II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1895 

To establish a commission to examine the United States monetary policy, 

evaluate alternative monetary regimes, and recommend a course for monetary policy going forward. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 6, 2014 

Mr. CORNYN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a commission to examine the United States 

monetary policy, evaluate alternative monetary regimes, 

and recommend a course for monetary policy going forward. 

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 ‘‘Centennial Monetary 

5 Commission Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Constitution endows Congress with the 

2 power ‘‘to coin money, regulate the value thereof’’. 

3 (2) Following the financial crisis known as the 

4 Panic of 1907, Congress established the National 

5 Monetary Commission to provide recommendations 

6 for the reform of the financial and monetary systems 

7 of the United States. 

8 (3) Incorporating several of the recommenda9 tions of the National Monetary Commission, Con10 gress created the Federal Reserve System in 1913. 

11 As currently organized, the Federal Reserve System 

12 consists of the Board of Governors in Washington, 

13 District of Columbia, and the Federal Reserve 

14 Banks organized into 12 districts around the United 

15 States. The stockholders of the 12 Federal Reserve 

16 Banks include national and certain state-chartered 

17 commercial banks, which operate on a fractional re18 serve basis. 

19 (4) Originally, Congress gave the Federal Re20 serve a monetary mandate to provide an elastic cur21 rency, within the context of a gold standard, in re22 sponse to seasonal fluctuations in the demand for 

23 currency. 

24 (5) Congress also gave the Federal Reserve a fi25 nancial stability mandate to serve as the lender of 


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1 last resort to solvent but illiquid banks during a fi2 nancial crisis. 

3 (6) In 1977, Congress changed the monetary 

4 mandate of the Federal Reserve to a dual mandate 

5 for maximum employment and stable prices. 

6 (7) Empirical studies and historical evidence, 

7 both within the United States and in other coun8 tries, demonstrate that price stability is desirable be9 cause both inflation and deflation damage the econ10 omy. 

11 (8) The economic challenge of recent years— 

12 most notably the bursting of the housing bubble, the 

13 financial crisis of 2008, and the ensuing anemic re14 covery—have occurred at great cost in terms of lost 

15 jobs and output. 

16 (9) Policymakers are reexamining the structure 

17 and functioning of financial institutions and markets 

18 to determine what, if any, changes need to be made 

19 to place the financial system on a stronger, more 

20 sustainable path going forward. 

21 (10) The Federal Reserve has taken extraor22 dinary actions in response to the recent economic 

23 challenges. 

24 (11) The Federal Open Market Committee has 

25 engaged in multiple rounds of quantitative easing, 


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1 providing unprecedented liquidity to financial mar2 kets, while committing to holding short-term interest 

3 rates low for a seemingly indefinite period, and pur4 suing a policy of credit allocation by purchasing 

5 Federal agency debt and mortgage-backed securities. 

6 (12) In the wake of the recent extraordinary ac7 tions of the Federal Reserve, Congress—consistent 

8 with its constitutional responsibilities and as it has 

9 done periodically throughout the history of the 

10 United States—has once again renewed its examina11 tion of monetary policy. 

12 (13) Central in such examination has been a re13 newed look at what is the most proper mandate for 

14 the Federal Reserve to conduct monetary policy in 

15 the 21st century. 

16 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 

17 There is established a commission to be known as the 

18 ‘‘Centennial Monetary Commission’’ (in this Act referred 

19 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

20 SEC. 4. DUTIES. 

21 (a) STUDY OF MONETARY POLICY.—The Commis22 sion shall— 

23 (1) examine how United States monetary policy 

24 since the creation of the Board of Governors of the 

25 Federal Reserve System in 1913 has affected the 


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1 performance of the United States economy in terms 

2 of output, employment, prices, and financial stability 

3 over time; 

4 (2) evaluate various operational regimes under 

5 which the Board of Governors of the Federal Re6 serve System and the Federal Open Market Com7 mittee may conduct monetary policy in terms achiev8 ing the maximum sustainable level of output and 

9 employment and price stability over the long term, 

10 including— 

11 (A) discretion in determining monetary 

12 policy without an operational regime; 

13 (B) price level targeting; 

14 (C) inflation rate targeting; 

15 (D) nominal gross domestic product tar16 geting (both level and growth rate); 

17 (E) the use of monetary policy rules; and 

18 (F) the gold standard; and 

19 (3) recommend a course for United States mon20 etary policy going forward, including— 

21 (A) the legislative mandate; 

22 (B) the operational regime; 

23 (C) the securities used in open market op24 erations; and 

25 (D) transparency issues. 


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1 (b) REPORT ON MONETARY POLICY.—Not later than 

2 June 30, 2014, the Commission shall submit to Congress 

3 and make publicly available a report containing a state4 ment of the findings and conclusions of the Commission 

5 in carrying out the study under subsection (a), together 

6 with the recommendations the Commission considers ap7 propriate. 

8 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP. 

9 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.— 

10 (1) VOTING MEMBERS BY POSITION.—The 

11 Commission shall contain 6 voting members as fol12 lows: 

13 (A) The Chair of the Joint Economic Com14 mittee, who shall serve as Chair of the Commis15 sion. 

16 (B) The ranking minority member of the 

17 Joint Economic Committee, who shall serve as 

18 Vice Chair of the Commission. 

19 (C) The Chair of the Committee on Finan20 cial Services of the House of Representatives or 

21 another majority member of such Committee 

22 designated by the Chair. 

23 (D) The ranking minority member of the 

24 Committee on Financial Services of the House 

25 of Representatives or another minority member 


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1 of such Committee designated by the ranking 

2 minority member. 

3 (E) The Chair of the Committee on Bank4 ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate 

5 or another majority member of such Committee 

6 designated by the Chair. 

7 (F) The ranking minority member of the 

8 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

9 Affairs of the Senate or another minority mem10 ber of such Committee designated by the rank11 ing minority member. 

12 (2) APPOINTED VOTING MEMBERS.—The Com13 mission shall contain 6 voting members, who may 

14 not be Members of Congress, as follows: 

15 (A) Two members appointed by the Speak16 er of the House of Representatives. 

17 (B) One member appointed by the minor18 ity leader of the House of Representatives. 

19 (C) Two members appointed by the major20 ity leader of the Senate. 

21 (D) One member appointed by the minor22 ity leader of the Senate. 

23 (3) NON-VOTING MEMBERS.—The Commission 

24 shall contain 2 non-voting members as follows: 


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1 (A) One member appointed by the Sec2 retary of the Treasury. 

3 (B) One member who is the president of a 

4 district Federal reserve bank appointed by the 

5 Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal 

6 Reserve System. 

7 (b) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.—Each member shall 

8 be appointed for the life of the Commission. 

9 (c) TIMING OF APPOINTMENT.—All members of the 

10 Commission shall be appointed not before January 5, 

11 2013, and not later than 30 days after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act. 

13 (d) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall 

14 not affect its powers, and shall be filled in the manner 

15 in which the original appointment was made. 

16 (e) MEETINGS.— 

17 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall 

18 hold its initial meeting and begin the operations of 

19 the Commission as soon as is practicable. 

20 (2) FURTHER MEETINGS.—The Commission 

21 shall meet upon the call of the Chair or a majority 

22 of its members. 

23 (f) QUORUM.—Seven voting members of the Commis24 sion shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may 

25 hold hearings. 


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1 (g) MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED.—In this sec2 tion, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means a Senator 

3 or a Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis4 sioner to, the Congress. 

5 SEC. 6. POWERS. 

6 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission or, 

7 on the authority of the Commission, any subcommittee or 

8 member thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out this 

9 Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, take 

10 testimony, receive evidence, or administer oaths as the 

11 Commission or such subcommittee or member thereof con12 siders appropriate. 

13 (b) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—To the extent or in the 

14 amounts provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the 

15 Commission may contract with and compensate govern16 ment and private agencies or persons to enable the Com17 mission to discharge its duties under this Act, without re18 gard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 

19 5). 

20 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission is author22 ized to secure directly from any executive depart23 ment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, 

24 independent establishment, or instrumentality of the 


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1 Government, any information, including suggestions, 

2 estimates, or statistics, for the purposes of this Act. 

3 (2) REQUESTING OFFICIAL DATA.—The head of 

4 such department, bureau, agency, board, commis5 sion, office, independent establishment, or instru6 mentality of the government shall, to the extent au7 thorized by law, furnish such information upon re8 quest made by— 

9 (A) the Chair; 

10 (B) the Chair of any subcommittee created 

11 by a majority of the Commission; or 

12 (C) any member of the Commission des13 ignated by a majority of the commission to re14 quest such information. 

15 (d) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

16 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

17 The Administrator of General Services shall provide 

18 to the Commission on a reimbursable basis adminis19 trative support and other services for the perform20 ance of the functions of the Commission. 

21 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

22 addition to the assistance prescribed in paragraph 

23 (1), at the request of the Commission, departments 

24 and agencies of the United States shall provide such 


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1 services, funds, facilities, staff, and other support 

2 services as may be authorized by law. 

3 (e) POSTAL SERVICE.—The Commission may use the 

4 United States mails in the same manner and under the 

5 same conditions as other departments and agencies of the 

6 United States. 

7 SEC. 7. COMMISSION PERSONNEL. 

8 (a) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION OF STAFF.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to rules prescribed 

10 by the Commission, the Chair may appoint and fix 

11 the pay of the executive director and other personnel 

12 as the Chair considers appropriate. 

13 (2) APPLICABILITY OF CIVIL SERVICE LAWS.— 

14 The staff of the Commission may be appointed with15 out regard to the provisions of title 5, United States 

16 Code, governing appointments in the competitive 

17 service, and may be paid without regard to the pro18 visions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 

19 53 of that title relating to classification and General 

20 Schedule pay rates, except that an individual so ap21 pointed may not receive pay in excess of level V of 

22 the Executive Schedule. 

23 (b) CONSULTANTS.—The Commission may procure 

24 temporary and intermittent services under section 3109(b) 

25 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates for individuals 


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1 not to exceed the daily equivalent of the rate of pay for 

2 a person occupying a position at level IV of the Executive 

3 Schedule. 

4 (c) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request 

5 of the Commission, the head of any Federal department 

6 or agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 

7 personnel of such department or agency to the Commis8 sion to assist it in carrying out its duties under this Act. 

9 SEC. 8. TERMINATION. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall terminate 

11 on February 28, 2015. 

12 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES BEFORE TERMI13 NATION.—The Commission may use the period between 

14 the submission of its report and its termination for the 

15 purpose of concluding its activities, including providing 

16 testimony to committees of Congress concerning its report. 

17 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

19 as may be necessary to carry out this Act and such sums 

20 shall remain available until the date on which the Commis21 sion terminates. 

Æ 


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