy of existing Fed audit and data disclosure requirements.

Rep. Paul has re-introduced legislation (H.R. 459)  from the 111^th Congress, the “Federal Reserve Transparency Act,” which calls for a full and complete audit of the Federal Reserve by the GAO. 

“The Federal Reserve has avoided accountability for far too long,” Rep. Paul stated. “The amazing grassroots support for 'Audit the Fed' demonstrates that the American people are well aware of the Fed’s financial malfeasance. The Federal Reserve's monetary binge has added trillions of dollars to its balance sheet, eroding the value of the dollar and destroying American families' purchasing power.  The Fed continues to prop up Wall Street banks, and now is directly bailing out the European financial system—all while monetizing hundreds of billions of dollars of Treasury debt in order to provide cover for the government's reckless spending habits.  With limited transparency, oversight, and accountability, it is high time that Congress bring the Fed’s actions into public view.  The American people demand, and deserve, nothing less.”

Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said, “There must be transparency and accountability at the Federal Reserve, particularly in light of the central bank’s continued extraordinary monetary policy actions.”

The hearing, entitled “Audit the Fed: Dodd-Frank, QE3, and Fed Transparency,” will be held on Tuesday, October 4th, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Witnesses scheduled to testify:

Panel I:
Orice Williams Brown, Managing Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment, Government Accountability Office

Panel II:
Robert D. Auerbach, Professor of Public Affairs, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin

Mark A. Calabria, Director of Financial Regulation Studies, Cato Institute