mr. tierney. >> thank you. i will go back to the documentation. a few opening remarks. i think we're going to familiarize you with the applicable laws and documents in the process. i think that maybe one takeaway piece of advice is as government officials, you are familiar with the requirements for transparency in almost every aspect of what you do, so i think in many ways, disclosure is similar to that. the securities market, investors. i think some of the ultimate advice is probably to encourage you to promote the culture of the disclosure, the disclosure practices. i think as board members, that is my advice. having said that, we are going to died in to the actual law here. the first slide -- ok. we are going to discuss the different contexts in which disclosure issues arise and the laws apply. the standards that apply, and various enforcement actions that need to be taken by the sec and private investors. ok. thank you. interestingly, the sec has no direct jurisdiction over governmental entities in the same sense it does over private companies. private companies hav

mr. tierney, and we have concluded that the use of the principal within the context of a loan modification is not going to be the least cost approach for the or taxpayer to allow this homeowner an opportunity to stay in their home. we are using aggressively loan modification activities that include principal forbearance which will zero out the interest rate charged on the underwater portion of the mortgage without forgiving the debt of the mortgage. and this is all designed to get the borrower into an affordable monthly payment so that they can continue in their home, and that has been the basic calculus that has guided this decision. as i've said before, i do not believe i've been appropriated taxpayer funds for the purpose of providing this more general sport to the housing market -- support to the housing market. we're supposed to undertake our loss mitigation activities with regard to the cost to the taxpayer. >> but you have been empower today reduce the maximization of the taxpayers' assets, and the if it's less costly, i would think you'd be breaking that task. you just come up with

mr. tierney for five minutes. >> i want to ask you about principle reductions, mr. demarco. but first i want to share some comments. the former special inspector general for the start program said, the owners of these underwater mortgages have already lost any meaningful chance of recovering the outstanding principal. the sooner this reality is recognized and addressed, the sooner a recovery can take hold. a principal reduction program is necessary. the former vice chairman of the reform act has supported this. ben bernanke has said that restoring equity in the homeowner -- for the homeowner may be a way to avoid foreclosure. to do this quickly and effectively would help with loan modifications and right-doubt. and when congress passed the loan modification of 2008, we instructed fannie and freddie to implement a plan to maximize the system for home owners. we have been through the language on that. but it does talk about encouraging taking advantage of these programs to minimize foreclosure. there's nothing in the law that prevents you from improving a program if it is in t

mr. wooster, you're recognized for five minutes. >> chairman checketts, ranking member tierney, distinguishedembers of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me here to discuss the policy toward iran and the progress we've made since january 2009. the key objective the administration's policy is to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons. our foremost priority. from supporting terrorism, from committing human rights abuses, and from destabilizing the region. we have an act of the toughest sanctions at around half policies making their current course unsustainable. reducing its options, deepening its isolation. indeed, iran is an outcast among nations. the u.s. comprehensive has been vital to ride chilling up pressure on iran. ci as thatsada of shutdown funding for its nuclear programs and related a list of activities. investments and technical assistance in the upstream oil and gas sector have dropped dramatically. we have sanctioned 10 foreign companies involved in their energy sectors and dissuaded companies like shell, and others from continuing or undertaking sanctionable activities i