Posted by Murr25 on 04/16/09 12:11 PM   [Newer: Rockefeller Defends Federalism]

April 16, 2009

Dear Mr. Murray,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Federal Reserve and appropriate legislative action with respect to it. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, the Federal Reserve was originally created in 1913 to address the banking panics that plagued America's early history, although it now has a number of responsibilities with respect to maintaining stability in the monetary and financial system of the United States. Needless to say, the recent economic and financial crisis has given rise to many questions about the appropriate role and conduct of the Federal Reserve, including whether the Fed should even exist in its current form.

There are a number of legislative proposals on this subject. H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, would reform how the Federal Reserve is audited by the Comptroller General of the United States. It would require the Comptroller General to complete its audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks by the end of 2010. It would also require a report be made public about the substance of the audit within 90 days. H.R. 833 would eliminate the Federal Reserve System and all reserve banks, under the theory that Congress would then have stronger control of our monetary system.

Currently, both of these bills are pending before the House Committee on Financial Services. Although I am not a member of this committee, I will follow this issue closely and will keep your views in mind as I continue to work on legislation that provides economic security to all Minnesotans. 

Thank you again for sharing your views with me, and I look forward to hearing from you again in the future.  For more information about my activities representing southern Minnesota in Congress, please visit http://walz.house.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,

Tim Walz
Member of Congress

It took quite a while to get a response but at least it was on the topic of the FED and not generic.

Posted 04/16/09 2:15 PM annarlutz Lexington, SC

This is a form response. I have read a few other responses, from other representatives that were nearly the same.

Posted 04/16/09 3:29 PM Murr25 Mankato, MN

I know. I was just surprised that the response had to do with what I emailed them about.

Posted 04/16/09 7:08 PM ckellyhurst Las Vegas, NV

Very similar to the response i got from my representative Dina Titus. Check my Blog and read it.

Posted 04/16/09 7:59 PM Caleb Kinley Hot Springs, AR

If I'm not mistaken, our congressmen can STILL become a co-sponsor of a bill that's in a committee.

Posted 04/16/09 8:51 PM Mike in Virginia Fredericksburg, VA

They all send form letters in response to correspondence. That's why I have started keeping my letters short and to the point. They do, at least sometimes, pay attention to the numbers for or against an issue. But their staffs don't read an entire letter. They just get the gist of it and send off the form response.

Posted 04/16/09 8:52 PM Mike in Virginia Fredericksburg, VA

P.S. Caleb is right. A member of Congress does not have to be on the relevant committee to co-sponsor legislation. So Walz is just blowing smoke.