dr. hall. >> good morning, chairman issa and ranking member cummings and members of the committee. i'm keith hall, a senior fellow at georgia mason. recently i was the commissioner of labor statistics from 2008-2012. and my testimony i would like to talk about the bureau of labor statistics and its role in disseminating economic data. first of all let me note that the bureau of labor statistics is an independent federal statistical agency. as such, it is tasked not only with collecting, compiling and producing economic data, but also with disseminating the data and explaining it to the public. there are a number of principles which any federal statistical agency follows, its disseminate data in both a transparent, independent manner with no bias of any type, there are also tasked with creating a level playing field for the release of data meaning that nobody has an advantage of getting the data early ahead of other people. in addition, they are responsible for the security of the data and that's everywhere including inside the lockup room. in fact, the bureau of labor statistics has the resp

dr. keith hall is the former commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics, and is currently a senior fellow at the mercadis certainly. and ms. diane furchtgott-roth is the former chief economist of the united states department of labor and a current fellow at the manhattan institute. welcome all. pursuant to our committee's rules would you please rise to take the oath. and raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? let the record reflect they all affirmed or swore. please be seated. a couple of returning. a couple of you, it may be your first. we have members that will be coming in and out. we estimated about half an hour for your opening statements. so try to stay as close to five minutes as you can. we will have your entire opening statement, plus additional material you may wish to submit to support anything you say here today, included in the record without objection. so you only need to summarize, because for the record, all that you have submitted will be on the record. mr. moss? >

dr. hall? >> good morning, chairman issa and ranking member cummings. members of the committee. my name is keith hall, i'm a senior research fellow at george mason. most recently i was the commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics from 2008 to 2012. in my testimony, i would like to talk about the role of disseminating economic data. first of all, let me note that the bureau of labor statistics is an independent federal statistical agency, and as such it is tasked not only with collecting, compiling and producing economic data, but also with disseminating the data and explaining it to the public. there are a number of principles which any federal statistical agency follows. it's to disseminate data in both a transparent and independent manner with no bias of any type, they're also tasked with creating a level playing field for the release of data meaning that nobody has an advantage of getting the data early ahead of other people. in addition, they are, they are response responsible for the security of the data, and that's everywhere including inside the lock-up room. in fact, the bureau of

dr. keith hall is the labor statistics and currently a senior fellow at the mckay defender. and last but not least, i will work hard on this one. ms. diane furchtgott-roth. furchtgott-roth is the former chief economist department of labor and current fellow of the manhattan institute. local mall pursuant to committee's rules, which you please rise and take the oath? and raise your right hands. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, all truth and nothing but the truth? what the record reflect all answered in the affirmative to the best of their ability. please be seated. now, many of you are returning to testify. a couple of you and me your first. we have members who will be coming in and out. we estimated about half an hour for your opening statements, so try to stay as close to five minutes as you can. we will have your entire opening statements plus additional material you may wish to submit to support anything you say here today included in the record without objection. so you only need to summarize because for the recor

dr. keith hall is currently a senior fellow. last but not least, i will work hard on this one. ms.iana furchtgott-roth is the former chief economist of the united states department of labor and a current fellow at the manhattan institute. welcome all. pursuant to our committee's rules, will you rise and take the oath and raise your right hand? do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. let the record reflect that all answered in the affirmative to the best of their ability. please be seated. many of you are returning to testify. for a couple of you, it may be your first. we have members who will be coming in and out. we estimate about half an hour for your opening statements tried to stay as close to five minutes as you can. we will have your entire opening statement and additional material you wish to submit included in the record without objection. you only need to summarize because for the record all the you have submitted will be on the record. >> members of the committee, i thank the co

dr. keith hall is the former commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics. i will work hard on this one, aha -- dianaburch bot r furchtgott-roth is a fellow at the manhattan institute. would you please rise and take the oath. raise your right hands. the you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? but the record confirmed that all answered in the affirmative to the best of their ability. please be seated. many of you are returning to testify. a couple of you may be your first time. we have members who will be coming in and out. we estimate about half an hour for your opening statements, so try to stay as close to 5 minutes as you can. any additional material you may wish to submit to support anything he say today be included in the record without objection. you only need to summarize, because all you have submitted will be on the record. >> members of the committee, i think the committee for the opportunity to appear today and i want to express my appreciation to the comm