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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1786 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1786

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

                             July 16, 2015

    Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Paul, and Mr. Cruz) 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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Centennial Monetary Commission Act 
of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Constitution endows Congress with the power ``to 
        coin money, regulate the value thereof''.
            (2) Following the financial crisis known as the Panic of 
        1907, Congress established the National Monetary Commission to 
        provide recommendations for the reform of the financial and 
        monetary systems of the United States.
            (3) Incorporating several of the recommendations of the 
        National Monetary Commission, Congress created the Federal 
        Reserve System in 1913. As currently organized, the Federal 
        Reserve System consists of the Board of Governors in 
        Washington, District of Columbia, and the Federal Reserve Banks 
        organized into 12 districts around the United States. The 
        stockholders of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks include national 
        and certain State-chartered commercial banks, which operate on 
        a fractional reserve basis.
            (4) Originally, Congress gave the Federal Reserve System a 
        monetary mandate to provide an elastic currency, within the 
        context of a gold standard, in response to seasonal 
        fluctuations in the demand for currency.
            (5) Congress also gave the Federal Reserve System a 
        financial stability mandate to serve as the lender of last 
        resort to solvent but illiquid banks during a financial crisis.
            (6) In 1977, Congress changed the monetary mandate of the 
        Federal Reserve System to a dual mandate for maximum employment 
        and stable prices.
            (7) Empirical studies and historical evidence, both within 
        the United States and in other countries, demonstrate that 
        price stability is desirable because both inflation and 
        deflation damage the economy.
            (8) The economic challenge of recent years--most notably 
        the bursting of the housing bubble, the financial crisis of 
        2008, and the ensuing anemic recovery--have occurred at great 
        cost in terms of lost jobs and output.
            (9) Policymakers are reexamining the structure and 
        functioning of financial institutions and markets to determine 
        what, if any, changes need to be made to place the financial 
        system on a stronger, more sustainable path going forward.
            (10) The Federal Reserve System has taken extraordinary 
        actions in response to the recent economic challenges.
            (11) The Federal Open Market Committee has engaged in 
        multiple rounds of quantitative easing, providing unprecedented 
        liquidity to financial markets, while committing to holding 
        short-term interest rates low for a seemingly indefinite 
        period, and pursuing a policy of credit allocation by 
        purchasing Federal agency debt and mortgage-backed securities.
            (12) In the wake of the recent extraordinary actions of the 
        Federal Reserve System, Congress--consistent with its 
        constitutional responsibilities and as it has done periodically 
        throughout the history of the United States--has once again 
        renewed its examination of monetary policy.
            (13) Central in such examination has been a renewed look at 
        what is the most proper mandate for the Federal Reserve System 
        to conduct monetary policy in the 21st century.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.

    There is established a commission to be known as the ``Centennial 
Monetary Commission'' (in this Act referred to as the ``Commission'').

SEC. 4. DUTIES.

    (a) Study of Monetary Policy.--The Commission shall--
            (1) examine how United States monetary policy since the 
        creation of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
        System in 1913 has affected the performance of the United 
        States economy in terms of output, employment, prices, and 
        financial stability over time;
            (2) evaluate various operational regimes under which the 
        Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the 
        Federal Open Market Committee may conduct monetary policy in 
        terms achieving the maximum sustainable level of output and 
        employment and price stability over the long term, including--
                    (A) discretion in determining monetary policy 
                without an operational regime;
                    (B) price level targeting;
                    (C) inflation rate targeting;
                    (D) nominal gross domestic product targeting (both 
                level and growth rate);
                    (E) the use of monetary policy rules; and
                    (F) the gold standard;
            (3) evaluate the use of macro-prudential supervision and 
        regulation as a tool of monetary policy in terms of achieving 
        the maximum sustainable level of output and employment and 
        price stability over the long term;
            (4) evaluate the use of the lender-of-last-resort function 
        of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as a 
        tool of monetary policy in terms of achieving the maximum 
        sustainable level of output and employment and price stability 
        over the long term; and
            (5) recommend a course for United States monetary policy 
        going forward, including--
                    (A) the legislative mandate;
                    (B) the operational regime;
                    (C) the securities used in open market operations; 
                and
                    (D) transparency issues.
    (b) Report on Monetary Policy.--Not later than December 1, 2016, 
the Commission shall submit to Congress and make publicly available a 
report containing a statement of the findings and conclusions of the 
Commission in carrying out the study under subsection (a), together 
with the recommendations the Commission considers appropriate.

SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP.

    (a) Number and Appointment.--
            (1) Appointed voting members.--The Commission shall contain 
        12 voting members as follows:
                    (A) Six members appointed by the Speaker of the 
                House of Representatives, with four members from the 
                majority party and two members from the minority party.
                    (B) Six members appointed by the President pro 
                tempore of the Senate, with four members from the 
                majority party and two members from the minority party.
            (2) Chairman.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
        and the majority leader of the Senate shall jointly designate 
        one of the members of the Commission as Chairman.
            (3) Non-voting members.--The Commission shall contain 2 
        non-voting members as follows:
                    (A) One member appointed by the Secretary of the 
                Treasury.
                    (B) One member who is the president of a district 
                Federal Reserve bank appointed by the Chair of the 
                Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
    (b) Period of Appointment.--Each member shall be appointed for the 
life of the Commission.
    (c) Timing of Appointment.--All members of the Commission shall be 
appointed not before January 5, 2015, and not later than 30 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its 
powers, and shall be filled in the manner in which the original 
appointment was made.
    (e) Meetings.--
            (1) Initial meeting.--The Commission shall hold its initial 
        meeting and begin the operations of the Commission as soon as 
        is practicable.
            (2) Further meetings.--The Commission shall meet upon the 
        call of the Chair or a majority of its members.
    (f) Quorum.--Seven voting members of the Commission shall 
constitute a quorum but a lesser number may hold hearings.
    (g) Member of Congress Defined.--In this section, the term ``Member 
of Congress'' means a Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate or 
Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.

SEC. 6. POWERS.

    (a) Hearings and Sessions.--The Commission or, on the authority of 
the Commission, any subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the 
purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times 
and places, take testimony, receive evidence, or administer oaths as 
the Commission or such subcommittee or member thereof considers 
appropriate.
    (b) Contract Authority.--To the extent or in the amounts provided 
in advance in appropriation Acts, the Commission may contract with and 
compensate Government and private agencies or persons to enable the 
Commission to discharge its duties under this Act, without regard to 
section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5).
    (c) Obtaining Official Data.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission is authorized to secure 
        directly from any executive department, bureau, agency, board, 
        commission, office, independent establishment, or 
        instrumentality of the Government, any information, including 
        suggestions, estimates, or statistics, for the purposes of this 
        Act.
            (2) Requesting official data.--The head of such department, 
        bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent 
        establishment, or instrumentality of the Government shall, to 
        the extent authorized by law, furnish such information upon 
        request made by--
                    (A) the Chair;
                    (B) the Chair of any subcommittee created by a 
                majority of the Commission; or
                    (C) any member of the Commission designated by a 
                majority of the commission to request such information.
    (d) Assistance From Federal Agencies.--
            (1) General services administration.--The Administrator of 
        General Services shall provide to the Commission on a 
        reimbursable basis administrative support and other services 
        for the performance of the functions of the Commission.
            (2) Other departments and agencies.--In addition to the 
        assistance prescribed in paragraph (1), at the request of the 
        Commission, departments and agencies of the United States shall 
        provide such services, funds, facilities, staff, and other 
        support services as may be authorized by law.
    (e) Postal Service.--The Commission may use the United States mails 
in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments 
and agencies of the United States.

SEC. 7. COMMISSION PERSONNEL.

    (a) Appointment and Compensation of Staff.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to rules prescribed by the 
        Commission, the Chair may appoint and fix the pay of the 
        executive director and other personnel as the Chair considers 
        appropriate.
            (2) Applicability of civil service laws.--The staff of the 
        Commission may be appointed without regard to the provisions of 
        title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the 
        competitive service, and may be paid without regard to the 
        provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 
        that title relating to classification and General Schedule pay 
        rates, except that an individual so appointed may not receive 
        pay in excess of level V of the Executive Schedule.
    (b) Consultants.--The Commission may procure temporary and 
intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States 
Code, but at rates for individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent 
of the rate of pay for a person occupying a position at level IV of the 
Executive Schedule.
    (c) Staff of Federal Agencies.--Upon request of the Commission, the 
head of any Federal department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable 
basis, any of the personnel of such department or agency to the 
Commission to assist it in carrying out its duties under this Act.

SEC. 8. TERMINATION.

    (a) In General.--The Commission shall terminate on June 1, 2017.
    (b) Administrative Activities Before Termination.--The Commission 
may use the period between the submission of its report and its 
termination for the purpose of concluding its activities, including 
providing testimony to a committee of Congress concerning its report.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act and such sums shall remain available 
until the date on which the Commission terminates.
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