I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1540

To reform the Exchange Stabilization Fund.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1999

Mr. SAXTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To reform the Exchange Stabilization Fund.

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 ‘‘ESF Transparency

5 and Accountability Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. REFORMS TO THE EXCHANGE STABILIZATION

7 FUND.

8 (a) TRANSPARENCY.—Section 5302(c) of title 31,

9 United States Code, is amended—

10 (1) in paragraph (1)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘all agreements made or

12 renewed’’ and inserting ‘‘the terms and condi-
2

•HR 1540 IH

1 tions of all outstanding loans and guarantees

2 and other actions taken, directly or indirectly,

3 with respect to the assets or liabilities of the

4 fund, a detailed description of all agreements

5 made or renewed, directly or indirectly, during

6 the month with respect to such assets or liabil7 ities,’’; and

8 (B) by inserting ‘‘, a statement that con9 tains a detailed accounting of any change in the

10 balance in the fund or in any component of the

11 fund since the giving of the most recent prior

12 statement under this subsection, and an expla13 nation of any such change, and a description of

14 any material that will be redacted in the public

15 report of such statements under paragraph (2)’’

16 before the period; and

17 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, and shall

18 take such steps as may be necessary to make the

19 contents of such report (with redactions of any ma20 terial the disclosure of which would disrupt markets

21 or damage national security interests of the United

22 States) readily available to the public’’ before the pe23 riod.

24 (b) PRESIDENTIAL CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR

25 USE OF $1 BILLION OR MORE; WAIVER AUTHORITY.—
3

•HR 1540 IH

1 Section 5302 of such title is amended by adding at the

2 end the following:

3 ‘‘(e)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this

4 section, the Secretary of the Treasury may not make any

5 expenditure or loan, incur any other obligation, or make

6 any guarantee through the stabilization fund involving

7 $1,000,000,000 or more, unless the Congress has, by joint

8 resolution, approved the expenditure, loan, obligation, or

9 guarantee.

10 ‘‘(2)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an expendi11 ture, loan, obligation, or guarantee if there is in effect a

12 certification under subparagraph (B) with respect to the

13 expenditure, loan, obligation, or guarantee.

14 ‘‘(B) A certification under this subparagraph with re15 spect to an expenditure, a loan, an obligation, or a guar16 antee is a written certification by the President to the

17 Committee on Banking and Financial Services of the

18 House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking,

19 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate that the making

20 of the expenditure or loan, the incurring of the obligation,

21 or the making of the guarantee is necessary to address

22 a financial crisis that poses a serious threat to the inter23 national financial system.

24 ‘‘(C) A certification under subparagraph (B) shall

25 take effect 30 days after it is made, unless there is earlier
4

•HR 1540 IH

1 enacted a joint resolution which provides that the certifi2 cation shall have no force or effect.’’.

3 (c) ELIMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO MONETIZE SPE4 CIAL DRAWING RIGHTS.—Section 4 of the Special Draw5 ing Rights Act (22 U.S.C. 286p) is amended by striking

6 ‘‘(a)’’ and all that follows through ‘‘(b)’’.

Æ