House Passes Gottheimer-Lucas Bill for Transparency, Accountability at Federal Reserve

Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 974, the Federal Reserve Supervision Testimony Clarification Act, sponsored by Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) and Frank Lucas (OK-03), members of the House Committee on Financial Services. The bill mandates that in the absence of a Vice Chair of Supervision on the Federal Reserve Board, someone from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors must appear before Congress to testify on supervisory issues. It also mandates that the Vice Chairman for Supervision must provide written testimony, in addition to verbal testimony.

After more than seven years of the position being vacant, the current Vice Chair of Supervision, Randal Quarles, finally testified before the Financial Services Committee on November 14, 2018.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) said, “Congress has a clear responsibility to ensure that the Federal Reserve is operating in the best interests of the American taxpayer. I want to know how the Fed is regulating our financial institutions and what we can do to cut the red tape and grow our economy, but we can’t do that if the Fed Board does not come testify on its work before Congress. This legislation will boost government transparency and accountability, and I’m looking forward to it being signed into law.”

Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) said, “One of the most important roles that Congress is entitled is that of providing congressional oversight to federal agencies and departments. Since its adoption in 2010, Dodd-Frank has expanded the Federal Reserve’s regulatory authority and established a number of new agencies and positions in order to implement regulatory policies- including the Vice Chair for Supervision. Following the enactment of Dodd-Frank, Congress has received minimal testimony on regulatory issues from the Fed. The American people deserve to know that the Federal Reserve is acting upon the best interests of the American taxpayer. H.R. 974, sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rep. Gottheimer, ensures that the Fed continues to be held accountable to Congress and I look forward to moving it through the legislative process.”

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