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Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bill Huizenga (MI-02) delivered the following statement at today's full committee hearing with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Waters. We appreciate you holding this hearing today to discuss the semi- annual report on the state of the economy and our fiscal welfare.

Additionally, Chairman Bernanke, I do want to thank you for your distinguished service to our country. Certainly as the chairman of the board of governors over the last seven years no one questions your desire to help our country through some of its most difficult times that we have seen in recent history.

Today I am particularly eager to hear your insights on monetary policy and the state of the economy. As I hear from small business owners across Michigan and frankly, being a small business owner myself in the construction and real estate fields, it's abundantly clear that small businesses are still feeling the negative impacts of the 2008 financial crisis.

The economy has been painfully slow to recover, in fact, the weakest of any of recent recoveries, and, in turn, job creation has lagged. Too many Americans remain out of work, while others have simply stopped looking for work altogether. And these are the forgotten casualties that are oftentimes buried in government statistics.

I am here to be their voice and not to be a voice of Wall Street but to be a voice for Main Street.

Additionally, Washington's addiction to spending remains evident. As we can see up here, we're exceeding $17 trillion in debt and our chances for recovery as well as the outlook for our children's prosperity dims.

For too long, government has in many forms looked upon itself to solve the social and economic ills that our country faces. The Federal Reserve hasn't been any different. And some would argue that may be because of the dual mandate and other things.

The Federal Reserve has chosen to implement government-based solutions instead of employing a market-based approach, I would argue, whether it is artificially lowering and sustaining a near-zero interest rate, QE2, 'Operation Twist', QE3, 'QE Infinity' that some have quipped about, the government-knows-best approach has only prolonged high levels of unemployment, perpetuated a lack of consumer confidence that has outside of Wall Street created an economic environment where investment and growth remain stifled.

With our GDP stagnating and unemployment remaining at 7.5 percent or more since President Obama has taken office in 2009, you don't see very many economists predicting the economy to take off in the near future.

The policies implemented and prolonged by the Federal Reserve I believe have worked hand in glove with that and have failed.

So when these failed policies are going to come to an end, and we know we've had lots of indications. I've already gotten an update from Wall Street Journal and a number of others who are looking at your comments. But the FOMC says they're planning on keeping the near-zero rate at least until sometime in 2015 with a target of 6.5 percent unemployment rate.

And questions that I think a lot of us have are at what cost and if not at what cost, at what benefit. And there's many who look at this analysis and have determined that you are tilting to a, quote, "dovish monetary easing policy" away from where we have been going.

As a proponent of the free market and reducing the size of government, let me point out just one of the many problems with the administration's policies.

And, Mr. Chairman, I thank you and appreciate, again, your service and look forward to this today. Thank you.