Patman Hits Burns On Audit Lobbying
The chairman of the House Banking Committee -yesterday charged Arthur F. ÛÏBurns, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, with improprieties in lobbying against a bill which would require a government audit of the FedÛªs operations.</br></br>Rep. Wright Patman (D-Tex.) said in a letter to Burns that he understood the Fed chairman contacted a bank lobbying group ÛÏto enlist their support against the bill.Û He said he questioned ÛÏthe propriety of the Federal Reserve Board chairman, as a bank regulator, engaging in such activities.Û</br></br>In a quick reply to Patman, Burns denied that he had ever contacted a bank lobbying organization. *T hasten to add, however, that I certainly have not discouraged people who 'share my concern about your proposal from making their viewsÛ known.</br></br>The organization in question is the American Bankers Association, which represents nearly all of the 13,-000 commercial banks in the country.</br></br>An ABA official said last night that the initial contact between the Fed and the bankers came after a press conference in Chicago on Oct. 7 in which then ABA president Eugene H.