Janet Yellen

Before the financial crisis under President Bush, our country saw policies of 'trickle-down economics,' focused on tax benefits for individuals at the top of the distribution and budget cuts for everyone else.

During the crisis and recession, families in the middle and at the bottom were hit particularly hard.

Policies or governmental actions that create uncertainty...are not helpful to recovery.

So, of course, there are risks to the recovery of tightening too soon, and we have been highly focused on those risks.

I do think that education programs...are very critical in addressing wage inequality.

I did indicate my concern with the sustainability of the debt path that the Unites States is on.

I don't agree that a rules-based policy is a better way to go.

We are not going to raise rates if we think it is going to tip the economy into a recession.

We have been working to improve implementation of the CRA regulations with other banking regulators...

The role of lender of last resort is a critical responsibility that central banks fulfill around the world.

Certainly, education and training are matters that are within Congress' domain to consider how to make sure that individuals have access to a world-class education that is going to enable them to earn a higher wage.

Congress should expect, and this is embodied in CBO projections that as the economy recovers, short-term interest rates will rise.

Community banks are really vital to local economies.

Monetary policy has been aimed at trying to achieve a strong recovery in the job market.

There are a number of obstacles that banks see to lending...

You should be aware that interest rates are likely to rise and that will raise the interest cost of the debt.

I do think it is important for Congress to try to resolve those issues.

I strongly endorse, and the FOMC strongly endorses following a systematic policy.

It is hard to say. Certainly, lending standards are much tighter than they were in the run-up to the financial crisis...

I have long said, and my predecessors have as well, that we think it would be desirable to see Congress address GSE reform.

I certainly stand ready to respond to requests of this committee for me to testify.

There is more work to do to put fiscal policy on a sustainable course . . .

Dodd-Frank gave us numerous tools to deal with too-big-to-fail, and we have used them.

We want to listen to their concerns and understand them, and we are doing our very best to listen and try to tailor an appropriate set of capital requirements and other regulations.

We don't want to go down that road either.