WASHINGTON  With unemployment high and inflation low, a question is being asked more often and more loudly: Can and should the Federal Reserve do more to get the economy moving?

In two days of Congressional testimony that begin on Wednesday afternoon, Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, is likely to answer yes, but not just yet.

Mr. Bernanke’s view is that the economic recovery is continuing, though at a modest clip, and that recent developments  the stock market’s swoon, Europe’s financial turmoil and weak job creation  are discouraging but do not yet justify additional monetary stimulus.

Mr. Bernanke says he believes that there are situations that could justify new measures on top of what the Fed has done so far: keeping short-term interest rates to near-record lows and amassing a portfolio of government bonds and mortgage-backed securities, which has put downward pressure on long-term rates.