. >> mr. dodds. >> the prime minister may have seen the headlines in the newspapers today that the happiest people live in northern ireland. and as the major party of government for the last five years in northern ireland, we are not surprised by that. one thing that overshadowed that happiness is the high and escalating price of petrol and diesel which is the highest not only in the united kingdom but the highest in the european union. can the prime minister bring happiness to all parts of the united kingdom by agreeing to do away with the august fuel tax rise increase on reduced fuel allowances as soon as possible? >> well, i'm delighted to hear that the people of northern ireland are the happiest of the united kingdom. i have to say that their representatives in this house don't always give that impression. but maybe i've been missing something. we recognize that families and businesses are continuing to feel the pressure from very high prices. we cut fuel duty and scrap the automatic fuel duty s

i would like to point out for the record that what's bipartisan is called dodd frank. mr. bernanke, thank you for being here today. in your testimony and written remarks, there are some things coming from michigan, a very hard-hit state that is struggling to come back in this stagnant economy. there are some things that bear repeating. on page, i believe, 2. the economy appears to have been growing during that time frame at or below its long-term trend. continued improvement in the job market is likely to require stronger growth and final demand and production. notwithstanding the better recent data, the job market remains far from normal. the unemployment rate remains elevated, long-term unemployment is still near record levels, and the number of persons working part-time for economic reasons is very high. i go on. fundamentals to support spending continue to be weak. real household and economic wealth were flat in 2011 and much credit remained strict for several borrowers. two questions and then i'll be quiet and listen. the first is, in terms of the credit still not get

mr. cordray a a -- in the dodd/frank act. given that the cfpb is not subject to the budget process, it's essential to the oversight process. in fact, hearings like this are the only opportunity currently available to congress to exercise any oversight of the cfpb at all. again, i thank mr. cordray. i thank you for your appearance, and now i recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee, ms. maloney. >> is mr. frank coming, or -- >> pardon me. should we wait for him? >> we're going to -- >> well, first of all, i would like -- should i wait for mr. frank or -- >> i'll allow mr. frank to come in and make an opening statement. or would you like mr. -- >> i'll just go ahead in the interest of time. first of all, i'd like to welcome director cordray and really thank you for your impressive accomplishments so far. i know that when we were doing the mark-up on dodd/frank, i offered an amendment that called for an annual report and oversight by this committee of the cfpb. that was later amended to make it a semiannual report to con

mr. cordray, mortgage origination is a critical function of our housing finance system reform directed by dodd/frank must be implemented with considerable care and caution. cfpb has been active in this area working on the ability to repay regulations, working on integrating mortgage disclosure requirements under respa and truthful lending act. while not well crafted these rules will not help consumers by drying up liquidity in the mortgage market, driving up cost and limiting access to mortgage credit. we've seen the rule implemented in the name of consumer protection that had the impact of limiting the impact to lower cost loans. some prevented borrowers from closing because legitimate discrepancy in the closing table. rules that are implemented in the consume procedure techs in the force of mortgage originators to offer loans where consumers pay more for their closing costs. we must protect the consumer and we must seek cost -- make sure that costs to increase in the name of consumer protections are not implemented. we must not restrict liquidity or consume procedure techs in the name of con

mr. roth. congress passed the dodd-frank bill. with more rules and regulations are an adequate substitute for enforcing existing laws. right now the cftc is writing new rules at a furious pace but in the case of mf global they failed to and force the most basic of rules that monitor commodities accounts. in your opinion, how do the new rules and regulations written by the cftc benefit producers of whirl areas that in many cases rely on small banks for credit? >> the expression is above my pay grade. >> can you answer nonetheless? >> i have been here for 20 years. i have been in the regulatory process for a long time. and i know that whenever bad things happen there's a tendency to write new rules and that is sometimes very helpful. the rules we are proposing are helpful. but ultimately it comes down to enforcement. i don't care what set of rules you have. at the end of the day it is about enforcement. that is true about the futures regulation area and will be true in the swaps area as well. >> should the cftc be focusing its effor

dodd/frank. do you agree with what mr. bernanke said? >> absolutely not. d/frank is a terrible piece of financial legislation that didn't address any of the causes of the crisis that we just went through. it won't prevent the next crisis. volumes and volumes of regulations. the bigger banks can absorb it, the smaller banks can't. i would not be surprised to see half of the community banks in this country go out of business if we don't give some relief from dodd/frank for them. it's a terrible burden on them. >> what i hear all the time is the consumer financial protection agency, whatever it's called the elizabeth warren thing, which has no regulation, it gets us money from the fed. it's interfering already. with lending, paypal, car loan, things of that sort. is any of that stuff true? from your experience? >> absolutely, i think lending has tightened up as people said it would. and let me go back to the capital issue. the reason why banks have a lot of excess capital right now is they don't have anything to do with it. the loan growth has been non-existen

mr. chairman. and welcome, secretary geithner. title five of the dodd-frank act created the federal insurance office, the treasury, and in conjunction with the trade representatives, one of the most important missions is to strengthen the international competitiveness of the u.s. insurers and reininsurers. and to represent the the united states international forums and increase influence in the development of international standards. in your opinion, does it have the adequate staffing and other resources to successfully carry out this international mission? >> i believe so. if that were not the case, we would fix it. we have listened carefully to concerns that they have. i'm personally committed to making sure that office has the resources it needs. >> they were required to submit two supports in september, one in january. they're late. when will we see the reports? >> they're coming. i apologize that they're behind. that's not really a resource question. they just want to do it carefully. >> okay. then i would like to go back to mr. miller was talking

mr. capuano. >> chairman, it is interesting. i start off trying to be bipartisan, and then i just heard that the dodd-frank bill and obama possums problem. i would like to invite anyone who has any information whatsoever, the justice department, the cftc, anyone who has given mr. jon corzine a past related to this matter, i would like to see it and it would be another matter we don't have. i would like to know if dodd-frank cause this problem, then what caused we human brothers, what caused bernie madoff? i know we are here to make a point, but let's stick to the matter. if you know, go to the justice department and tell them. >> will the gentleman yield? >> i appreciate you yielding. the point that i am making, i am quoting the commissioner at the cftc. it is his observation. it is his observation that since the dodd-frank act became law, the commission has acted in this way. it is his observation that he has concentrated on swaps rule-making while averting its gaze from futures market -- >> i would be happy to go for my time -- >> i would be happy to join with the gentleman asked them that question to see if they think publicl

mr. welsh, newt gingrich with dissolve dodd/frank overnight if he were elected president. >> and goldmanks would be quite happy to see that happen. and it is obviously a benefit to them if they have that happen. that's $15 on the price of filling up your tank if you have a pickup truck. so goldman sachs's got a lot at stake basically to go back to the future which is what got us in this so much trouble. the bottom line here -- >> but let's be fair, mr. welsh, you and i know that democrats have already received money over the years from goldman sachs, indeed the president's 2008 campaign was not shy whether it came to receiving donations from that very bank. >> you are absolutely right. in fact, democrats played a significant role and it was under bill clinton that we got rid of glass stiegel. we broke down the walls between investment banks and commercial banks. so, yes, democrats were complicit in this. and we've got to do better ourselves. but bottom line, what we have to incent is the model of main street banks where their relationship to their clients is one of partners and advisors

mr. speaker, i was proud to be part of an effort that produced dodd-frank. legislation that will improve accountability and transparency in the financial market. including the pre-dodd-frank unregulated, over-the-counter derivatives market which played a central role in the crisis. however, i did not vote for dodd-frank as retribution against -- against wall street or any punitive means. i voted for dodd-frank to enhance the transparency of markets and promote prosperity for americans going forward. for that reason, i'm happy to support h.r. 2779. a little bit of background about the critical need the bill addresses and how a bipartisan collaboration produced the final bill. swaps are versatile financial tools that have become instrumental for the management and risk and for allowing companies to more efficiently transact in global markets. swaps aid companies to hedge and to mitigate things like interest rates and currency exposure. but also more exotic risks associated with unique markets and businesses. h.r. 2779 clarifies that end users, not investors, h

i would just like to point out that the bill is so bipartisan that it is called dodd-frank. mr.ou for being here today. in your testimony and written remarks, there are some things coming from michigan, a very hard hit states struggling to come back in this stagnant economy. there are some things that bear repeating. on page two, "the economy appears to have been growing at the time frame at or below its long-term trends. continued improvement in the job market is likely to include a jump in production. notwithstanding, it remains far from normal. the unemployment rate remains elevated. long-term unemployment is still near record levels. the number of persons working time -- part-time for economic reasons is very high." it goes on. real household income and wealth are flat in 2011. access to credit remains restricted from any potential borrowers. consumer sentiment has rebounded but remains relatively low. now, two questions and then i will be quiet and listen. in terms of the credit, still not getting potential borrowers. what specifically do you think the reason for that is? w

dodd-frank. and according to mr. om malik, the cftc ms. cracks in the system, it has cost over a billion here. in terms of the client. at least hundreds of millions. so i will end by quoting them. since the dodd-frank act became law, the commission has acted like a little child abandoning the old toy and swapping them out for the new. it has concentrated on swaps rule-making, while averting its gaze from the futures markets and their development. therein lies the concern. the broader question, has got to be educated regarding the ability and willingness of the cf pc to ensure customer funds are protected and i yield back, mr. chairman. >> i thank the gentleman and i yield to the ranking member, mr. capuano. >> mr. chairman, it's kind of interesting we sort up try to be bipartisan and now i just for the both president obama and the dodd-frank bill caused this problem i would like any member here who's has any information whatsoever that the justice department, the sec, the cftc or any other appropriate agency has given mr. corzine or anyone else a pass on the investigation related to this matter

mr. president, the dodd-frank financial reform bill stipulated very clearly that the cftc needed to eliminate, prevent, or diminish excessive oil speculation by january 17, 2011, 14 months ago. they have not done it. the cftc has not obeyed the law, and it's time for congress to tell them that breaking the law is not acceptable and what they have got to do is in fact to defend the consumers of this country. mr. president, in my view, what this legislation would accomplish is that by immediately curbing the role of excessive speculation in any contract market within the jurisdiction in control of the commodities future trading commission on or through which energy futures are trade -- that's what this amendment does -- it also eliminates excessive speculation, price distortion, sudden or unreasonable fluctuations or unwarranted changes in prices or other unlawful activity that is causing major market disturbances that prevent the market from accurately reflecting the forces of supply and demand for energy commodities. bottom line, mr. president: congress has got to tell the cftc to obey the la

would like to put -- to point out for the record that the bill is so bipartisan is called dodd- frank. [laughter] mr. bernanke, thank you for being here. in your testimony and written remarks there are some things coming from michigan, a very hard-hit state that is struggling to come back in this economy. there are -- there are some things that bear repeating. on page, i believe, two. "the economy appears to have been growing at that time frame or below its long-term trend. mdot -- continued improvement in the long-term market will require stronger growth and production. notwithstanding the recent data, the job market remains far from normal. the unemployment rate remains elevated. long-term unemployment is still near record levels, and the number of persons working part- time for economic reasons is very high. the fundamentals that support spending continue to be weak. real household income and wealth were flat in 2011, but access to credit remained restricted for many potential borrowers. consumer sentiment that dropped sharply last summer has since rebounded, remains a relatively low." my concern

mr. cordray, texas a critical of omission in the dodd-frank -- fixes a critical omission in dodd-frank whento sharing information. given that the cfpb is not subject to the annual budget process, hearings like this are essential to the oversight process. hearings like this are the only opportunity for congress to exercise any oversight of cfpb at all. again, mr. cordray, i thank you for your appearance, and now recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee, ms. maloney. >> is mr. frank coming? pardon me? should we wait for him? first of all, i would like to -- should i wait for mr. frank? >> i will allow mr. frank to come in and make an opening statement. >> i will go ahead, in the interest of time. first of all, i want to welcome director cordray, and really thank you for your impressive accomplishments so far. i know that when we were doing the markup on dodd-frank, i offered an amendment that called for an annual report and oversight by this committee of the cfpb. that was later amended to make it a semi-annual report to congress, but if i had known that you would be before this body

mr. chairman, it's kind of interesting start off to be bipartisan, and now i just heard that both president obama and the dodd-frank bill caused this problem, and i would like any member here that has any information whatsoever that the justice department, the cftc or any other agency has given mr. karzai nor anyone else a pass on the investigation related to this because if you do, i would like to see if it would be another matter we don't have. i would like to know if dodd-frank caused the problem, then what caused lehman brothers? i know we are here to make political points. i'm a politician, too. but let's stick to the matter at hand. if you know, go to the justice department and tell them. if you want to make political points, held in the hall -- >> would the gentleman yield? >> i sure do. >> i appreciate you yielding. i'm quoting the commissioner at the cftc. it is his observation since the dodd-frank act came into law the commission has acted in this way. it is his observation that it has concentrated on swaps rulemaking while averting its gaze -- >> [inaudible] >> i'd be happy to join the gentleman to

has held 47, yes, 47 separate votes on financial regulations since dodd-frank became law, yet they've hold only two public meetings, mrat there's been a steady reduction in the number of open meetings by the board since the early '80s when the board had more than 30 open meetings. as a result, the fed is making sweeping financial regulatory policy decisions behind closed doors. this is inconsistent with, mr. chairman, your professed goal of making the fed more transparent. in another troubling development, the fed recently decided to enter into the debate on housing policy. on january the 4th, the fed issued a white paper entitled "the u.s. housing market: current conditions and policy consideration." the stated goal of the paper was not to provide a blueprint, but rather to ute line issues -- outline issues and trade-offs that policymakers might consider. however, subsequent actions by fed officials suggest that the fed has views about the policies congress should enact. just two days after the white paper was released, fed governor elizabeth -- [inaudible] give a speech in which she effectively asked the gse conserv

mr. obama and the south korean president called on north korea to cancel a planned rocket launch. >> last month, north korea agree doddluding a moratorium on long-range missile launches. this month, north korea announced its intention to conduct a missile launch. as president lee mentioned, this would constitute a direct violation of pyongyang's own commitments and its international obligations, moreover, it would deepen north korea's isolation, damage further its relations with its neighbors and seriously undermine the prospects of future negotiations. >> starting tomorrow, the president attends a summit meeting on nuclear security that will happen in seoul. and while he was at the dmz, the president signed a brick in the american soldiers dining room. let's go to strategy talk on nbc's "meet the press." david plouff took aim at the achilles heel. >> he's the godfather of our health care plan. if he's president, remarkably he's running away from the past and he's saying he's going to try to throw all of this away. we know we have to do this for our economy, for the health and safety of the american people. >> the lat

dodd frank socializes health care. whoever the nominee is is going to be 22 miles wide. >> mr.i'd like to high pot that size something. if you're correct and you're ahead in the polls, senator santorum stays in and governor romney and we have four split, we don't have a clear, unified winner, that suggests that this goes to a convention and there's something happening there. otherwise referred to as a brokered convention. it changes the whole dynamic. i'm wondering where your scenario probably -- it's a possibility? >> oh, sure, it's a possibility. look, because of the sheer scarce of money, it's almost impossible to knock romney out because of a modern internet-based campaigning, it's impossible to knock the rest of us out so you have the ncaa final four with no elimination. one of two things is going to happen. somebody will catch fire in may and so clearly become the nominee that delegates will migrate to them and it will be over or while negotiate all through july and early august and somebody will emerge. i don't think the country is going to go to some magic personality t

dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act. h.r. 4014, an act to amend the federal deposit insurance act, and so forth. mr. reid: i, madam president, object to h.r. 4014, 2779, and 2682. from any further action at this time. the presiding officer: objections having been heard, the bills will now be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: madam president, today the senate will consider the nomination of a woman by the name of miranda du to be a united states district judge in the district court of nevada. i was very pleased to recommend this woman for as -- because she is such an experienced litigator and a very proud nevadan. miss du has an enormous love for the state and this country and a tremendous dedication to public service. her story is about as inspiring as it gets, madam president. it proves without any question the american dream is alive and well. nevada's asian pacific population is less than 10%, but if confirmed, miss du will be the first asian american federal judge in the history of the state of nevada. miranda du left vietnam when she was 8 years old with her family in a boat. she was one of the

mr. hensarling: i yield myself 10 seconds simply to respond to my friend that we have tried the president's jobs bill, the stimulus, the health care package, dodd-frank, yet we still have the highest duration of 8%-plus unemployment since the great depression. here's at least a bipartisan bill we can work on and i look forward to that today. at this point, i yield two minutes to the chairman of the capital marks subcommittee, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. garrett: thank you, madam chair and i thank the gentleman from texas. i rise to express support for the jobs act today. i strongly believe that the jobs act will ease the burden on capital formation, on the entrepreneurial growth companies that have traditionally served as the u.s. economy's primary job creators and provide a larger pool of investors with access to information and investment options on these companies that currently doesn't exist. with venture capital fun raising stagnant and closed off, those who can't have access to capital markets have been forced to lay research on medical, scientific and technologic

to repeal dodd-frank and put in regulations to make fannie mae and freddie mac be accountable and with that i yield back. >> the gentlelady is recognized for one minute to close. >> thank you mr. jan thank you colleagues. i do want to say that i agree with my colleague on the other side of the aisle who said it's important to return to the rule of law and that is exactly withism and does. is critical that we support this important amendment to the sec in the cfpb. as transactions have become more and more complex is important for consumers to be able to understand them and the cfpb is doing important work of increasing consumer financial education. this is an important amendment that is going going to help ensure a level playing field for investors and consumers. i urge the support of this amendment and i yield back any time. thank you mr. chair. >> the question is on agreeing to the amendment. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the no's have it. a roll call vote. let's call the roll. bo. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] >> any members wish to change their vote? anybody wish to vote

mr. chairman. >> this is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] in 2010, congress responded with the president by passing the dodd-frank act. three key goals to the parts we oversee in the act -- bring transparency and competition to the swaps market two, protect against wall street risk spreading out again over the rest of the economy. 3, and hence margaret at -- market integrity. transparency, while our risk, market integrity. why did transparency really matter? transparency blowers cost our investors. it does in every market. transparency competition -- it could be in the health market, the auto market, the oil market. it lowers some the cost for the people using the products. at nearly $300 trillion, the u.s. swaps market still remains the largest pool in our financial market. i see harvey here. the dodd-frank act addresses this by shifting some of the advantage from wall street to the rest of the economy. it does that in two -- in a number of fundamental ways actually. it provides the public information, the pricing and volume of every transaction once it is completed. it does so also by providing all market