Yellen Nomination

Floor Speech

Madam President, yesterday, the Senate voted to confirm Janet Yellen to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Regrettably, I was not in Washington and was not present for the vote. Had I been here, I would have voted no on this nomination. While Ms. Yellen may be well-qualified for this position, I do not support her nomination due to her support of monetary policies such as quantitative easing, QE, that have distorted the markets and artificially stimulated the economy. With interest rates at record lows, economic growth continues to be anemic and unemployment rates are higher than normal. During her confirmation hearing, Ms. Yellen admitted that there are ``costs and risks'' associated with the QE program but still signaled support. QE has done little more than increase uncertainty in our economy and opened the door for high interest rates in the future. The Federal Reserve must stop this ill-conceived, wholly irresponsible approach and Congress and the administration must enact fiscally responsible policies that strengthen the middle class by creating jobs, growing the economy and cutting the red tape that continues to hamper the private sector.

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