This week the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, of which Patrick McHenry is a member, held hearings on the causes of the current financial crisis. Congressman McHenry did not attend these hearings.

Daniel Johnson today called on Congressman Patrick McHenry to do his job for the people of Western North Carolina and attend his committee's upcoming hearings when they continue next week to investigate how and why the nation's financial institutions failed. Daniel Johnson also agrees with Congressman Christopher Shays' (R-CT) call for hearings to investigate how Freddie Mae and Fannie Mac contributed to the financial meltdown (http://www.house.gov/shays/news/2008/october/octshayslehmanhearing.shtml).

"Congress just forced the American people to spend $700 billion to bail out Wall Street banks," said Johnson, "Patrick McHenry didn't lift a finger to prevent the financial crisis from happening, and the least he can do for Western North Carolina taxpayers now is to attend these hearings and expose the root causes of our economic turmoil. The people of Western North Carolina have questions and Patrick McHenry is failing to fulfill his obligation to be the voice of his constituents in Washington."

Details on theHouse Oversight and Government Reform Committee's hearings are available at http://oversight.house.gov/.