[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 BUDGET AND ACCOUNTING TRANSPARENCY ACT

  (Mr. CRAWFORD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the House for 
passing the Budget and Accounting Transparency Act earlier this week. 
This much-needed reform will increase transparency and accuracy in 
budgeting for Federal credit programs like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 
In addition, this reform will require fair value accounting for Federal 
programs that make direct loans or loan guarantees.
  Earlier this year with the Solyndra debacle, we found out that when 
Washington makes a bet the American taxpayer is often left with the 
bill. The Federal Government should consider fair value and market risk 
before betting on companies like Solyndra.
  Since the financial crisis began, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have 
become the financial responsibility of the Federal Government. However, 
the Office of Management and Budget has not accounted for the Fannie 
and Freddie burden. This bill will fix that mistake.
  If we're going to get out of this financial mess, we have to be 
honest about how much we're really spending. This is a commonsense 
reform that will help lawmakers be better stewards of our hardworking 
constituents' tax dollars.

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