July 25, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1333 

Gender Violence Victims Their Day in Court 

Act, which will prevent employers from invoking workers compensation when employer 

negligence results in the sexual assault and 

rape of an employee. This bill will help empower victims of workplace sexual assault to 

have their day in court instead of being subject to the exclusive remedy of workers compensation. 

Rape is not an accident and should never 

be regarded as an everyday, regular occurrence on the job. This legislation will enable 

victims and encourage employers to create a 

work environment free of sexual violence and 

send the message, loud and clear, that rape 

is not all in a day’s work. 

f 

FEDERAL RESERVE 

TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2012 

SPEECH OF

HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO OF HAWAII

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, July 24, 2012 

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I believe that 

transparency in the activities of government is 

extremely important and that we should endeavor to let in more sunlight, not less. Therefore, I am proud to support H.R. 459, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. 

The financial crisis of 2007–2008 cost nearly $6.5 trillion in household wealth. That’s 

home equity and savings for retirement and 

college that millions of people will likely never 

get back. Between December 2007 and early 

2010 8.7 million jobs were lost—Including a 

record-breaking 779,000 in January of 2009 

alone. 

I raise these frightening numbers to illustrate 

a point—the impact of the financial crisis was 

disastrous, widespread, and occurred very 

quickly. 

As a result, unprecedented steps were 

taken to halt the disastrous decline in our 

economy. These included the Federal Reserve 

(the Fed) stretching its emergency lending authority farther than it ever had to before. This, 

along with the legislative actions of Congress 

and the efforts of the Bush and Obama Administrations, helped to prevent the ‘‘Great Recession’’ from instead becoming ‘‘The Great 

Depression Redux.’’ 

The Obama Administration and Congress 

have worked to rebuild our economy. Over 4.4 

million jobs have been created over the past 

28 consecutive months. The American automobile industry has been saved and is prospering. Communities across the nation benefitted from investments in transportation, energy, and other vital areas from the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Fed has 

also contributed to this effort by keeping interest rates low and other measures. 

But progress has not been fast enough. We 

are all frustrated by the current state of affairs. 

We are also rightly frustrated at the conduct of 

banks and bankers—private sector bankers 

and central bankers alike. 

I recognize that the actions of the Fed are 

subject to Congressional oversight and audits 

by the Government Accountability Office. I 

was proud to support the Dodd-Frank Wall 

Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 

which included needed reforms of the Fed’s 

emergency lending authority, and required that 

the Government Accountability Office conduct 

an audit of the Fed’s emergency lending programs. 

These are much needed steps. While I don’t 

share the view that we should abolish the Fed, 

or that the Fed’s activities are necessarily malicious, I do believe that the American people 

have a right to know how decisions about interest rates and other policies that impact their 

day-to-day lives are made. 

The recent revelations that major international banks colluded to set the London 

Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is an 

influential global interest rate, indicate that it is 

in the public interest to more closely scrutinize 

the activities of both financial market players 

as well as those that are supposed to be the 

unbiased referees like the Fed. 

Today’s bill is a positive step toward doing 

that and I am proud to support H.R. 459. 


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E1334 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks July 25, 2012 

SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS 

Title IV of Senate Resolution 4, 

agreed to by the Senate on February 4, 

1977, calls for establishment of a system for a computerized schedule of all 

meetings and hearings of Senate committees, subcommittees, joint committees, and committees of conference. 

This title requires all such committees 

to notify the Office of the Senate Daily 

Digest—designated by the Rules Committee—of the time, place, and purpose 

of the meetings, when scheduled, and 

any cancellations or changes in the 

meetings as they occur. 

As an additional procedure along 

with the computerization of this information, the Office of the Senate Daily 

Digest will prepare this information for 

printing in the Extensions of Remarks 

section of the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

on Monday and Wednesday of each 

week. 

Meetings scheduled for Thursday, 

July 26, 2012 may be found in the Daily 

Digest of today’s RECORD. 

MEETINGS SCHEDULED 

JULY 31 

10 a.m. 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

To hold hearings to examine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

(CFPB), focusing on a review of the 

semi-annual report to Congress. 

SD–538 

Energy and Natural Resources 

To hold hearings to examine S. 3385, to 

authorize the Secretary of the Interior 

to use designated funding to pay for 

construction of authorized rural water 

projects. 

SD–366 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Oversight of Government Management, the 

Federal Workforce, and the District of 

Columbia Subcommittee 

To hold hearings to examine the state of 

Federal privacy and data security law. 

SD–628 

2:15 p.m. 

Foreign Relations 

Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and 

Global Narcotics Affairs Subcommittee 

To hold hearings to examine doing business in Latin America, focusing on 

positive trends but serious challenges. 

SD–419 

2:30 p.m. 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

Business meeting to consider pending 

calendar business. 

SR–253 

Intelligence 

To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters. 

SH–219 

AUGUST 1 

9 a.m. 

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

To hold hearings to examine MF Global, 

focusing on accountability in the futures markets. 

SR–328A 

10 a.m. 

Environment and Public Works 

To hold hearings to examine an update 

on the latest climate change science 

and local adaptation measures. 

SD–406 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

Housing, Transportation and Community 

Development Subcommittee 

To hold hearings to examine streamlining and strengthening Housing and 

Urban Development’s (HUD) rental 

housing assistance programs. 

SD–538 

Judiciary 

To hold hearings to examine rising prison costs, focusing on restricting budgets and crime prevention options. 

SD–226 

10:30 a.m. 

Finance 

To hold hearings to examine the taxation 

of business entities, focusing on tax reform. 

SD–215 

2:30 p.m. 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

To hold hearings to examine marketplace fairness, focusing on leveling the 

playing field for small businesses. 

SR–253 

Foreign Relations 

European Affairs Subcommittee 

To hold hearings to examine the future 

of the eurozone, focusing on the outlook and lessons. 

SD–419 

AUGUST 2 

2:30 p.m. 

Intelligence 

To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters. 

SH–219 


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