WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman John F. Tierney (D-MA), issued the following statement with respect to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation into the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after the conclusion of a committee hearing titled, “The Role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the Financial Crisis.”

“While I don’t think Fannie and Freddie should be blamed for causing the financial crisis in its entirety, I do think they bear significant responsibility for aggravating it, especially since they clearly knew housing prices were inflated, and they were aware of the substantial risks of entering this alternative market.

“Now, I fear we are all going to pay the price. Moving forward, efforts should remain focused on curbing the proliferation of predatory subprime lending and encouraging more transparency in the decision-making processes that contributed to this unprecedented collapse of our housing market.”

Today’s hearing was the latest in an on-going series of investigations the Committee on Oversight and Government has held this fall on the on-going financial crisis. Information gathered from the hearings will help Congress determine how home ownership can best be supported in a better-monitored industry to avoid any repeat of what we have recently experienced in the markets. To view videos of all of these hearings, please feel free to visit: http://oversight.house.gov .

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