HR 1207: An Introduction

Congressman Paul has introduced legislation in the house to facilitate an audit of the Federal Reserve by the GAO (the office headed by the Comptroller General). The current law insulates the Fed from any serious auditing. The bill currently has 46 cosponsors.

Rep Abercrombie, Neil [D, HI-1] - 2/26/2009
Rep Akin, W. Todd [R, MO-2] - 3/19/2009
Rep Alexander, Rodney [R, LA-5] - 3/10/2009
Rep Bachmann, Michele [R, MN-6] - 2/26/2009
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [R, MD-6] - 2/26/2009
Rep Blackburn, Marsha [R, TN-7] - 3/16/2009
Rep Blunt, Roy [R, MO-7] - 3/24/2009
Rep Broun, Paul C. [R, GA-10] - 2/26/2009
Rep Buchanan, Vern [R, FL-13] - 3/17/2009
Rep Burgess, Michael C. [R, TX-26] - 3/19/2009
Rep Burton, Dan [R, IN-5] - 2/26/2009
Rep Castle, Michael N. [R, DE] - 3/17/2009
Rep Chaffetz, Jason [R, UT-3] - 3/6/2009
Rep Culberson, John Abney [R, TX-7] - 3/26/2009
Rep Deal, Nathan [R, GA-9] - 3/23/2009
Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [D, OR-4] - 3/9/2009
Rep Duncan, John J., Jr. [R, TN-2] - 3/6/2009
Rep Fleming, John [R, LA-4] - 3/18/2009
Rep Foxx, Virginia [R, NC-5] - 3/10/2009
Rep Franks, Trent [R, AZ-2] - 3/23/2009
Rep Garrett, Scott [R, NJ-5] - 3/5/2009
Rep Grayson, Alan [D, FL-8] - 3/11/2009
Rep Heller, Dean [R, NV-2] (R) - 3/6/2009
Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [R, NC-3] - 2/26/2009
Rep Kagen, Steve [D, WI-8] - 2/26/2009
Rep Kingston, Jack [R, GA-1] - 3/6/2009
Rep Lummis, Cynthia M. [R, WY] - 3/19/2009
Rep Marchant, Kenny [R, TX-24] - 3/11/2009
Rep McClintock, Tom [R, CA-4] - 3/6/2009
Rep McCotter, Thaddeus G. [R, MI-11] - 3/19/2009
Rep Miller, Jeff [R, FL-1] - 3/24/2009
Rep Peterson, Collin C. [D, MN-7] - 3/19/2009
Rep Petri, Thomas E. [R, WI-6] - 3/10/2009
Rep Platts, Todd Russell [R, PA-19] - 3/19/2009
Rep Poe, Ted [R, TX-2] - 2/26/2009
Rep Posey, Bill [R, FL-15] - 2/26/2009
Rep Price, Tom [R, GA-6] - 3/10/2009
Rep Rehberg, Denny [R, MT] - 2/26/2009
Rep Rohrabacher, Dana [R, CA-46] - 3/6/2009
Rep Sessions, Pete [R, TX-32] - 3/23/2009
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [D, CA-13] - 3/26/2009
Rep Stearns, Cliff [R, FL-6] - 3/6/2009
Rep Taylor, Gene [D, MS-4] - 3/6/2009
Rep Wamp, Zach [R, TN-3] - 3/16/2009
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [D, CA-6] - 2/26/2009
Rep Young, Don [R, AK] - 3/6/2009

8 of these 46 are Democrats, which is nice, if you care about that sort of thing. I'm of the opinion that the Democrats and Republicans are basically the same party anyway, but I'm pretty sure most people in office disagree, so it says something when a congressperson is willing to look past deeply ingrained prejudices and cosponsor a bill from the opposition.

The bill is very short, only a page or two. I encourage you to look it up at the Library of Congress's website.

Okay, so why should anyone care? Well, for starters, the bill's author predicted the housing crisis in 2003. Check out Congressman Paul's statements before the House Financial Services Committee. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve is at the center of the current economic maelstrom. It's essentially a fourth branch of government and is accountable to nobody. I personally don't believe that we need a central bank controlling the economy, but its hard to debate the subject when no one has any idea what the Federal Reserve has done and is doing. Congressman Paul is the ranking member on Financial Service's subcommitee responsible for overseeing monetary policy--i.e. Federal Reserve actions--and has repeatedly said that the Federal Reserve is more secretive than the CIA (ex. this interview).

I could continue to talk about the role of the Fed in the economy and the ways central economic planning hurts us, but that would only complicate the issue. This is about opening up an exceptionally secretive part of government to Congress and the citizens of the US--and that's something that everyone should get behind.

More on this as it develops.