[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] the cs authorized to declare a recess at the committee at any time. I want to remind members of a few matters including some required by the regulations accompanying the House Resolution line 65 which established the frameworks were removed committee proceedings. I dont know if we have gone through this already but i would ask all members on the platform to keep themselves muted when they are not being recognized. This will minimize disturbances while members are asking questions of the witnesses. Members on the platform are responsible for muting and on muting themselves. The staff has been instructed not to mute members except where a member is being recognized and theres inadvertent background noise members on the platform are reminded that they may only attend one hearing at a time. If you are participating today, please remain with us during the hearing and members should try to avoid coming in and out of the meeting particularly during the question period. If during the hearing members wish to be recognized, the chair recommends members identify themselves by name so as to facilitate the chairs recognition. I would also ask members be patient as the chair proceeds given the nature of the Online Platform the committee is using in addition for the members participating in person the attending physician provided guidance. Has that guidance been given . Has the mask information been given . I recognize myself for four minutes to give an opening statement. Today the committee convened to conduct oversight over the Treasury Departments and Federal Reserves Pandemic Response. This pandemic continues to have a terrible impact across the nation. Thereve been over 13. 4 million coronavirus cases in the u. S. Which is almost double the amount of cases when the secretary and the chair last testified in september and over 267,000 people have lost their lives to the virus. Hospitalizations and deaths are surging as the crisis spirals out of control. Small businesses are shutting their doors permanently and millions are at risk of eviction, foreclosure and being laid off. A historic number of americans resoundingly voted for a new direction last month overwhelmingly voting for president elect to joe biden and Vice President elect harris. The American People have made it clear they want a government that will fight this virus and protect their families in a Small Businesses from the impact of covid19. So, on a call last month Many Committee democrats committed to not going home until we have a deal or stimulus package that is desperately needed across the country but as the negotiations continue, i am appalled you would knowingly make matters worse by permanently ending a Central Emergency lending programs leaving state citizens Small Businesses out for dry as the nation faces a worsening phase of the pandemic crisis. There is simply no justification or justifiable reason to take the tools away with the pandemic crisis worse than it has been. Arriving in january and chair paul im also concerned that the Federal Reserve seceded to the request after publicly indicating the importance of extending these facilities. Secretary, im also very concerned that the Treasury Department may be taken actions that will undermine the Housing Markets during the pandemic. By reportedly working with the Housing Finance agency to rush to the governmentsponsored enterprises, house conservatorships before they get above the trum trump administra. And so, these actions follow the trump administrations obstruction of the transition process delaying Important Information sharing about the Pandemic Response and National Security between the Biden Transition Team and the current administration. So, today you will be held to account where your misguided actions. Before recognizing the Ranking Member of the committee the gentleman from North Carolina who is with us today. Im going to make sure that the witnesses are received responsibly in a way that they should be received and thank them for being here. So, prior to that i would normally recognize them i suppose at this point, however i think as the agenda has been laid out today, im going to go ahead and recognize the gentle man frogentleman from north car, mr. Mchenry, for four minutes. Thank you, madam chair. I know theres been a lot of partisan talks on the democratic side of the aisle attpting the treasury secrery and even Federal Reserve. And i know committee democrats, a lot of democrats in Congress Said they wouldnt go home until they had a deal. And then they went home for ten days. So, theres not a whole lot of believability coming from our politicians on capitol hill right now so im frustrated. But i want to thank you for being with us today and being so available. I also want to commend you for the quick work that you both have taken, and i think that is something that we should commend you for. But today i think that there is also a reason for optimism. The coronavirus vaccines are moving at an unprecedented case and last month they announced its 95 effective and they are seeking regulatory clearance. Moderna announced it is 91. 4 effective with regular a clearance. Clearance. The british announced today that they are moving forward as well with their vaccine distribution. This is proof the publicprivate partnerships like those and operation warp speed can lead to success in record time. But we know in the full economic recovery it will occur only when americans can go back to work safely, send their kids back to school confidently and have easy access to testing and treatment. There is still more work to be done. So, i do want to go back to our committee jurisdiction, the treasurys decisive actions back in march and april to prevent the worst of this economic crisis and saving millions of jobs. Chairman powell, the Federal Reserves lending facilities continue to serve as a strong bastop to the Financial Market and prent disorder in the Financial Market from impacting the econo. Those programs stipulated billions of dollars from private sector lending and successfuy operated as a lender of last resort and now they acted as a necessary source of liquidity and thosergentines earlier this year. They ensured the credit and functioning of markets of all sizes including supporting workers and communities across the country so i want to commend you for that but there are emergency facilities only and they are backstops designed to support the functioning of the private markets and intended to be a lender of last resort, not to replace the private markets and from the start i said that we need to do forward thinking and have a plan to wind down these measures when appropriate. So i want to thank both the fed and the treasury for having a plan to wind those measures down appropriately inccordance to the cares act law. And i also know that i will ask you specifically about this, about the additional capacity that you would have with the cares act expiring on december 301st. Additionally, thank you for your quick work on the pient Protection Program supporting millions of Small Businesses. And i know we still need additional relief for more sll businesses into different segments. Thank you for continuing to work for a bipartisan agreement here on capitol hill and to not play the partisan games. Thank you for rising above that. But there is still work to be done. I look forward to us coming together and having the packages to do responsible things to help the economy and protect american citizens. Thank you so much for being here today and we look forward to your testimony. I now recognize the chair of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations mr. Green for one minute. Thank you madam chair and i think the witnesses for appearing as well. [inaudible] indicating that the markets have recovered. The free food market, the supermarkets have gone up 3. 9 . The stock markets have not measured [inaudible] the working class uncertainty and my concern today is what is your agency doing and i look forward to hearing that and will yield back. Thank you very much and i now recognize the Ranking Member for one minute. Thank you madam chair and to the witnesses for being here today. The fed and treasury acted in the economic turmoil brought on and showcased the true reach of the federal governments response. Through congresses Fiscal Policy Authority and the emergency lending facilities, we were able to stabilize markets to keep workers on the jobs and ensure the continued functioning of corporate markets. As we continue on the path of economic recovery it is important that we take stock of the tools used. We must evaluate which were effective and which were not and which can be wound down. Which ones are set to expire and which programs should be reauthorized. Thats the role of the committee with oversight of the u. S. Financial system. I look forward to hearing from the witnesses to help inform the congress continued response to the pandemic. The secretary and chairman powell, i commend you on your work to promote economic stability in Turbulent Times and i thank you for your service. I yelled back. I want to welcome todays witnesses to the committee. First i want to welcome the honorable secretary of the United States department of the treasury. He served in his current position since 2017. Hes testified before the committee on previous occasions and i believe he doesnt need any further introduction. I also want to welcome our other distinguished witness, the honorabl jerome powell, chair man of the board of governors of the federal reser system. Hes served on the board of directors of governorsince 2012 and as the chair since 2018. Chair powell has previously testified before the cmittee and i believe he does not need any further introduction. Without objection your written statements will be made a part of the record. Each of you will have five minutes to summarize your testimony. When you have one minute remaining, the yellow light will appear and at that time i would ask you to wrap up your testimony so we can be respectful of the Committee Members time. You are now recognized for five nutes to present yourral testimony. Ranking members of the committee, i am pleased to join you today to discusshe department ofreasurys unprecedented response to separatsupport the american pple throughout the pandemic. We continue to work to impment the act with speed, efficiency and transparency but our job will not be complete until we get every american back t work. When i last testified before you in september, i stated america was in the midst of the fastest economic recovery from any crisis. Im proud to say while there is a lot more work to be done, that statement is true. In the Third Quarter gdp grew by 33 annuay, meeting all expectationsn the previous record of 10. Americans are gettingack to work. The october jobs report showed the economy gained back 12 million, more than0 of all jobs lost due to the panmic. The Unemployment Rate has decrsed to a rate not expected by the Fourth Quarter of 2021. The historic a bipartisan cares t provided the Economic Relief that is critical to supporting theconomy recovering. Adtional economic slowdowns, however, continue to impair and cause great harm to american siness and workers. They spun the recent Economic Data and i continue to believe at a targeted fiscal package is the most appropriate federal response. I songly encourage the congress to use the 455 billion and unused funds from the act to pass an additional bill with bipartisan support. The ppe has unused funding of 140 billion that could be sent out the door immediately to support many Small Businesses. The administration is standing ready to support congress in this effort to help American Workers and Small Business that continue to struggle with the impact of covid19. The treasury has been working hard to implement the act in a transparent and efficient manner. Weve released a significant amount of information on the treasury and usa spending. Gov. We continue to cooperate with the various oversighvarious ovee new special ig, the treasury ig for tax administration, the new congressional oversight commission, the gao. We provided regular updates to congress marking this my ninth appearance before congress for the cares act hearing. Weve also got significant resources from the numerous congressional committees and individual members on both sides. We appreciate your interest on these issues and remain committed to working with you to accommodate congresses legislative purpose to advance the whole of government approach into beating covid19. I do want to just respond to your comment where you said i had no justification and made matters worse on my termination and the facilities. I just want to emphasize this was not a political decision. I was merely implementing the act and im happy to walk you, your staff and other members through section 4029 which makes it very clear. I find it in plausible any member of the committee believed in voting for the act that you are authorizing me to invest 500 billion in Federal Reserve facilities to make the loans and purchase Corporate Bonds in perpetuity with no expiration date. That is exactly what you would have to believe if you disagreed with my interpretation of congressional intent on the issue and since i was personally there and negotiated most of these documents, im very familiar. But if Congress Wants to extend the money for federal purposes for the facilities, congress can and that to the new legislation. Id like to thank the members of the committee for working with us and im pleased to answer any additional questions. Thank you very much. Thank you. Secretary powell, chair powell, you are recognized for five minutes to present your oral testimony. Chairwoman waters and other members of the committee, thank u for the opportunity to update you on our ongoing measures to address the hardship brought on by the pandemic. Our Public Health professionals continue to diver our most important response, and we remain gratefulor their service. The Federal Reserve along with others and in th government in using its policies to help alleviate the economic burden. Since the onset youve taken forceful actions to provide relief and stability and ensure the recovery will be as strong as possible and to limit the lasting damage to the economy. Economic activity has continued to recover from its secondquarter level. The reopening of the economy led to a rapid rebound inactivity and gdp rose at an annual rate of 33 in the Third Quarter. In the recent months however the improvement has moderat. Householspending on goods especially dable goods has been strong and its moved above its the pandemic level. In contrast, spending on the services remains low largely because of the ongoing weaknesses in the sectors that require people to gather closely including travel and hospitality. The overall rebound is due in part to federal stimulus payments and expanded Unemployment Benefits which provided essential support for many families and individuals. In the labor market more than half of the 22 million jobs that were lost have been regained as many people were able to return to work. As with the overall activity, the improvement in the labor market has moderated. Although we welcome this progress, we will not lose sight of the millions of americans who remain out of work. The economic downturn does not fall equally on all americans and those least able to shoulder the burden have been the hardest hit. In particular the high level of joblessness has been especially severe for the lowwage workers in the Service Sector for women and for africanamericans and hispanics. Economic dislocation has offended many lives and created a degree of uncertainty about the future. As weve emphasized throughout the pandemic, the outlook for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend in large part on the success of efforts to keep the virus in check. The rise in new cases both here and abroad is concerning it could prove challenging for the next few months. The full economic recovery is unlikely until people are confident that its safe to reengage in a broad range of activities. Recent news on the front is a very positive for the medium term. We are now significant challenges and uncertainties remain including timing, production, distribution and efficacy across the different groups and remains difficult to assess the timing and scope of the economic implications of the developments with any degree of confidence. The response has been guided by our mandate to promote maximum employment and stable prices for the American People along with response abilities to promote stability in the Financial System. Weve been taking broad and forceful actions to directly support