John Cornyn: “I would like to explain why I will vote against the confirmation of Ben Bernanke for a second term as Chairman of the…”

“I would like to explain why I will vote against the confirmation of Ben Bernanke for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Ben Bernanke is a brilliant and honorable man. He deserves our Nation's thanks for his years of public service-- especially during the greatest financial crisis in decades. I agree with Chairman Bernanke's supporters that some of his actions mitigated that crisis--and that we might be in a much worse place today if not for his leadership. Nevertheless, I believe the Federal Reserve needs a fresh start--with a new Chairman--for several important reasons. First, Chairman Bernanke was a member of the Fed's Board of Governors where he strongly supported Chairman Greenspan's monetary policy that kept interest rates very low. In fact, the Federal funds target rate reached a low of 1 percent by mid-2003. Most economists agree that these low interest rates were one of the factors--certainly not the only factor--that contributed to the housing price bubble that expanded for much of the previous decade. And when the housing bubble burst, our global financial crisis began.”