Pat McHenry

So the concern I had with the Senate provision from the get-go was as simple as the origin of Congress' action--and I can say the origin of Congress' action because I filed the first bill.

The SEC prioritized their rulemaking. For instance, they spent enormous resources trying to write a rule on conflict minerals that was in Dodd-Frank.

I certainly appreciate it. I have a few final clean-up questions if the panel doesn't mind.

We need something like, and maybe there is other ways to do this, but something like a National Task Force in Justice.

It is the same reason why a lady I know, her father was a fan of the Boston Celtics. He invested in the Boston Celtics so he could say he owned a piece of the team.

I don't think these individuals were pledging money because they thought they were going to make a million off of it. They wanted to support the brand that they liked.

The legislation we passed, there were 400 votes that I authored here the House with the help of Carolyn Maloney

Today's hearing serves as an opportunity for Congress to hear from knowledgeable folks that either participate in the arena of crowdfunding as it now exists.

I happen to think that is a little bit of a problem and it is something that is sort of falling between the cracks.

I think the free market works in that regard that we can actually have access to that.

I am deeply concerned about our statistical agencies.

What do they actually do to protect the public, which is their number one job, and not employees who don't do their job?

Madoff's caper was not caused by any lack of laws, rules or Federal employees; it was caused by a lack of employees who were willing to do their jobs.

I think you will just have two people overregulating you rather than one.

The President's budget that he submitted this year puts us in a very harsh spiral based on the debt-to-GDP ratio, based on the tax increases, and for not addressing the cost drivers of our budget.

What is a sustainable debt load for a country such as ours?

I think many people like me have a significant concern of conflicts of interest, issues of lack of transparency, and a lack of openness.

The way the law of the land is structured, we can't lend money to the IMF without the authorization of the Congress of the United States.

So austerity too fast and spending cuts too soon and tax increases that would have a negative impact in economic growth, that is the fiscal cliff that you are speaking of?

And it is a 30-day provision, so we would expect that within the next three or four weeks in front of Congress, the decision-making there.

But beyond that, does the Fed accept as collateral for foreign debt sovereign debt of foreign countries?

Now, is the Treasury considering being involved in the IMF's NAB, the new arrangement to borrow facility?

Are you considering additional contributions to the special IMF European bailout fund?

I am interested to hear how our Nation's foremost economic experts and authorities view the Euro's own crisis.

We have doubled the budget of the Department of Energy in 2009 and yet we are paying twice as much at the pumps.