I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2424 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize reviews by the Comptroller General of the United States of any credit facility established 

by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal 

reserve bank during the current financial crisis, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2009 

Mr. KUCINICH (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ISSA, and Mr. JORDAN of Ohio) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize reviews 

by the Comptroller General of the United States of any 

credit facility established by the Board of Governors 

of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal reserve 

bank during the current financial crisis, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Reserve Credit 

5 Facility Review Act of 2009’’. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2424 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds as follows: 

3 (1) In August 2007, liquidity abruptly dried up 

4 in credit and securities markets. 

5 (2) This lack of access to affordable credit was 

6 initially limited to financial firms with interests in 

7 mortgage-backed securities that contained subprime 

8 and predatory mortgages. 

9 (3) The lack of access to credit quickly spread 

10 throughout the financial services industry, and even11 tually worldwide. 

12 (4) At the inception of the financial crisis, the 

13 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 

14 responded by exercising its authorities in the tradi15 tional manner to effect the Federal funds rate tar16 get, which culminated in a December 16, 2008, deci17 sion to establish a Federal funds rate target range 

18 of 0 percent to 0.25 percent. 

19 (5) The Board of Governors of the Federal Re20 serve System, as it employed its traditional tools to 

21 provide liquidity and stability to the financial mar22 kets, came to acknowledge the severity of the cur23 rent crisis by exercising its authority to act in re24 sponse to ‘‘unusual and exigent circumstances’’. 

25 (6) The Federal Reserve has exercised its au26 thority to address ‘‘unusual and exigent cirVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:40 May 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424

rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2424 IH

1 cumstances’’ no less than 11 times since the begin2 ning of the financial crisis. 

3 (7) Before this financial crisis, the Board of 

4 Governors of the Federal Reserve System last exer5 cised its authority to address ‘‘unusual and exigent 

6 circumstances’’ in 1934. 

7 (8) In connection with the Board of Governors 

8 of the Federal Reserve System’s efforts to address 

9 unusual and exigent circumstances, the Board ex10 tended assistance to nonmember institutions, some11 thing it had not done since 1959. 

12 (9) In connection with the Board of Governors 

13 of the Federal Reserve System’s efforts to address 

14 unusual and exigent circumstances, the Board has 

15 purchased debt obligations from government-spon16 sored enterprises, something it had not done since 

17 1981. 

18 (10) In the course of the crisis, the Federal Re19 serve established joint programs with the Depart20 ment of the Treasury to aid financial markets, such 

21 as the guarantee of Citigroup’s and Bank of Amer22 ica’s assets, the Term Asset-Backed Securities 

23 Lending Facility, and the Public-Private Partnership 

24 Investment Program. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2424 IH

1 (11) On February 10, 2009, Chairman Ben 

2 Bernanke affirmed his commitment to transparency 

3 when he testified to the Committee on Financial 

4 Services of the House of Representatives that ‘‘the 

5 Federal Reserve is committed to keeping the Con6 gress and the public informed about its lending pro7 grams and balance sheet’’. 

8 SEC. 3. REVIEWS OF SPECIAL FEDERAL RESERVE CREDIT 

9 FACILITIES. 

10 Section 714 of title 31, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new sub12 section: 

13 ‘‘(e) REVIEWS OF CREDIT FACILITIES OF THE FED14 ERAL RESERVE SYSTEM.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3) 

16 and notwithstanding any limitation in subsection (b) 

17 on the auditing and overseeing of certain functions 

18 of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

19 System or any Federal reserve bank, the Comp20 troller General may conduct reviews, including onsite 

21 examinations when the Comptroller General deter22 mines such actions are appropriate, of credit facili23 ties established by the Board or any Federal reserve 

24 bank, and of the establishment of such credit facili25 ties by the Board or any Federal reserve bank— 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2424 IH

1 ‘‘(A) in carrying out any action or function 

2 approved by the Board under the 3rd undesig3 nated paragraph of section 13 of the Federal 

4 Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 343) as the lender of 

5 last resort; or 

6 ‘‘(B) in providing temporary assistance to 

7 private institutions as the lender of last resort. 

8 ‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION.—As of the date of the en9 actment of the Federal Reserve Credit Facility Re10 view Act of 2009, the credit facilities to which this 

11 subsection applies include the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) Money Market Investor Funding Fa13 cility. 

14 ‘‘(B) Asset-Backed Commercial Paper 

15 Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility. 

16 ‘‘(C) Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan 

17 Facility. 

18 ‘‘(D) Term Auction Facility. 

19 ‘‘(E) The Primary Dealer Credit Facility. 

20 ‘‘(F) The Commercial Paper Funding Fa21 cility. 

22 ‘‘(G) The Term Securities Lending Facil23 ity, including the Term Securities Lending Fa24 cility Options Program 

25 ‘‘(H) Maiden Lane, LLC. 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2424 IH

1 ‘‘(I) Maiden Lane II, LLC. 

2 ‘‘(J) Maiden Lane III, LLC. 

3 ‘‘(K) The Revolving Credit Facility. 

4 ‘‘(L) Reciprocal currency arrangements 

5 with foreign central banks. 

6 ‘‘(M) Mortgage Backed Securities Pur7 chase Program, as well as the purchase of debt 

8 obligations from a Government Sponsored En9 terprise. 

10 ‘‘(N) Any special purpose vehicle through 

11 which any such credit facility conducts any ac12 tivity or lending. 

13 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—Para14 graph (1) shall cease to apply after the expiration of 

15 the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enact16 ment of this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(4) REPORT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED.—A report on each review 

19 conducted under paragraph (1) shall be sub20 mitted by the Comptroller General to the Con21 gress before the end of the 90-day period begin22 ning on the date on which such review is com23 pleted. 

24 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report under sub25 paragraph (A) shall include a detailed descripVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:40 May 15, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424

rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2424 IH

1 tion of the findings and conclusion of the 

2 Comptroller General with respect to the review 

3 that is the subject of the report, together with 

4 such recommendations for legislative or admin5 istrative action as the Comptroller General may 

6 determine to be appropriate.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. ACCESS TO RECORDS. 

8 (a) ACCESS TO RECORDS.—Section 714(d)(1) of title 

9 31, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘or any 

11 credit facility established by an agency’’ after ‘‘an 

12 agency’’; and 

13 (2) by inserting after the first sentence the fol14 lowing: ‘‘The Comptroller General shall have access 

15 to the officers, employees, contractors, and other 

16 agents and representatives of any agency or any 

17 credit facility established by an agency (as specified 

18 in subsection (e)) at any reasonable time as the 

19 Comptroller General may request. The Comptroller 

20 General may make and retain copies of such records 

21 as the Comptroller General determines appro22 priate.’’. 

23 (b) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS.—Section 714(d)(2) of 

24 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS
8 

•HR 2424 IH

1 (1) by inserting ‘‘, copies of any records,’’ after 

2 ‘‘records’’; and 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘or any credit facility estab4 lished by an agency (as specified in subsection (e))’’ 

5 after ‘‘agency’’. 

Æ 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with BILLS