Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the bill. The bill went too far last Congress and it goes too far now. The Commission, in my opinion, just needs a simple reauthorization.
Floor Statement by Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin C. Peterson
Commodity End-User Relief Act, H.R. 238
--As Prepared for Delivery--
“I thank the Gentleman. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the bill. The bill went too far last Congress and it goes too far now. The Commission, in my opinion, just needs a simple reauthorization.
“I urge members to consider this when deciding how to vote on the amendments that will be debated today on the floor.
“Title II actually makes it more difficult for the Commission to function. I am also concerned that Title III’s cross-border rulemaking mandate will result in a race to the bottom for multinational banks in the swaps market, which is a global market.
“On top of all that, this bill caps the agency’s yearly budget at $250 million for the next five years, when every single witness before the Agriculture Committee last Congress told us that the Agency needs more resources to do its work. Maybe that’s the whole point – this bill will lead to the agency doing nothing. That would be a mistake. We tried that once and found ourselves with a real mess.
“Since we last discussed reauthorization the market situation has changed and the CFTC has addressed many of our concerns through rulemaking. Yet, the Agriculture Committee wasn’t given the chance to consider these issues before the bill was rushed to the floor. So we’re moving forward without regular order.
“Again, I oppose this bill and urge my colleagues to vote no. I reserve the balance of my time.”
