Yet, despite the impact of the nation's central bank on every single American's money and daily life, it is the most secretive agency in the entire federal government. As Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, I have found it to be even less transparent than our nation's premier intelligence-gathering organizations, including the Central Intelligence Agency. In fact, it is so secretive that Congress has never fully audited it since it was created nearly a century ago in 1913.

Such an unchecked power run by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats stands against the very limited government principles that the Founding Fathers envisioned when they framed the Constitution.

Congress has the opportunity to gain insight into the problem by conducting the first full audit of the Fed through the bipartisan Federal Reserve Transparency Act. The bill - which the House passed this week with the support of 238 Republicans and 89 Democrats - lifts unnecessary restrictions on Congressional access to information and allows Congress to conduct oversight of the bank backed by the enforcement of the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The Fed's lack of transparency has left most Americans in the dark about the full impact of the government takeover of health care, the failed $1 trillion "stimulus" and the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the economy.

We have no idea how the Fed sets interest rates or reached agreements with foreign central banks at the height of the financial crisis. At the time the federal government was printing trillions of dollars for emergency bailouts and loans to politically-connected banks and corporations around the world.

We also need to learn more about the extent of the Quantitative Easing program that could lead to a spike in inflation. With no input, no public debate and with zero consequences, in 2010 the Federal Reserve decided to buy $600 billion worth of U.S. Treasury securities with money we do not have. The American people deserve to know what this will do to the price of groceries, gasoline and what it will to do the value of their savings.

The chairman of the Federal Reserve periodically testifies before Congress and holds press conferences, but that is no substitute for thorough disclosure and transparency. Testimony by the Fed Chairman provides no real insight into the inner workings of the central bank.

The only thing that we know for sure is that the United States remains in a fiscal crisis with $15.5 trillion in national debt and the fourth-straight year of $1 trillion-plus budget deficits.