End the Fed Bill in Trouble

According to an news article yesterday, Federal Reserve Policy Audit Legislation ‘Gutted,’ Paul Says, Bloomburg (October 31, 2009), the "Audit the Fed" Bill pending before Congress is in deep trouble.

It appears that a Bank of America toady from North Carolina has damaged the bill unless it can be repaired on the House Floor. The action to gut the Bill was taken by Mel Watt (D. NC), from the 12th District in North Carolina. That district includes Charlotte, headquarters for Bank of America.

The bill, with 308 co-sponsors, has been stripped of provisions that would remove Fed exemptions from audits of transactions with foreign central banks, monetary policy deliberations, transactions made under the direction of theFederal Open Market Committee and communications between the Board, the reserve banks and staff, Paul said today.

“There’s nothing left, it’s been gutted,” he said in a telephone interview. “This is not a partisan issue. People all over the country want to know what the Fed is up to, and this legislation was supposed to help them do that.”

. . . .

Paul, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said Mel Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina, has eliminated “just about everything” while preparing the legislation for formal consideration. Watt is chairman of the panel’s domestic monetary policy and technology subcommittee.

Keith Kelly, a spokesman for Watt, declined to comment and said Watt wasn’t immediately available for an interview. Watt’s district includes Charlotte, headquarters of Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. lender.

Watt can be contacted at the following addresses:

CHARLOTTE
1230 W. Morehead St.
Suite 306
Charlotte, NC
28208-5214
Tel. (704) 344-9950
Fax (704) 344-9971

WASHINGTON
2304 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC
20515-3312
Tel. (202) 225-1510
Fax (202) 225-1512

Keith Kelly
202-225-1510

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