WASHINGTON — GOP Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and David Vitter of Louisiana have introduced legislation that would require the Federal Reserve to focus on price stability to keep inflation low as its top priority.
The Federal Reserve Single Mandate Act of 2013, introduced Monday, would undo the agency's so-called dual mandate to address inflation and unemployment, requiring it to focus primarily on keeping prices stable and inflation low. Republicans have repeatedly called for stripping the Fed of its dual mandate, and both chambers introduced legislation that included a similar provision last year.
"Providing the Fed with a clear and explicit focus on keeping inflation low will serve America better than the broad, bipolar mandate it has today. The dual mandate blurs the line between fiscal and monetary policy and allows Congress to shirk its responsibility to enact sound budgets and policies that produce economic growth," said Corker in a press release. "The best way to achieve full employment in the long-run is to provide markets certainty that long-term price stability will be maintained."
The bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Democrats have been opposed to such a change in the Fed's mandate.
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