Three members of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee dissented in the central bank's Wednesday decision to keep rates unchanged — the most "no" voters since the December 2014 meeting.
The three dissenters had wanted to raise rates at the September meeting. Here's what they've said publicly in the last few months about their view on hiking rates:
In July, Kansas City Fed President Esther George said that "keeping rates too low can create risks." She reiterated that view in an Aug. 25 interview with The Wall Street Journal and also voted against the Fed's decision to keep rates unchanged in March, April and July.
"My views are it is time to move," she told the newspaper in August. "Where I was in July made sense to me, and it still makes sense to me."
"I don't see better outcomes from waiting," she said.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said on Sept. 9 that "risks to the forecast are becoming increasingly two-sided" and that "if we want to ensure that we remain at full employment, gradual tightening is likely to be appropriate."
His comments were a significant factor in sending U.S. stocks more than 2 percent lower that Friday. The three major indexes posted their worst day since June 24, when global stocks sold off after the surprise U.K. vote to leave the European Union.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Sept. 1 that the U.S. economy "is basically at full employment" and that a "gradual increase from a very low interest rate that we are at now is pretty compelling to me."
In a response to a question about the three dissenters on Wednesday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a news conference that "The dissents represent a judgment on the part of some of my colleagues that it's important to begin that process now. … I certainly agree myself that there are risks in waiting too long to remove accommodation."
— Reuters and CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this report.