i call this hearing to order. welcome dr. janet yellen as chair to deliver the federal reserve semi annual monetary policy report. chair yellen, i would like to congratulate you on your nomination and confirmation. in fact, the first time the woman has submitted the report to congress. chairman yellen, you a lot of important issues to focus on as chair including continued implementation of wall street reform, establishing policies to improve financial stability and reduce systemic risk and

providing appropriate monetary policy to support our economy. overall, i'm encouraged by the recent improvements in the economy. it appears that economic growth is picking up and mainstream economists expect stronger growth this year. this is good news. however, i'm concerned that the economic recovery is not being felt by every american. too many cities and towns across america have not fully recovered from the great recession and continues to struggle. long-term unemployment remains historically high. we see recent college graduates, many of whom are burdened by high student loan debt, have a tough time finding work. income inequality is becoming

more severe and more families are being squeezed out of the middle class. as such and while inflation remains weak, i caution the fed not to move too quickly to exit from its current policies until we are on solid fooding and the recovery is more widespread. while the fed's policies have helped the recovery, the feed can only do so much congress needs to act to ensure recovery is more widespread and generations of americans are not shut out of economic opportunity. we cannot solve our physical problems by imposing immediate and arbitrary cuts and we need to invest in the economy today to ensure future prosperity. it is important we implement

policies that work alongside monetary policy to help get americans back to work. chairman yellen -- actions are affecting the economy and where the economy is heading. i now turn to ranking member crapo for his opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and welcome, also, chair yellen on your first appearance before this committee as the chair of the federal reserve board of governors. today's hearing is an important opportunity to examine the current state of monetary policy. since your confirmation hearing in november, the fed has begun the process of tapering its quantitative easing purposes. the pace of quantitative easing purchases has come down by $20 billion. this is a welcome development for those of us who