Congressman Gregory W. Meeks Questions Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Housing Market and Economy

(WASHINGTON, DC)– Today, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks of New York welcomed the semiannual Humphrey-Hawkins testimony of the Federal Reserve’s chairman, Ben Bernanke, focusing his questions on the housing sector.
In his testimony, Chairman Bernanke reaffirmed the Federal Reserve’s plans to wind-down a program to purchase $1.25 trillion in mortgage backed securities (MBS). Congressman Meeks questioned Chairman Bernanke carefully on this strategy, asking whether it was “premature to consider tightening interest rates today because it will kill the incipient housing recovery.” “I want to know whether the Fed’s actions will adversely affect the housing market while it is experiencing nascent growth and a rebound in most regions of the country,” said Meeks.

Congressman Meeks also inquired into what steps the federal government should take to encourage banks to write down the principal on homes that are under water. Remarking after the hearing, Meeks said, “My district has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, where a majority of homeowners are in upside-down mortgages. Therefore, I asked the chairman how we in the federal government could persuade banks to work with responsible homeowners to keep them in their homes.”

In states where non-recourse loans are permitted, if banks are unwilling to write-down mortgage principals and/or readjust payments, borrowers can walk away from their homes without paying the deficiency. This practice imperils banks and other homeowners.

Now serving in his sixth full-term, Meeks was elected to the House on February 3, 1998. Representing New York's Sixth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, Meeks' district covers all towns of Southeast Queens, Far Rockaway and Howard Beach. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Congressman Meeks is the Chairman of the International Monetary Policy & Trade Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. He is a Member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), New Democrats Coalition and the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). He serves as the Co-chair of the Malaysia Caucus, Services Caucus, Dialogue Caucus, OAS Caucus and the Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus.