House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) delivered the following opening statement at today’s full committee hearing, “CFTC Reauthorization: Stakeholder Perspectives.”
Remarks as prepared:
Good morning, and welcome to our full committee hearing on reauthorizing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Thank you to our panel of witnesses for making the time to be with us today.
Before we start, I want to thank Acting Chairman Pham for serving as Acting Chairman and congratulate Mike Selig on his nomination as Chairman of the Commission. I am looking forward to the Senate’s confirmation vote, maybe as soon as this afternoon!
He is taking over the reins of the agency at a transformative time for the Commission and for financial markets broadly. He and the Commission staff have their work cut out for them, but I know that they are up to the challenge.
I look forward to inviting him to the Committee early next year to talk about his agenda and goals.
As many of you know, the Commission’s authorization for appropriations lapsed a dozen years ago, in 2013.
This is unacceptable, and it is long past time for Congress to fulfill its responsibility and reauthorize the Commission, especially as we consider providing new authorities to the agency.
I want to thank Ranking Member Craig for being not only a strong leader but also a partner on this committee.
The Committee’s years-long process on digital assets culminated in the House passage of the CLARITY Act, due in no small part to the Ranking Member’s strong support.
The legislation received overwhelming bipartisan support, garnering 294 votes, and over 80% of the members of the Agriculture Committee voted for it.
In March, our committee held another bipartisan event: a hearing commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Commission.
We looked back at the storied history of the CFTC and the markets it oversees, learning about the important and unique role it holds as a regulator and how important derivatives markets are to everyday Americans.
These markets allow American businesses – including farmers, ranchers, and producers – to manage the risks of modern business.
It was clear in March that as markets have evolved, so has the Commission.
From legacy financial futures to novel new perpetual derivatives, the CFTC has applied its principles-based mandate and subject-matter expertise to regulating new products and the novel issues they present.
Today, we build off of what we learned in March and examine the importance of the Commission and derivatives markets, today.
We will hear from a cross-section of stakeholders who know the Commission and its markets well.
This is an important opportunity to consider their suggestions for improvement and refinement and set the CFTC on solid footing for the next 50 years.
Again, thank you to each of our witnesses for their willingness to participate in today’s hearing. I look forward to our conversation.
