mr. royce. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. royce: thank you. the gentleman from california referred to the wild west earlier. no two institutions better fit that description than the government-sponsored enterprises fannie mae and freddie mac. over the years, some of us pleaded for additional regulations. you may recall in 2005 we tried to pass strong legislation to fix this problem and bring reforms to the government-sponsored enterprises. i brought an amendment to this floor to give their regulator the ability to rein in their mortgage portfolios that were spiraling out of control. the federal reserve came to us and said, these institutions at the heart of the u.s. mortgage market pose a systemic threat to our economy. that is why i offered my amendment which was defeated, as were others, that would have provided stronger regulation. that is why senator chuck hagel offered similar legislation which passed the senate banking committee on a party line vote but was bl

madam chair, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. royce. mr. royce: the democratic bill is silent on the root cause of the financial collapse. it was the government-sponsored enterprises fannie and freddie that were at the heart of the housing market and largely responsible for the proliferation of subprime andality a mortgages throughout the financial system. and over the years they loaded up on over $1 trillion worth of these junk loans. frankly fannie and freddie also infected capital markets that spread through every sector of our banking system. before the bursting of the housing bubble, g.s.e. securities cost more than 150% of core capital for insured banks. more than 0% of money market initially fund holdings were in the form of g.s.e. securities. that's why senator chuck hagel offers legislation for stronger regulation which passed the senate banking committee on a party line vote but was blocked by the senate democrats from coming to the floor. my amendment was also defeated. the affordable housing goals were put in by the democratic-co

mr. royce of california. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from missouri, mr. akin, is recognized for 60 minutes. he is the designee of the minority leader. mr. akin: thank you, mr. speaker, it is a treat to join you, my colleagues and fellow americans that might possibly be tuned in. this is the last day of school. the voting is done and yet the work is not done. in fact, america, among other things, is suffering from a considerbly high level of unemployment. and that was going to be the topic for this evening. i want to talk a little bit about employment, spending and the different ways, different theories that different people have as to how do you create jobs. and there are some theories out there that don't work very well and there are some that do work well and history tells us the difference between the two. i thought what i might do this evening is to start with something that which, in a way may seem fairly basic because most americans have plenty of common sense a

mr. royce: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in opposition to the rule and to this legislation. because for the first time in history washington will be at the center of our financial system. this is not the way our founders intended this system to work. it didn't intend for the decisions and political poll to come out of washington. for the first time in history we will institutionalize the too big to fail doctrine that has plagued our economy for too long. and for the first time in history, congress is authorizing perpetual bailout authority by those in washington. i have opposed these bailouts. and i have opposed the bill as put forward by -- over the last 14 months because of the concern i had with the precedent that would be set by using tax dollars to bail out failed institutions. and now we are going to do it far into the future. and unfortunately, it appears that that precedent that was set last fall is now becoming official u.s. policy should this legislation become law. now, our democrat

mr. royce. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. royce: thank you. the gentleman from california referred to the wild west earlier. no two institutions better fit that description than the government-sponsored enterprises fannie mae and freddie mac. over the years, some of us pleaded for additional regulations. you may recall in 2005 we tried to pass strong legislation to fix this problem and bring reforms to the government-sponsored enterprises. i brought an amendment to this floor to give their regulator the ability to rein in their mortgage portfolios that were spiraling out of control. the federal reserve came to us and said, these institutions at the heart of the u.s. mortgage market pose a systemic threat to our economy. that is why i offered my amendment which was defeated, as were others, that would have provided stronger regulation. that is why senator chuck hagel offered similar legislation which passed the senate banking committee on a party line vote but was bl

mr. royces questions that would have on voluntary modifications.he congress did something very similar in 1986 to what we've proposed with respect to how mortgages. to allow modification of mortgages on farms. and it would reduce the amount secured to the value of the collateral, the value of the forum which is all that really is secured anyway. treating the rest has been secured and then set a term and interest rate that's a little bit above prime. my impression from that. is that the modification voluntary modifications took a huge spike and that the total number of modifications by courts with a relatively small percentage but it provided a template for other modifications. ms. morgan was very tip and volunteer modifications? >> no, there was not a dip in volunteer modifications. in a number of states around the country, until a supreme court decision on this topic ministates permitted the right, the so-called koran down a principal residence mortgage debt and bankruptcy court and those states didn't have any different situation with respect to

mr. royces questions that would have on voluntary modifications. the congress did something very similar in 1986 to what we've proposed with respect to how mortgages. to allow modification of mortgages on farms. and it would reduce the amount secured to the value of the collateral, the value of the forum which is all that really is secured anyway. treating the rest has been secured and then set a term and interest rate that's a little bit above prime. my impression from that. is that the modification voluntary modifications took a huge spike and that the total number of modifications by courts with a relatively small percentage but it provided a template for other modifications. ms. morgan was very tip and volunteer modifications? >> no, there was not a dip in volunteer modifications. in a number of states around the country, until a supreme court decision on this topic ministates permitted the right, the so-called koran down a principal residence mortgage debt and bankruptcy court and those states didn't have any different situation with respect t

mr. royces questions that would have on voluntary modifications. the congress did something very similar in 1986 to what we've proposed with respect to how mortgages. to allow modification of mortgages on farms. and it would reduce the amount secured to the value of the collateral, the value of the forum which is all that really is secured anyway. treating the rest has been secured and then set a term and interest rate that's a little bit above prime. my impression from that. is that the modification voluntary modifications took a huge spike and that the total number of modifications by courts with a relatively small percentage but it provided a template for other modifications. ms. morgan was very tip and volunteer modifications? >> no, there was not a dip in volunteer modifications. in a number of states around the country, until a supreme court decision on this topic ministates permitted the right, the so-called koran down a principal residence mortgage debt and bankruptcy court and those states didn't have any different situation with respect t

mr. royce: time is not on our side.oday's "washington post" reports that iran has learned how to make virtually every bolt and switch in a nuclear weapon. it is mastering the technology to enrich uranium, which would fuel that weapon. a secret nuclear facility located on an iranian military base was recently revealed. for years, iran has been slapping away all of our diplomatic overtures. quote, our outreach has produced very little, unquote. secretary clinton's words, not mine. today, the world's top terrorist state has its tenth ta calls throughout the region. they are in yemen, iraq, lebanon, gaza, afghanistan, syria, sudan. its agents and proxies are practically everywhere in its aspiration for regional dominance, not to mention our own back yard. tomorrow's nuclear iran would have a compounding effect with severe consequences for regional security and u.s. security. the time for action is long past now. this bill would help address this threat, targeting the regime's achilles heal. but we need a broad-based policy

mr. royce: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support of house resolution 55 authored by myself and my colleague from the state of california, congresswoman jane harman. this resolution calls for the establishment of a national prader-willi syndrome awareness month and it encourages continued federal research of this syndrome. this syndrome is recognized as a common genetic cause of childhood obesity. and for too many children it is an aflick shun which causes them not even to be able to reach their teens. many of them don't reach their 20th bivert day -- birthday as a result of this malady. 7 1/2 years ago i was in the position of most members of this house and most americans in that i had never heard of pradder willie syndrome -prader-willi syndrome. then a little girl named abby porter was born. i can still remember that day and the phone call that came telling me that abby had arrived but something was wrong. abby was sleeping almost 24 hours a day. was unable to eat on her own. and had almost no muscle ton

mr. royce: time is not on our side. today's "washington post" reports that iran has learned how to make virtually every bolt and switch in a nuclear weapon. it is mastering the technology to enrich uranium, which would fuel that weapon. a secret nuclear facility located on an iranian military base was recently revealed. for years, iran has been slapping away all of our diplomatic overtures. quote, our outreach has produced very little, unquote. secretary clinton's words, not mine. today, the world's top terrorist state has its tenth ta calls throughout the region. they are in yemen, iraq, lebanon, gaza, afghanistan, syria, sudan. its agents and proxies are practically everywhere in its aspiration for regional dominance, not to mention our own back yard. tomorrow's nuclear iran would have a compounding effect with severe consequences for regional security and u.s. security. the time for action is long past now. this bill would help address this threat, targeting the regime's achilles heal. but we need a broad-based polic

mr. royce area i yield back. speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i now yield three minutes to a very distinguished colleague and friend, mr. doggett of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. mr. doggett: i thank the gentleman. and i thank you for your leadership. i certainly support more trade where it most stands to benefit american consumers and to spur economic development in some of the world's least developed countries. during the last two years, there has been considerable talk about crafting a 21st century american trade policy that ensures we are not encouraging trade that depends upon degrading our environment and lowering labor standards. unfortunately, talk is often about all that we've had. upholding labor and environmental standards has been much more rhetoric than reality. today's renewal of this g.s.p. legislation does nothing to encourage participating countries to even enforce their own minimal enviro

yield two minutes toth to the senior republican californian on the committee on financial service, mr. royce . condoleezza rice i agree here tonight with my republican colleagues who oppose permanent bailout authority, which is put in this bill and the fact that this legislation instulizes the too big to fail model. the short coming is the failure to address one of the key causes of this financial collapse. while others may claim it was lack of government involvement, i think history is going to show that government intervention had a major role and legality me show you how. it was fannie mae and freddie mac that were at the heart of the housing market and largely responsible for the proliferation of subprime throughout the financial system. over the years, they loaded up on over $1 trillion of these junk loans, pushed by initiatives on the other side of the aisle and they signaled to the market that these were safe loans when we know they were not. trillions of dollars in losses. it was the federal reserve and banks around the world for four years running. and the effect of those negative r