Mark Warner

I apologize for not being here for most of this hearing.

And it is true, I am a member of the Wireless Hall of Fame.

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for that courtesy.

The Government must end its ongoing backstop of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac solvency and conservatorship.

Avoiding the disruption in mortgage liquidity must be a paramount concern in structuring the transition from the current system to the future one.

I believe that Corker-Warner provides a good framework for long-term housing finance reform.

If we are successful in these objectives but unsuccessful in redirecting finance to rental housing, millions of working class households will pay the price.

The fragile economic recovery cannot afford the risk of a significant disruption in mortgage credit availability.

The most important thing we could do for private capital beginning to come back into this market is to pass legislation telling the markets where the Government is going to move with regard to Fannie and Freddie and ending of the…

We do think there needs to be high, solid capital standards.

I would point out that in the wild and wooly final days of Dodd-Frank, there were efforts to, on the floor of the Senate, to unwind the GSEs with no transition on a 2-year basis and completely zero them out that got a lot of votes.

I also want to echo and appreciate Senator Crapo's comments about the challenges of the status quo and the very real threat.

I believe this is our ninth hearing this fall, and while there is a lot of other activities going on in the body that are showing, perhaps, disruption, I think your leadership of this Committee has shown a real focus and attention on this…

The Corker-Warner bill contemplates a transition period of no more than 5 years following its enactment.

My caution is about having a mechanical line down of the two entities that are providing almost all credit formation in the conforming market today.

I commend Senators Corker and Warner for having put together a coalition around a bill that has all of these elements in it.

If we screw this transition up, we are talking about catastrophic damage to a very fragile housing sector and the broader economy.

Finding the right solution is more important than getting a quick solution.

I do, however, believe there are ways in which the structure proposed in that legislation, especially the regulatory structure, could be improved.

It is critical that any supervision of the private entities participating in the securitization be in the hands of a strong, independent Federal regulator.

Now I will turn the chair over to Senator Merkley at this point.

I think you raised a great point, and since many--you know, we point here to today's focus on nefarious schemes, but since it seems from, as I learn about this, a lot of folks who are interested lack trust in central banks, you know, want…

I do think there could at least be the potential of serious implications about monetary policy.

I look forward to learning about the long-term viability and practicality of virtual currencies.

We want to keep this innovation in America. But as a former Governor, the revenue leakage from Internet-based transactions for States that depend upon a sales tax is an enormous challenge.