Some US congressmen would appear to be upset by the impending departure from office of Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.

Amid the tributes and accolades during Mr. Greenspan’s semi-annual report on the economy in front of the House Financial Services Committee, California Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat, said that he is introducing a bill that would exempt Mr. Greenspan from the requirement that he leave his post on January 31, 2006, the end of his current term.

Representative Sherman said that Mr. Greenspan has done such a good job that he should get an additional five-year term.

If Mr. Greenspan does step down in January, he will have served in his job for 18 years and five months, the second-longest serving Fed chairman in US history; if he extended his service even to July of next year he would break the record for service set by William McChesney Martin, who was appointed by President Harry S Truman.

That could happen even if Sherman’s bill is not passed, as Fed chairmen may serve beyond the end of their term if a new chairman has not been appointed. Some have speculated that the Bush administration is so preoccupied with other matters that it could take at least that long to appoint a new chairman.

Mr. Greenspan did not say anything to encourage Representative Sherman’s efforts; he has expressed a preference for departing office at the end of his term, as scheduled.

The Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve testified before the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday that it is essential to strengthen the regulations governing the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage finance companies, the largest and second largest buyers of home mortgages in the U.S., in order to lessen the risks to the finance system of the country should one of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) fail.

In addition to stronger regulation, Greenspan also said that it is essential to limit the portfolios of assets of the two companies in order to lessen risks. Currently, the portfolios of the two companies total $1.5 trillion; Greenspan has said in the past that each company’s portfolio should be limited to $200 billion.

Greenspan said that limiting the portfolios of the companies in this way would not raise mortgage rates. If these two actions are not taken, Greenspan told Congress, failure of one of the companies could require a government bailout to avert financial crisis.

Greenspan admitted that taking these steps might strengthen the perception that such GSEs are merely arms of the government, but insisted that action is necessary.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created by Congress to bring more money into the U.S. home-loan market.