Ensuring Our Economic Future by Promoting Middle-Class Prosperity Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 In an increasingly dynamic global economy, many American families are facing substantial new economic risks that are undermining their ability to save for their retirements or invest in their futures.  Unless action is taken to restore a sense of economic security and chance for prosperity to the middle class, the excessive risk shouldered by most American families will take its toll on economic growth. tIn it's first hearing of the 110th Congress, the Joint Economic Committee, will examine the impact of middle class economic insecurity on long-term economic growth.   Opening Statements: Senator Schumer's Opening Statement Senator Kennedy's Opening Statement Representative Saxton's Opening Statement Representative Maloney's Opening Statement Witnesses:        The Honorable Robert Rubin, Director and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Citigroup Inc.; former U.S. Treasury Secretary                                                The Honorable Lawrence Summers, PhD, Charles W. EliotUniversity Professor, The John F. Kennedy School of  Government, Harvard University; former U.S. Treasury Secretary Dr. Alan Blinder, Gordon S. Rentschler Professor of Economics at Princeton University and Director of the Center for Economic Policy Studies, Princeton University; former Vice Chairman, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System Dr. Richard Vedder, Distinguished Professor of Economics,Ohio University; Visiting Scholar, American Enterprise Institute Location: 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building Time:        9:30 a.m. Press Advisory: First Joint Economic Committee Hearing to Focus on New and Critical Economic Challenges Confronting the Middle Class Listen to the Hearing