I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 595 

To amend the Federal Reserve Act to reform the Federal Reserve System. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 20, 2017 

Mr. CAPUANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, 

and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Reserve Act to reform the Federal 

Reserve System. 

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 ‘‘Bailout Prevention Act 

5 of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISCOUNTS FOR INDIVIDUALS, PARTNERSHIPS, 

2 AND CORPORATIONS. 

3 Section 13(3)(B) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 

4 U.S.C. 343(3)(B)) is amended by striking clauses (ii) and 

5 (iii) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(ii)(I) The Board shall establish proce7 dures to prohibit borrowing from programs and 

8 facilities by borrowers that are insolvent. A bor9 rower shall not be eligible to borrow from any 

10 emergency lending program or facility unless 

11 the Board and all Federal banking regulators 

12 with jurisdiction over the borrower certify that, 

13 at the time the borrower initially borrows under 

14 the program or facility, the borrower is not in15 solvent. Solvency shall be assessed by examining 

16 the last 4 months of relevant financial data and 

17 determining whether the fair value of the bor18 rower’s assets exceeds the fair value of the bor19 rower’s liabilities, with appropriate adjustment 

20 for temporary illiquidity in relevant markets. 

21 ‘‘(II) A borrower shall be considered insol22 vent for purposes of this subparagraph if the 

23 borrower is— 

24 ‘‘(aa) in bankruptcy, resolution under 

25 title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Re26 form and Consumer Protection Act (12 


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1 U.S.C. 5381 et seq.), or any other Federal 

2 or State insolvency proceeding; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) a bridge financial company (as 

4 defined in section 201(a) of the Dodd5 Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

6 Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5381(a))) or a 

7 bridge depository institution (as defined in 

8 section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

9 Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)). 

10 ‘‘(III) If the Board or any other banking 

11 regulator makes a certification of solvency, the 

12 Board or banking regulator, as applicable, shall 

13 issue a contemporaneous public statement pro14 viding a detailed explanation of the certification 

15 decision. 

16 ‘‘(iii) A program or facility shall be consid17 ered a program or facility with broad-based eli18 gibility only if not fewer than 5 companies are 

19 eligible to participate in the program or facility 

20 in a significant manner.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. PENALTY RATE REQUIREMENT; CONGRESSIONAL 

22 APPROVAL REQUIREMENT. 

23 Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 

24 343(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(F) Any emergency lending under this 

2 paragraph shall be provided at an annual inter3 est rate not less than 500 basis points greater 

4 than the cost of borrowing for the United 

5 States Treasury for a commensurate loan term. 

6 ‘‘(G)(i) If the Board determines that the 

7 Board shall create an emergency lending pro8 gram or facility that does not comply with the 

9 broad-based eligibility requirement described in 

10 subparagraph (B)(iii) or the penalty rate re11 quirement described in subparagraph (F), the 

12 Board— 

13 ‘‘(I) may create such a program or fa14 cility; and 

15 ‘‘(II) not later than 3 days after the 

16 date on which a program or facility is cre17 ated under clause (i), shall submit to Con18 gress a report that describes the reasons 

19 why the Board is unable to comply with 

20 any requirement described in the matter 

21 preceding subclause (I). 

22 ‘‘(ii)(I) A program or facility created under 

23 clause (i)(I) shall terminate on the date that is 

24 30 calendar days after the date on which Con25 gress receives a report described in clause 


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1 (i)(II) unless there is enacted into law a joint 

2 resolution approving the program or facility not 

3 later than 30 calendar days after the date on 

4 which the report is received. Any loan offered 

5 through the program or facility that are out6 standing as of the date on which the facility is 

7 terminated shall be repaid in full not later than 

8 30 calendar days after the date on which the 

9 program or facility is terminated. 

10 ‘‘(II) For the purpose of this section, the 

11 term ‘joint resolution’ means only a joint reso12 lution— 

13 ‘‘(aa) that is introduced not later than 

14 3 calendar days after the date on which 

15 the report referred to in clause (i)(I) is re16 ceived by Congress; 

17 ‘‘(bb) that does not have a preamble; 

18 ‘‘(cc) the title of which is as follows: 

19 ‘Joint resolution relating to the approval of 

20 a program or facility created by the Board 

21 of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys22 tem’; and 

23 ‘‘(dd) the matter after the resolving 

24 clause of which is as follows: ‘That Con25 gress approves the program or facility creVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Jan 30, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H595.IH H595

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1 ated by the Board of Governors of the 

2 Federal Reserve System on 

3 llllllllll.’ (The blank space 

4 being appropriately filled in). 

5 ‘‘(III)(aa) Upon receipt of a report under 

6 subsection (a)(3), the Speaker, if the House 

7 would otherwise be adjourned, shall notify the 

8 Members of the House that, pursuant to this 

9 section, the House shall convene not later than 

10 the second calendar day after receipt of such 

11 report. 

12 ‘‘(bb) Any committee of the House of Rep13 resentatives to which a joint resolution is re14 ferred shall report it to the House not later 

15 than 5 calendar days after the date of receipt 

16 of the report described in clause (i)(II). If a 

17 committee fails to report the joint resolution 

18 within that period, the committee shall be dis19 charged from further consideration of the joint 

20 resolution and the joint resolution shall be re21 ferred to the appropriate calendar. 

22 ‘‘(cc) After each committee authorized to 

23 consider a joint resolution reports it to the 

24 House or has been discharged from its consid25 eration, it shall be in order, not later than the 


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1 sixth day after Congress receives the report de2 scribed in clause (i)(II), to move to proceed to 

3 consider the joint resolution in the House. All 

4 points of order against the motion are waived. 

5 Such a motion shall not be in order after the 

6 House has disposed of a motion to proceed on 

7 the joint resolution. The previous question shall 

8 be considered as ordered on the motion to its 

9 adoption without intervening motion. The mo10 tion shall not be debatable. A motion to recon11 sider the vote by which the motion is disposed 

12 of shall not be in order. 

13 ‘‘(dd) The joint resolution shall be consid14 ered as read. All points of order against the 

15 joint resolution and against its consideration 

16 are waived. The previous question shall be con17 sidered as ordered on the joint resolution to its 

18 passage without intervening motion except 2 

19 hours of debate equally divided and controlled 

20 by the proponent and an opponent. A motion to 

21 reconsider the vote on passage of the joint reso22 lution shall not be in order. 

23 ‘‘(IV)(aa) Upon receipt of a report under 

24 clause (i)(II), if the Senate has adjourned or re25 cessed for more than 2 days, the majority leadVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Jan 30, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H595.IH H595

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1 er of the Senate, after consultation with the mi2 nority leader of the Senate, shall notify the 

3 Members of the Senate that, pursuant to this 

4 subparagraph, the Senate shall convene not 

5 later than the second calendar day after receipt 

6 of such message. 

7 ‘‘(bb) Upon introduction in the Senate, the 

8 joint resolution shall be placed immediately on 

9 the calendar. 

10 ‘‘(cc)(AA) Notwithstanding Rule XXII of 

11 the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is in order 

12 at any time during the period beginning on the 

13 fourth day after the date on which Congress re14 ceives a report described in clause (i)(II) and 

15 ending on the sixth day after the date on which 

16 Congress receives the report (even though a 

17 previous motion to the same effect has been dis18 agreed to) to move to proceed to the consider19 ation of the joint resolution, and all points of 

20 order against the joint resolution (and against 

21 consideration of the joint resolution) are 

22 waived. The motion to proceed is not debatable. 

23 The motion is not subject to a motion to post24 pone. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

25 the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not 


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1 be in order. If a motion to proceed to the con2 sideration of the resolution is agreed to, the 

3 joint resolution shall remain the unfinished 

4 business until disposed of. 

5 ‘‘(BB) Debate on the joint resolution, and 

6 on all debatable motions and appeals in connec7 tion therewith, shall be limited to not more than 

8 10 hours, which shall be divided equally be9 tween the majority and minority leaders or 

10 their designees. A motion further to limit de11 bate is in order and not debatable. An amend12 ment to, or a motion to postpone, or a motion 

13 to proceed to the consideration of other busi14 ness, or a motion to recommit the joint resolu15 tion is not in order. 

16 ‘‘(CC) The vote on passage shall occur im17 mediately following the conclusion of the debate 

18 on a joint resolution, and a single quorum call 

19 at the conclusion of the debate if requested in 

20 accordance with the rules of the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(DD) Appeals from the decisions of the 

22 Chair relating to the application of the rules of 

23 the Senate, as the case may be, to the proce24 dure relating to a joint resolution shall be de25 cided without debate. 


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1 ‘‘(V)(aa) If, before the passage by one 

2 House of a joint resolution of that House, that 

3 House receives from the other House a joint 

4 resolution, then the following procedures shall 

5 apply: 

6 ‘‘(AA) The joint resolution of the 

7 other House shall not be referred to a com8 mittee. 

9 ‘‘(BB) With respect to a joint resolu10 tion of the House receiving the resolu11 tion— 

12 ‘‘(CC) the procedure in that House 

13 shall be the same as if no joint resolution 

14 had been received from the other House; 

15 but 

16 ‘‘(DD) the vote on passage shall be on 

17 the joint resolution of the other House. 

18 ‘‘(bb) If one House fails to introduce or 

19 consider a joint resolution under this section, 

20 the joint resolution of the other House shall be 

21 entitled to expedited floor procedures under this 

22 section. 

23 ‘‘(cc) If, following passage of the joint res24 olution in the Senate, the Senate then receives 

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1 resentatives, the companion measure shall not 

2 be debatable. 

3 ‘‘(dd) If the President vetoes the joint res4 olution, the period beginning on the date the 

5 President vetoes the joint resolution and ending 

6 on the date the Congress receives the veto mes7 sage with respect to the joint resolution shall be 

8 disregarded in computing the 30-calendar-day 

9 period described in subclause (I) and debate on 

10 a veto message in the Senate under this section 

11 shall be 1 hour equally divided between the ma12 jority and minority leaders or their designees. 

13 ‘‘(ee) This subclause and subclauses (II), 

14 (III), and (IV) are enacted by Congress— 

15 ‘‘(AA) as an exercise of the rule16 making power of the Senate and House of 

17 Representatives, respectively, and as such 

18 it is deemed a part of the rules of each 

19 House, respectively, but applicable only 

20 with respect to the procedure to be fol21 lowed in that House in the case of a joint 

22 resolution, and it supersedes other rules 

23 only to the extent that it is inconsistent 

24 with such rules; and 


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1 ‘‘(BB) with full recognition of the 

2 constitutional right of either House to 

3 change the rules (so far as relating to the 

4 procedure of that House) at any time, in 

5 the same manner, and to the same extent 

6 as in the case of any other rule of that 

7 House.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RELATED 

9 TO CREDIT FACILITIES. 

10 (a) REPORTS ON GAO AUDITS.—Section 

11 714(f)(3)(C)(iii) of title 31, United States Code, is amend12 ed— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘60 

14 days’’; and 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘24 months’’ and inserting ‘‘60 

16 days’’. 

17 (b) PUBLIC DISCLOSURES BY THE BOARD OF GOV18 ERNORS.—Section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 

19 U.S.C. 248) is amended— 

20 (1) in the first subsection (s) (relating to trans21 parency and the release of information)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

23 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

24 ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘60 days’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘the last day of the eighth calendar quar3 ter following the calendar quarter in 

4 which’’ and inserting ‘‘the date that is 60 

5 days after the date on which’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘24- 

7 month’’ and inserting ‘‘60 days’’; and 

8 (2) by redesignating the second subsection (s) 

9 (relating to assessments, fees, and other charges) as 

10 subsection (t). 

Æ 


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