Today, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) delivered the following opening statement at a full committee hearing titled "The CFTC at 50: Examining the Past and Future of Commodity Markets." Watch the full hearing here.

Thank you, Chairman Thompson for holding this very important hearing not only to look back at the successful 50-year history of the CFTC, but also to look forward and see what’s potentially ahead for the agency for the next 50 years.

This Committee – more than most – has historically worked on a bipartisan basis when it comes the issues that impact farmers and ranchers across the country. That bipartisanship has also traditionally extended to the Committee’s work and oversight of derivatives markets and the CFTC.

Whether it was the 2008 CFTC Reauthorization or the crafting of the derivatives title of the Dodd-Frank Act, history has shown that this Committee achieves great legislative outcomes when Republicans and Democrats work together, and I believe there is potential for more bipartisan success in this area in this Congress.

We all know that a well-regulated financial system keeps our country strong and prosperous while protecting Americans and their livelihoods. For 50 years, the CFTC has been the cop on the beat in overseeing U.S. derivative markets and making sure they work, not just for Wall Street, not just for the exchanges and clearinghouses themselves, but for Main Street Americans whose livelihoods are impacted by these markets every day.

But to have effective oversight over these markets and protect the customers who use them takes resources. Last July, at a Subcommittee hearing on reauthorizing the CFTC, we heard from commercial end users of these markets about the agency’s “stagnant funding” and how the agency needs sufficient resources otherwise its ability to ensure the integrity of the more traditional commodity markets for risk management purposes will be diminished. If the users of these markets get it, we should too.

Even in the FIT ’21 bill passed last year, the House recognized that the CFTC would need additional resources to implement the bill’s new requirements and provisions. I believe the funding provided by that bill was a good first step, but if we are going to hand the agency new responsibilities, we need to find a more permanent solution to the agency’s funding needs. So, I look forward to working with my friends across the aisle to develop a meaningful, durable plan that provides the CFTC with the resources that will allow it to bring its strong history of regulatory achievement to new markets, including digital assets like crypto.

I want to thank our witnesses coming in today and for your testimony. All of you have been either working for or with the CFTC for many years, and I appreciate the perspectives you bring to the table. But I particularly want to thank Mr. Schryver for your participation. Your members need these markets to hedge their risks and obtain price discovery.

While we can acknowledge the need and role speculators can play in these markets, the truth is that these markets are for your members and all other commercial end-users. If these markets ever stop providing utility to these end-users, then they will have truly become the gambling halls they are often accused of being.

Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing, and with that, I yield back.