Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional Website.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a
previous order of the House, the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. PAUL) is recognized
for 5 minutes.
2009 Ron Paul 88:1
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, the big guns
have lined up against H.R. 1207, the bill
to audit the Federal Reserve. What is
it that they are so concerned about?
What information are they hiding from
the American people? The screed is:
“Transparency is okay – except for
those things they don’t want to be
transparent.”
2009 Ron Paul 88:2
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke argues that H.R. 1207, the
legislation to audit the Federal Reserve,
would politicize monetary policy.
He claims that monetary policy
must remain “independent,” that is,
secret. He ignores history, because
chairmen of the Federal Reserve in the
past, especially when up for reappointment,
do their best to accommodate
the President with politically driven
low interest rates and a bubble economy.
2009 Ron Paul 88:3
Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman
Arthur Burns, when asked about
all the inflation he brought about in
1971, before Nixon’s re-election, said
that the Fed has to do what the President
wants it to do, or it would “lose
its independence.” That about tells you
everything. Not by accident, Chairman
Burns strongly supported Nixon’s program
of wage and price controls, the
same year; but I guess that’s not political.
Is not making secret deals with
the likes of Goldman Sachs, international
financial institutions, foreign
governments and foreign central
banks, politicizing monetary policy?
Bernanke argues that the knowledge
that their discussions and decisions
will one day be scrutinized will compromise
the freedom of the Open Market
Committee to pursue sound policy.
If it is sound and honest, and serves no
special interest, what’s the problem?
2009 Ron Paul 88:4
He claims that H.R. 1207 would give
power to Congress to affect monetary
policy. He dreamt this up to instill
fear, an old statist trick to justify government
power. H.R. 1207 does nothing
of the sort. He suggested that the day
after an FOMC meeting, Congress could
send in the GAO to demand an audit of
everything said and done. This is hardly
the case. The FOMC function, under
1207, would not change. The detailed
transcripts of the FOMC meetings are
released every 5 years, so why would
this be so different, and what is it that
they don’t want the American people
to know? Is there something about the
transcripts that need to be kept secret,
or are the transcripts actually not verbatim?
2009 Ron Paul 88:5
Fed sychophants argue that an audit
would destroy the financial market’s
faith in the Fed. They say this in the
midst of the greatest financial crisis in
history, brought on by none other than
the Federal Reserve. In fact, Chairman
Bernanke stated on November 14, 2007,
that “a considerable amount of evidence
indicates that central bank
transparency increases the effectiveness
of monetary policy and enhances
economic and financial performance.”
2009 Ron Paul 88:6
They also argue that an audit would
hurt the value of the U.S. dollar. In
fact, the Fed, in less than 100 years of
its existence, has reduced the value of
the 1914 dollar by 96 percent. They
claim H.R. 1207 would raise interest
rates. How could it? The Fed sets interest
rates and the bill doesn’t interfere
with monetary policy. Congress would
have no say in the matter; and besides,
Congress likes low interest rates. It is
argued that the Fed wouldn’t be free to
raise interest rates if they thought it
necessary. But Bernanke has already
assured the Congress that rates are
going to stay low for the foreseeable
future, and, again, this bill does nothing
to allow Congress to interfere with
interest rate setting.
2009 Ron Paul 88:7
Fed supporters claim that they want
to protect the public’s interest with
their secrecy. But the banks and Wall
Street are the opponents of 1207, and
the people are for it. Just who best represents
the “public’s” interest? The
real question is, why are Wall Street
and the Feds so hysterically opposed to
1207? Just what information are they so
anxious to keep secret? Only an audit
of the Federal Reserve will answer
these questions.
