GARY G. MILLER

I enjoyed your opening statement. You talked about empowering consumers, fair, transparent, and competitive marketplaces, and dealing with bad actors.

If we are concerned about empowering consumers, we really should be concerned about their safety.

On the recent ruling on Basel III, you acknowledge insurance companies are very different from banks, and you postponed any negative decision on that. I think that was a very, very wise move.

I have always had a problem with the way they were fundamentally flawed. You had a hybrid situation where the private sector made all the profits, and the taxpayers took all the risk, which was problematic from the beginning.

Yet, by requiring this Davis-Bacon mandate, we are beating up the price of apartments and condos and townhomes by 20 to 25 percent.

Whether you support GSEs or not, if they are out of the marketplace in this market, it could be devastating.

I have some real concerns with that. I have had a concern with the definition between subprime and predatory for years, and I am glad to see we are going to finally deal with it.

We are starting to see a rebound in the housing market, and that is really important to the economic recovery of this country and for job creation.

It is essential that Congress fully understand the impact international regulatory standards will have on the competitiveness of U.S. insurers.

For the past century, and through multiple financial crises, the State-based insurance regulatory system in the United States has been successful and has protected policyholders.

While I strongly believe in coordination among international regulators, we must resist the tendency of pursuing a one-size-fits-all approach.

I don't think anybody is going to defend the concept of the structure of the GSEs to believe that the taxpayer should be put at risk, yet the private sector should make the profits.

The private label mortgage-backed securities were a disaster. Most of them were basically predatory loans.

While a hybrid public-private model for Freddie and Fannie was fundamentally flawed, our focus should be a viable secondary mortgage market with sound underwriting principles.

We are all concerned about what is happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but if you believe in a rule of law, you are innocent until proven guilty.

I just think everybody should be treated equally.

If you look at the design of FHA, they were intended to play a countercyclical role, and in this downturn, that is exactly what they did as the private market withdrew, they moved in.

Credit unions have done a great job reaching middle-class and underbanked families through credit.

I applaud you all for your effort. It is working. You are talking about it today. You started the testimony today about how the numbers are decreasing.

I will say this. I could not help, Mr. Chairman. You know, our country right now is going through a heated debate on guns and gun safety.

What a novel idea. I mean, I am hearing things today that if we would adopt into this debate that we are having in America right now...

You have taken the first law of nature or self-preservation, and you are using it, as I think God intended us to, to protect our persons, our crew, and our cargo.

We certainly need a well-functioning regulatory system, but it should facilitate growth, not stifle it.

The environment within which the regulators work today should basically encourage innovation and growth rather than to stifle it.