Rep. Ron Paul, (R-Texas), who will head a subcommittee overseeing the Federal Reserve in the new Congress, called the central bank a “cartel” and said it had “monopoly control” over the US dollar. “I think we should start ending the Fed by allowing competition. I don’t like the idea that they have monopoly control. It’s a cartel: They get to print the money,” said Paul, who wrote a book called End the Fed.

Paul said that he wanted to “legalize competition,” so that Americans can use gold and silver as legal tender.

He accused the Fed of secretiveness and said he’s in favor of counting the government’s gold to make sure it hasn’t been lent out without the knowledge of the American public.