31 U.S.C. § 5301 Buying Obligations of the United States Government

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-34 (published on www.congress.gov on 12/26/2023), except for [P. L. 118-31]
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 31 U.S.C. § 5301

(a) The President may direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make an agreement with the Federal reserve banks and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System when the President decides that the foreign commerce of the United States is affected adversely because-

(1) the value of coins and currency of a foreign country compared to the present standard value of gold is depreciating;

(2) action is necessary to regulate and maintain the parity of United States coins and currency;

(3) an economic emergency requires an expansion of credit; or

(4) an expansion of credit is necessary so that the United States Government and the governments of other countries can stabilize the value of coins and currencies of a country.

(b) Under an agreement under subsection (a) of this section, the Board shall permit the banks (and the Board is authorized to permit the banks notwithstanding another law) to agree that the banks will-

(1) conduct through each entire specified period open market operations in obligations of the United States Government or corporations in which the Government is the majority stockholder; and

(2) buy directly and hold an additional $3,000,000,000 of obligations of the Government for each agreed period, unless the Secretary consents to the sale of the obligations before the end of the period.

(c) With the approval of the Secretary, the Board may require Federal reserve banks to take action the Secretary and Board consider necessary to prevent unreasonable credit expansion.

Cite as 31 U.S.C. § 5301

Source: Pub. L. 97-258, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 993.

current through 8/1/2023

<TABLE> <TR><TD colspan="3">HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>Revised Section</TD> <TD>Source (U.S. Code)</TD> <TD>Source (Statutes at Large)</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>5301(a), (b)</TD> <TD>31:821(less (a)(last sentence)).</TD> <TD>May 12, 1933, ch. 25, §43(less (b)(1)(last sentence)), 48 Stat. 51; Jan. 30, 1934, ch. 6, §12, 48 Stat. 342; Jan. 23, 1937, ch. 5, §2, 50 Stat. 4; July 6, 1939, ch. 260, §3, 53 Stat. 998; June 30, 1941, ch. 265, §2, 55 Stat. 396; June 12, 1945, ch. 186, §4, 59 Stat. 238; Mar. 18, 1968, Pub. L. 90-269, §9, 82 Stat. 50.</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>5301(c)</TD> <TD>31:821(a)(last sentence).</TD> <TD/> </TR> </TABLE>

In subsection (a), before clause (1), the text of 31:821(b)(matter before (1)) is omitted as obsolete because clause (1) is omitted as executed, and clause (2) is omitted as expired. The text of 31:821(b)(matter after (2)) is omitted as obsolete because silver is no longer coined. The words "in his discretion" and "several" are omitted as surplus. The words "Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System" are substituted for "Federal Reserve Board" because of 12:241. The words "upon investigation" are omitted as surplus. In clause (1), the word "foreign" is substituted for "of any other government or governments" to eliminate unnecessary words. The words "coins and" are added for consistency. In clause (2), the words "United States coins and currency" are substituted for "currency issues of the United States" for consistency. In clause (4), the words "so that the United States Government and the governments of other countries can stabilize" are substituted for "to secure by international agreement a stabilization" for clarity. The words "at proper levels" are omitted as surplus.