The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SUNSHINE ON THE FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE ACT” mentioning the Federal Reserve System was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E201-E202 on Feb. 11, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SUNSHINE ON THE FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE ACT
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HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR.
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, February 11, 1997
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, in 1995 the Chairman of the Federal Reserve clarified that transcripts of its Federal Open Market Committee
[FOMC] meetings will be disclosed to the public--after 30 years.
Enough is enough. I urge my colleagues to once again cosponsor my Sunshine on the Federal Open Market Committee Act, which will apply the Government-in-the-Sunshine Act to FOMC meetings.
The Fed is charged with duty of not only conducting the day-to-day banking for the entire Nation, but regulating the economy through the formulation of monetary policy. Needless to say, it wields immense power. In a typical month, it pumps anywhere between $1 and $4 billion into the economy while dangling the threat of higher interest rates over the American public. Even more intimidating, Mr. Speaker, is that half of all the banks in the country are members of the Federal Reserve System; all national banks must belong. All told, the Fed has holdings of over $300 billion--accounting for nearly 7 percent of the national debt.
The entity within the Fed responsible for determining the country's monetary policy is the FOMC, which consists of the 7 member Board of Governors and 5 of the 12 district bank presidents. The FOMC meets every 6 weeks but, unfortunately for the general public, they meet in relative secrecy. I say relative because, in the wake of a FOMC meeting, members of the committee give speeches to business groups where, with a wink and a nod, they may reveal specifics of the new policy. Meanwhile, the ordinary American gets a convoluted synopsis of the policy immediately after the meeting, an edited transcript 6 weeks later, and the full story 30 years later. It is time to open these meetings up to all.
Mr. Speaker, the Government-in-the-Sunshine Act, passed in 1976 to increase accountability of over 50 Federal agencies, opens closed meetings to private scrutiny. It requires that every portion of every meeting of an agency that is headed by a collegial body must be open to public observation. There are exceptions to the law, however, and the Fed has massaged the English language to the point where the Supreme Court overruled the lower courts and allowed one such exemption to apply to the FOMC meetings. Consequently, the Fed has the extraordinary timetable for disclosure that I mentioned.
Mr. Speaker, I understand the sensitivity with which the Fed must treat monetary policy. I also understand the need for apolitical decisionmaking during the FOMC meetings. But when a governmental entity can wield a $300 billion bludgeoning tool at will in the marketplace, it should be held accountable. As such, I am reintroducing the Sunshine on the Federal Open Market Committee Act to ensure the FOMC is held accountable for its policies.
I urge my colleagues to once again support and cosponsor this important measure.
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