Ranking Member Stabenow Opening Statement at CFTC Reauthorization Markup

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S.   Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on   Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, released the following opening statement   – as prepared for delivery – following today’s Committee markup of Chairman   Roberts’ CFTC Reauthorization bill.

During the markup, Stabenow introduced a commonsense   amendment that would establish a fee for services provided by the CFTC to big banks and Wall   Street ensuring that   families, farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers have a fully funded watchdog on   their side. A copy of that amendment can be found: AMENDMENT   HERE.

Stabenow’s statement, as prepared for delivery,   follows.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

 Nearly   six years ago, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer   Protect Act in response to the worst financial crisis this country has faced   since the Great Depression.

 As   we all know, that crisis resulted in the loss of eight million Americans   jobs, more than nine million homes went into foreclosure, trillions of   dollars in savings and pensions vanished, and countless businesses – both big   and small – closed their doors forever.

This   devastation was not caused by our nation’s farmers, ranchers, or manufacturers   – in fact, they were among the ones who suffered the most.

While  American farmers were getting foreclosure notices, the people who caused the   crisis were getting golden parachutes – and it was American taxpayers who   ended up footing the bill.

It  is my belief, Mr. Chairman that we should be making sure that American taxpayers never again have to bail out banks because of what happened on dark, unregulated markets.

And that’s why Congress – and this Committee specifically – acted quickly to pass   important reforms to protect the taxpayers of this country by empowering   financial watchdogs – like the CFTC –with new oversight authority under Title 7 of Wall Street Reform.

As   part of that law, the CFTC must now regulate the swaps market, which includes   credit default swaps and other financial products that proved especially   risky to our economy. That’s a market that was previously unregulated – and a   market worth an unbelievable $300 trillion. That’s trillion with a T.

So   when I hear folks talking about rolling back common-sense reforms that   protect taxpayers from ever having to bail out this industry in the future,   and when you consider that the market that is worth $300 trillion, it doesn't   make sense to me.

And   it makes even less sense when you consider that the cops on the beat – the   very people who are supposed to protect taxpayers and end-users –    haven’t been given the resources to oversee these markets on behalf of   our farmers and families.

In   fact, between 2009 and 2010, after this law was enacted, the CFTC went from   being responsible for markets worth $27 trillion to markets worth $320   trillion. That’s a one-thousand-one-hundred-eighty-five percent increase!

And   at the same time, the CFTC’s resources to do the job went up about 15   percent.

Just   yesterday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Agriculture, approved   their FY 2017 funding bill which would keep the CFTC’s budget frozen for the   third year in a row.

If   we are serious about protecting taxpayers and having markets that work for   our farmers, ranchers and manufacturers, then we cannot continue to hamstring   the CFTC from doing their job. 

If   we are serious about preventing another round of bailouts, or bankruptcies   like we saw with MF Global and Peregrine Financial, then we need to start   providing the CFTC with the resources they need to meet their   responsibilities.

That   is why, Mr. Chairman, because of the repeated failures of appropriators to   adequately fund the CFTC, I will be offering an amendment that would   establish a fee for services provided at the Commission – something that   President Reagan first proposed, and one that every Republican and Democratic   administration since then has supported.

This   fee-for-service will not be placed on our farmers and ranchers– it will be on   services provided to the big banks and Wall Street.

We   heard loudly from Chairman Massad during his testimony before this Committee   last year that our markets cannot be well supervised and market participants   and their customers cannot be well served in an efficient and timely fashion,   if additional resources are not provided to the CFTC – so let’s find a   serious solution to a serious problem.

Additionally,   I believe that provisions of this bill that tinker with active and technical   rulemaking decisions at the Commission are not the right approach. 

I   have been a strong advocate for agricultural and manufacturing end-users   since the moment we started debating Wall Street Reform in this Committee.   And I have continued to be a champion for end-user relief. In fact, I offered   several amendments during the drafting of Title 7 to provide regulatory   relief for end-users.

Since   taking over in 2014, Chairman Massad has prioritized end-user relief, and I   am confident, with continued congressional support, he will remain committed   to addressing outstanding end-user concerns, including issues included in   this bill. 

Mr.   Chairman – although you and I agree on the importance of customer protections   and providing appropriate end-user relief, I believe there is a more   effective way to achieve these goals than to pass the bill before us   today. 

We   should be standing up for farmers and ranchers and manufacturers – all of   whom need their hard work protected in these markets, and all of whom pay   taxes and expect us to be watching their backs.  

Lastly,   as it has been said many times, this Committee has a rich history of   bipartisanship and compromise and I am disappointed that we do not have a   nice bipartisan bill before us.  But I'm hopeful that we will be able to   return to this tradition soon.

Thank  you.

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