“Thank you Chairman Lucas. Thank you for your hard work, along with Subcommittee Chairman Conaway and Ranking Member Scott, on the bill before us today. The Agriculture Committee is demonstrating that it is possible to put partisan rhetoric aside in favor of bipartisan legislation. We’re the only Committee that seems able to do that.
“I’m not a big fan of regulations but following the financial collapse it became clear that we needed to rein in some of the risky behavior that had been taking place and increase marketplace transparency. Additionally, the failures of MF Global and Peregrine Financial have again shown that there is more that can be done.
“This legislation addresses these cases along with some of the concerns that have arisen during the implementation of Dodd-Frank. H.R. 4413 also builds upon the Committee’s previous bipartisan actions to further clarify that end-users who were not responsible for the financial collapse should not unnecessarily be burdened by new financial regulations.
“While the rule-making process has been confusing and longer than I would have liked, that is no reason to dismantle Dodd-Frank, as some in Congress have suggested. I believe H.R. 4413 is reasonable legislation that ensures a well-functioning CFTC, regulates financial entities dealing in the swaps market, and allows end-users to continue using derivatives to hedge the risks associated with their underlying business.
“As you know, Mr. Chairman, this legislation has been a collaborative process. I would like to recognize many of the Committee Democrats who worked with Republicans as original co-sponsors of bills that have been incorporated into this reauthorization. - Ranking Member Scott joined Chairman Conaway on the cost-benefit bill added as Section 203; Mr. Costa and Mr. Garamendi led our side’s efforts on H.R. 1038 to provide relief for municipal utilities; Ms. Fudge has led efforts on the inter-affiliate bill; Mr. Vela, Mr. Gallego and Mr. Vargas took on the cause of end-users whose trading strategy is being identified by banks in thinly traded markets. And Mr. Maloney worked to include not only the indemnification bill, H.R. 742, but also the GAO study on CFTC resources.
“I am proud that, once again, the Agriculture Committee is demonstrating to the rest of Congress that it is possible to do big legislation in a bipartisan way. If others followed our model, we would get a lot more accomplished in Congress. With that, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and I yield back."
Source: House Committee on Agriculture
