Media

The Foreign Affairs Committee is currently holding a hearing, "Assessment of the Administration's September Report on the Status of U.S. Political and Military Efforts in Iraq."

Watch the hearing live >>

Chairman Tom Lantos gives opening remarks (full text as prepared):

The bicameral Joint Economic Committee has just concluded a hearing, "Evolution of an Economic Crisis?: The Subprime Lending Disaster and the Threat to the Broader Economy." Witnesses included Peter R. Orszag, Director of the Congressional Budget Office; Dr. Robert J. Shiller, Stanley B. Resor Professor of Economics at Yale University; Martin Eakes, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Responsible Lending; and Alex J. Pollock, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14) gives opening remarks:

Speaker Pelosi spoke this afternoon at an enrollment ceremony in the Capitol, in which she signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the largest investment in college financial aid since the GI Bill in 1944. She stated, "on behalf of the talented students who joined us today, and for millions more like them, we urge President Bush to support the dreams of middle-class American families by signing the College Cost Reduction and Access Act into law." After the bill was enrolled, it was sent to President Bush for his signature. Also speaking are Chairman George Miller and Chairman Ted Kennedy:

Learn more about the College Cost Reduction and Access Act>>

From the Budget Committee:

Spratt Statement on the Federal Reserve's Interest Rate Cut

WASHINGTON -- House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt today issued the following statement on the decision by the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

"The Federal Reserve decision today to cut interest rates is an acknowledgment of the need to counteract the instability in financial markets caused by the subprime mortgage situation.