* * * Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, and other members of the Committee, I am pleased to present the Federal Reserve’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report. At the Federal Reserve, we are strongly committed to achieving the monetary policy goals that Congress has given us: maximum employment and price stability.
On this point, I would like to make three comments: First: the often expressed, primeval fear that European authorities might usurp additional responsibilities - so to speak, behind the backs of the public and the national parliaments - definitely does not apply to the European Central Bank. Its mandate is unambiguous. And it is clearly defined - namely that of safeguarding monetary stability.