The purpose of this bill is to support a free market method of increasing demand for housing at a time when so many working-class Americans are underwater on their homes, are desperate for prices to rise again, and big-government programs have failed to work. I am sponsoring this bill because I know that it makes economic sense while protecting American citizens.

In 1977, Congress first gave the Federal Reserve a dual mandate to promote both "maximum employment" and "stable prices." Unfortunately, in the last few years, we've had anything but maximum employment and stable prices. Most Americans believe the prices of products and services they buy on a daily basis like food, gasoline, electricity, heating oil, and health care services have increased significantly in recent years and grown more volatile. Moreover, we have official unemployment over 9 percent and many Americans struggling to find work in a difficult economy. Therefore, in my view, the Federal Reserve is failing in its Congressional mandate and some action should be taken to remedy this.

Around 150 people attended and the issues ranged from spending in Washington to immigration to the Narrows project. I heard many people voice concerns that Washington was not doing its job addressing illegal immigration into our country. They said that state legislators in Utah had tried to do something about the problem but that ultimately the federal government would have to step up enforcement. I couldn’t agree more, and would add that part of the problem is how difficult it is to come to this country legally. By addressing the backlog of legal immigration we can significantly reduce the motivation to come here illegally.