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Whereas section 8 of Article I of the Constitution vests in
Congress the power to ‘‘coin money, regulate the value
thereof, and of foreign coins’’;
Whereas section 9 of Article I of the Constitution provides
that ‘‘no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but
in consequence of appropriations made by law’’;
Whereas the President has recently sought the enactment of
legislation to authorize the President to undertake efforts
to support economic stability in Mexico and strengthen
the Mexican peso;
Whereas the President announced on January 31, 1995, that
actions are being taken to achieve the same result with-
out the enactment of legislation by the Congress;
Whereas the obligation or expenditure of funds by the Presi-
dent without consideration by the House of Representa-
tives of legislation to make appropriated funds available
for obligation or expenditure in the manner proposed by
the President raises grave questions concerning the pre-
rogatives of the House and the integrity of the proceed-
ings of the House;
Whereas the exchange stabilization fund was created by stat-
ute to stabilize the exchange value of the dollar and is
also required by statute to be used in accordance with the
obligations of the United States under the Articles of
Agreement of the International Monetary Fund; and
Whereas the commitment of $20,000,000,000 of the re-
sources of the exchange stabilization fund to Mexico by
the President without congressional approval may jeop-
ardize the ability of the fund to fulfill its statutory pur-
poses: Now, therefore, be it
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Resolved, That the Comptroller General of the United
States shall prepare and transmit, within 7 days after the
adoption of this resolution, a report to the House of Rep-
resentatives containing the following:
(1) The opinion of the Comptroller General on
whether any of the proposed actions of the Presi-
dent, as announced on January 31, 1995, to
strengthen the Mexican peso and support economic
stability in Mexico requires congressional authoriza-
tion or appropriation.
(2) A detailed evaluation of the terms and con-
ditions of the commitments and agreements entered
into by the President, or any officer or employee of
the United States acting on behalf of the President,
in connection with providing such support, including
the terms which provide for collateral or other meth-
ods of assuring repayment of any outlays by the
United States.
(3) An analysis of the resources which the
International Monetary Fund has agreed to make
available to strengthen the Mexican peso and sup-
port economic stability in Mexico, including—
(A) an identification of the percentage of
such resources which are attributable to capital
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contributions by the United States to such
Fund; and
(B) an analysis of the extent to which the
Fund’s participation in such efforts will likely
require additional contributions by member
states, including the United States, to the Fund
in the future.
(4) An evaluation of the role played by the
Bank for International Settlements in international
efforts to strengthen the Mexican peso and support
economic stability in Mexico and the extent of the fi-
nancial exposure of the United States, including the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,
with respect to the Bank’s activities.
(5) A detailed analysis of the relationships be-
tween the Bank for International Settlements and
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem and between the Bank and the Secretary of the
Treasury, and the extent to which such relationships
involve a financial commitment to the Bank or other
members of the Bank, on the part of the United
States, of public money or any other financial re-
sources under the control of the Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System.
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(6) An accounting of fund flows, during the 24
months preceding the date of the adoption of this
resolution, through the exchange stabilization fund
established under section 5302 of title 31, United
States Code, the manner in which amounts in the
fund have been used domestically and internation-
ally, and the extent to which the use of such
amounts to strengthen the Mexican peso and sup-
port economic stability in Mexico represents a depar-
ture from the manner in which amounts in the fund
have previously been used, including conventional
uses such as short-term currency swaps to defend
the dollar as compared to intermediate- and long-
term loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries.
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