[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 25, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1333-E1334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                FEDERAL RESERVE TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2012

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 24, 2012

  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I believe that transparency in the 
activities of government is extremely important and that we should 
endeavor to let in more sunlight, not less. Therefore, I am proud to 
support H.R. 459, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act.
  The financial crisis of 2007-2008 cost nearly $6.5 trillion in 
household wealth. That's home equity and savings for retirement and 
college that millions of people will likely never get back. Between 
December 2007 and early 2010 8.7 million jobs were lost--Including a 
record-breaking 779,000 in January of 2009 alone.
  I raise these frightening numbers to illustrate a point--the impact 
of the financial crisis was disastrous, widespread, and occurred very 
quickly.
  As a result, unprecedented steps were taken to halt the disastrous 
decline in our economy. These included the Federal Reserve (the Fed) 
stretching its emergency lending authority farther than it ever had to 
before. This, along with the legislative actions of Congress and the 
efforts of the Bush and Obama Administrations, helped to prevent the 
``Great Recession'' from instead becoming ``The Great Depression 
Redux.''
  The Obama Administration and Congress have worked to rebuild our 
economy. Over 4.4 million jobs have been created over the past 28 
consecutive months. The American automobile industry has been saved and 
is prospering. Communities across the nation benefitted from 
investments in transportation, energy, and other vital areas from the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Fed has also contributed to 
this effort by keeping interest rates low and other measures.
  But progress has not been fast enough. We are all frustrated by the 
current state of affairs. We are also rightly frustrated at the conduct 
of banks and bankers--private sector bankers and central bankers alike.
  I recognize that the actions of the Fed are subject to Congressional 
oversight and audits by the Government Accountability Office. I was 
proud to support the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
Protection Act, which included needed reforms of the Fed's emergency 
lending authority, and required that the Government Accountability 
Office conduct an audit of the Fed's emergency lending programs.
  These are much needed steps. While I don't share the view that we 
should abolish the Fed, or that the Fed's activities are necessarily 
malicious, I do believe that the American people have a right to know 
how decisions about interest rates and other policies that impact their 
day-to-day lives are made.
  The recent revelations that major international banks colluded to set 
the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is an influential 
global interest rate, indicate that it is in the public interest to 
more closely scrutinize the activities of both financial market players 
as well as those that are supposed to be the unbiased referees like the 
Fed.
  Today's bill is a positive step toward doing that and I am proud to 
support H.R. 459.
    

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