CFA & ATR Urge Congress to Audit the Fed, Wait to Confirm Bernanke

Thursday, December 3, 2009 11:19 AM by Mattie Duppler

CFA Executive Director Sandra Fabry and ATR President Grover Norquist have joined others from across the political spectrum in urging the Senate to postpone the confirmation of Ben Bernanke as the head of the Federal Reserve until an audit of the Fed has been conducted to supply Congress with information on Mr. Bernanke’s performance as chairman. The letter is being sent to Congress after news broke that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was placing a hold on Bernanke’s confirmation, which could seriously slow the confirmation process and potentially delay a vote on his appointment until next year. From the letter:

In the last two years, the Federal Reserve Board has lent several trillion dollars to banks and other private companies, financial and non-financial institutions through a series of special lending facilities. The total amount of loans made through facilities exceeds the annual budget of the United States. In addition, it guaranteed trillions of dollars of various assets and also made hundreds of billions of dollars available to several foreign central banks through currency swap arrangements.…
...Almost three quarters of the members of the House of Representatives have co-sponsored a bill calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve Board. This audit will allow Congress to assess how the Fed, under the leadership of its chairman Ben Bernanke, performed in this crisis and whether it acted appropriately in its disbursement of an enormous amount of money and guarantees.

A hearing is taking place today in the Senate Banking Committee, where Bernanke will be questioned by members about his tenure as chairman of the Fed. Click

here

to read the entire letter. Click

here

to learn more about Auditing the Federal Reserve.

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