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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I rise today to talk about an issue of great national importance that affects every family in America.
We know the Federal Reserve has been wildly unaccountable for years under Jay Powell's leadership. Beyond his failed monetary policies leading to destroyed markets and misallocated capital, Powell has also overseen regulatory failures and numerous reports of unethical practices among its own members, all of which were overlooked and enabled by the Fed Board's handpicked inspector general.
This malpractice and lack of transparency and accountability have seriously undermined confidence in our financial system. We can work to address this and start repairing the broken trust of the American people today by passing my bill, which is simple: Establish an independent, Senate-confirmed inspector general at the Federal Reserve. Every other government Agency has one. Surely the government's largest Agency should have one. It is just common sense to establish a Senate- confirmed inspector general at the Fed.
This inspector general would finally be independent of the Fed Board, who are the very people they are tasked with investigating in order to bring accountability to the Fed on behalf of the American people.
This must happen now. In recent years, we have seen hundreds of allegations of voting members of the Federal Reserve engaging in shady and unethical investment trades while in possession of insider information about the Fed. We have seen the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and others.
We have seen a complete mismanagement of the Fed's policies while a culture of corruption has arrived at the Fed, and we are seeing billions of taxpayer dollars being spent to renovate the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC, all while the Fed is operating at a loss.
You might wonder, as I do, why no one gets fired or is held accountable and why no changes have been made. It is because Jay Powell is Chair, and the Federal Reserve's inspector general is appointed by and reports to--guess who--Jay Powell and the Fed Board, period.
It is a clear conflict of interest constructed with a perverse pay structure that enables issues to go unchecked and covered up for too long at the expense of the American people. The American people want to know their central bank is doing the right thing. The Fed makes decisions that impact their lives each and every day. For families like mine, growing up without much, the Fed's choices can decide if they can afford their mortgage or put food on the table. Families across our Nation deserve a Federal Reserve that they trust is working in their best interest.
I would like to thank Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, Senator Lummis, and Senator Moreno for working with me on this important bill. I would now like to yield to my colleague Senator Moreno to say a few words about the legislation.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. I yield to the Senator from Wyoming Senator Lummis.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Well, first off, it is clear we need changes at the Federal Reserve to bring accountability the American people deserve. I have several bills to address the failures of the Fed and bring accountability on behalf of the American people, and today I ask my colleagues to support my commonsense bipartisan bill with my colleagues Senator Warren, Senator Moreno, Senator Lummis to establish a truly independent inspector general at the Federal Reserve, and I know my colleague from Michigan believes in the same thing.
We have to have accountability. This bill is a great first step to fix the failures and restore trust in the Federal Reserve and it sure works on behalf of the American people. I encourage all my colleagues to support it.
1627, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. First off, I want to thank my colleague for his interest in making sure we have an independent inspector general. I don't think there is a disagreement on that. It is how do we get them on point and the process of getting them confirmed.
So I actually look forward to working with my colleague. Hopefully, we get this done quickly. I mean, there is so many issues--as we all agree--at the Federal Reserve, and we have got to get somebody independent in there. And so we have to come up with the right process where it is not perceived to be political.
So I know my colleagues from Ohio and from Wyoming would like to say something.
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