The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power “to coin money” and “regulate the value thereof.” On that basis, Republican Congressman Kevin Brady and Republican Senator John Cornyn have introduced legislation to create a Centennial Monetary Commission. The bipartisan body would “examine the United States’ monetary policy, evaluate alternative monetary regimes and recommend a course for monetary policy going forward.”
The Centennial Monetary Commission Act of 2015 was voted out of the House Financial Services Committee by a margin of 35 to 22, on July 29, and will go to the House floor for a full vote, mostly likely in September.



After more than 100 years, it’s time for Congress to evaluate the Federal Reserve’s performance and ask, Can we do better?
Congress created the Fed in 1913, when the United States was still on the gold standard. Since then, the United States has moved to a pure fiat money system, and in 1977 Congress amended the Federal Reserve Act to give the Fed a dual mandate to achieve both price stability and maximum sustainable employment. Section 2A of the amended Act, however, also holds the Fed responsible for ensuring “moderate long-term interest rates.” Thus, the Fed has three mandates, not two.