1998 Ron Paul 79:2
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
1998 Ron Paul 79:3
Mr. PAUL.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I rise to support this
amendment. I would have to say this
amendment is a very modest approach
to a serious problem. I see no reason
for the Exchange Stabilization Fund to
exist. There is no constitutional authority
for it. There is no economic
benefit for it. It’s detrimental to the
people.
1998 Ron Paul 79:4
And the reason why we have to support
this amendment is it’s a modest, just
a small step in the direction of openness
in government, a little bit of accountability,
a little bit of oversight.
1998 Ron Paul 79:5
The idea that we can create a fund in
1934 and have essentially no oversight
for all these years, I just wonder how
many billions, probably hundreds of
billions, of dollars that have come and
gone in and out and all the mischief it
has caused. It was originally set up to
stabilize the dollar. And what does it
do, as the gentleman from Alabama
mentioned earlier, stabilizes the yen.
1998 Ron Paul 79:6
Where did the money come? It
came from confiscation, not through
taxation, but confiscating gold from
the American people, revaluing the
gold, taking the net profits, putting it
into the Exchange Stabilization Fund,
as well as the initial financing of the
IMF.
1998 Ron Paul 79:7
They tried to reassure us and say,
well, this is not an injury to our appropriation
process. We don’t appropriate
money. We do not lose money.
1998 Ron Paul 79:8
Well, that is precisely the problem. We’re supposed to have responsibility. It
is not the kind of amendment I want.
1998 Ron Paul 79:9
We should be talking about this in
terms of a free society. Certainly, if we
had a sound currency, under a sound
currency we do not have all this kind
of mischief going on. And certainly, if
we had a lot of respect for the Constitution
and actually knew something
about the Doctrine of Enumerated
Powers, you would say, where do we get
this authority to prop up other countries
and other currencies at the expense
of the American taxpayers?
1998 Ron Paul 79:10
This amendment, if you want to give a
lot of foreign aid away, this does not
preclude it, it just slows us up a little
bit and makes you think about it.
1998 Ron Paul 79:11
Yes, we can get into the currency
markets to the tune of billions of dollars.
1998 Ron Paul 79:12
They say, well, there is only 38;
they might not be able to do any mischief.
1998 Ron Paul 79:13
But my strong suspicion is that
the line of credit to the Federal Reserve
is endless in the time of crisis.
1998 Ron Paul 79:15
Because, ultimately, this is a threat to
the dollar. The dollar, when it is devalued,
it hurts the American taxpayer.
1998 Ron Paul 79:16
It’s a hidden tax. When we devalue
the dollar, we are spending
money indirectly. We take away
wealth and purchasing power from the
American people. And it’s a sinister
tax. It’s the most sinister of all taxes.
1998 Ron Paul 79:17
That is why the Exchange Stabilization
Fund should either be abolished or
put on the appropriations process. If we
can’t do that or won‘t do that, we
have to at least pass this amendment.
1998 Ron Paul 79:19
If you’re going to give away $250 million
per country for propping up a foreign
currency or a foreign country or
propping up some banks that made
loans overseas or propping up our competitors
to our own industries, we have
to at least know about it.
1998 Ron Paul 79:20
I don’t think this is much of an
amendment. The fact that the President
threatens to veto this bill just because
we are acting responsibly, this is
just a small step in the right direction. I see no reason why we can’t pass this
amendment.
1998 Ron Paul 79:21
We talk a lot about supporting the
currency. On a day-to-day basis, $1.6
trillion are transferred over the wire
service. There is not one reputable
economist in this country that I know
of that really defends currency intervention
as being productive and being
able to change the course of events. Because
although $38 billion is a lot of
money and intervention does cause
sudden shocks, causes some bond traders,
currency traders to lose money
quickly, it has no
long-term effect.
1998 Ron Paul 79:22
So the original purpose under fixed
exchange rate no longer exists. There
is no need to prop up a dollar under
floating currencies. This is used precisely
to bail out special privileged
people who have made loans overseas,
special corporations around the country,
special countries that are our competitors,
and it’s a way of getting
around the Congress, it’s a way of devaluing
the dollar, putting more pressure
on the dollar and hurting the
American people.
1998 Ron Paul 79:23
If for no other reason, if my colleagues
disagree with all the economic
arguments, there should be nobody
that should disagree with the fact that
we have a responsibility for open government.
1998 Ron Paul 79:24
That’s what this issue is all
about, and that is what this amendment
makes an attempt to do is try to
at least get it back to where we will be
responsible for our acts.
Note:
1998 Ron Paul 79:5 And what does it do, as the gentleman from Alabama mentioned earlier, stabilizes the yen.
Here, Ron Paul refers to a statement by The Honorable Spencer Bachus.
