Byron Dorgan: “No one in this Chamber is allowed at that meeting. No ordinary American citizen is allowed at this meeting. The door is…”

“No one in this Chamber is allowed at that meeting. No ordinary American citizen is allowed at this meeting. The door is locked. They are meeting behind closed doors at the Federal Reserve Board to decide how much they want to raise interest rates once again. I think it is important to allow people to see who is meeting. Here are the pictures of the folks at the Fed--the Federal Board of Governors. The ones with the stars are the regional Federal Reserve bank presidents who will make the decision this morning. They increased interest rates last June, in August, in November, in February, and again in March. In North Dakota, in Idaho, in Illinois, and in California, the average American household is now paying $1,200 a year in additional interest charges as a result. If you have a $100,000 mortgage, you are paying $100 a month more for your mortgage payment. Why? Because the Federal Reserve Board feels that too many people are working in this country and that our economic growth ought to be slowed.”