[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H334-H335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              AN APPEAL TO THE COMMON SENSE OF THE SENATE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Stearns) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. I rise today in the hopes of appealing to the common 
sense of my colleagues in the United States Senate. In a few days, they 
will vote on whether or not Ben Bernanke will serve a second term as 
Federal Reserve Chairman. For the good of American taxpayers and the 
greater economy, his nomination should be rejected.
  As Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Mr. Bernanke has intervened in 
the financial marketplace in an unprecedented way. He has instituted 
un-American policies that have distorted our free market economy, such 
as picking winners and losers, and the creation of ``too big to fail.'' 
Both Republicans and Democrats alike have argued that the Fed itself 
was a significant factor in creating the worst economic and financial 
crisis our Nation has faced in a generation.
  Where is the justification in reconfirming Ben Bernanke? Under him, 
interest rates were kept too low for too

[[Page H335]]

long, as the Fed simultaneously increased the money supply and economic 
bubbles were created. In 2006, financial experts throughout the Nation 
pointed out that the housing bubble was collapsing, yet the Fed took no 
action until it was too late, and tens of thousands of families found 
themselves in foreclosure.
  Another major factor in the economic meltdown was the questionable 
financial transactions by the holding companies of the largest banks 
and Wall Street firms, which are regulated by the Federal Reserve. It 
is clear now that the Fed abdicated its role as a regulator of these 
entities. Just last month, Mr. Bernanke admitted in front of the Senate 
Banking Committee that, ``In the area where we had responsibility, the 
bank holding companies, we should have done more.''
  The irony of his comments are that the Fed has plenty of power and 
authority to deal with the kinds of abuses we have seen in the 
financial industry and within the housing market, but they refused to 
act. Under the leadership of Mr. Bernanke, the Fed chose to ignore the 
abuses going on in the mortgage industry, particularly with subprime 
loans.
  The Fed also chose to ignore Wall Street's risky off-balance-sheet 
transactions that created a domino effect that rippled through our 
economy. Bloomberg reported that the Fed itself entered into trillions 
in off-balance-sheet transactions last year, but the Fed's own 
Inspector General has not even attempted to audit or to investigate 
these transactions. Astoundingly, Mr. Bernanke is now advocating that 
Congress grant the Fed even greater regulatory power. We need to audit 
the Federal Reserve now.
  In discussing Mr. Bernanke's failings as Fed Chairman, it is 
important to point out that he served on the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve from 2002 to 2005 before becoming Chairman. He is no 
novice, yet he ignored distress calls about our imminent financial 
meltdown.
  And Mr. Bernanke has not been forthcoming in explaining to Congress 
and the American people who in the private sector the Fed has chosen to 
subsidize with American taxpayers' dollars and for what reason and for 
what amounts. Mr. Bernanke has also been unable to fully explain and 
account for the $500 billion the Fed has lent to central banks in 
Europe. Instead, he continues to hide behind the longstanding premise 
that monetary policy should be free from political pressure, coupled 
with the convenience of the Fed not being a public agency and, thus, 
not being obligated to publicly account for its actions.
  Mr. Speaker, it is not his money. It belongs to the American 
taxpayers. Under Mr. Bernanke's leadership, the Fed even strove to keep 
the details of AIG's overpayments to its counterparties secret, as 
recently revealed by a newly disclosed e-mail from a New York Fed 
official. The e-mail clearly demonstrates the kind of culture that 
Bernanke oversaw at the Fed, one of secrecy and willingness to stifle 
important public disclosure pertaining to the financial crisis. But 
again, it is not his money.
  After the difficult financial year we have had, common sense dictates 
a change in leadership at the Federal Reserve. Reconfirming Mr. 
Bernanke to a second term is like putting a stamp of approval on the 
health of our unstable economy while guaranteeing more of the same 
failed policies. More of the same is not the solution to our economic 
downturn and crisis in the financial markets. We need a complete 
departure from the failed policies of the past.
  Mr. Bernanke steered our financial system directly onto the rocks. 
Should we really put him at the helm again? No.

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