Bill Description

This bill, originally introduced by Sen. Paul (R-KY), directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to complete a required audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and of the Federal Reserve Banks within 12 months and to submit to Congress a detailed report of the audit findings and conclusions within 90 days of the audit's completion.

Liberty for All's Position

The Federal Reserve is a privately owned corporation established in 1913 with almost zero accountability. In 2006 the Federal Reserve classified the amount of U.S. dollars in circulation, making it almost impossible to calculate the relative value of the U.S. dollar. In one of the only audits performed on the Federal Reserve in the last 100 years, it was discovered that billions of dollars have been secretly, and without authorization, transferred to numerous banks in a shadow bailout. Thomas Jefferson once warned that "if the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks . . . will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered . . . . The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." This bill does not go nearly far enough when it comes to necessary reforms of U.S. monetary policy and repeal of the Federal Reserve but it represents a crucial move towards accountability and is an important first step towards further change.

Current Status

The committees assigned to this bill sent it to the House or Senate as a whole for consideration on February 7, 2013.