[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6334 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6334

  To provide energy price relief by authorizing greater resources and 
 authority for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 2008

Mr. Etheridge introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide energy price relief by authorizing greater resources and 
 authority for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Increasing Transparency and 
Accountability in Oil Prices Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE HOUSE ON ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY FUNDING FOR 
              COMMISSION.

    (a) Findings.--The House of Representatives finds that--
            (1) excessive speculation may be adding significantly to 
        the price of oil and other energy commodities;
            (2) the public and Congress are concerned that overseas 
        exchange transactions are not being adequately reviewed by any 
        regulatory body;
            (3) an important Federal overseer of commodity speculation, 
        the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has staffing levels 
        that have dropped to the lowest levels in the 33-year history 
        of the Commission; and
            (4) the acting Chairman of the Commission has said publicly 
        that an additional 100 employees are needed in light of the 
        inflow of trading volume.
    (b) Sense of the House.--It is the sense of the House of 
Representatives that the President should immediately send to Congress 
a request for emergency appropriations for fiscal year 2008 for the 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission in an amount that is sufficient--
            (1) to help restore public confidence in energy commodities 
        markets and Federal oversight of those markets;
            (2) to potentially impose limits on excessive speculation 
        that may be increasing the price of oil, gasoline, diesel, and 
        other energy commodities;
            (3) to significantly improve the information technology 
        capabilities of the Commission to help the Commission 
        effectively regulate the energy futures markets; and
            (4) to fund at least 100 new full-time positions at the 
        Commission to oversee energy commodity market speculation and 
        to enforce the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.).

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL COMMISSION EMPLOYEES FOR IMPROVED ENFORCEMENT.

    Section 2(a)(7) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 2(a)(7)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Additional employees.--As soon as practicable 
                after the date of enactment of this subparagraph, the 
                Commission shall appoint at least 100 full-time 
                employees (in addition to the employees employed by the 
                Commission as of the date of enactment of this 
                subparagraph)--
                            ``(i) to increase the public transparency 
                        of operations in energy futures markets;
                            ``(ii) to improve the enforcement of this 
                        Act in those markets; and
                            ``(iii) to carry out such other duties as 
                        are prescribed by the Commission.''.

SEC. 4. SPECULATIVE LIMITS AND TRANSPARENCY FOR OFF-SHORE OIL TRADING.

    Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 6) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Foreign Boards of Trade.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of any foreign board of 
        trade for which the Commission has granted or is considering an 
        application to grant a board of trade located outside of the 
        United States relief from the requirement of subsection (a) to 
        become a designated contract market, derivatives transaction 
        execution facility, or other registered entity, with respect to 
        an energy commodity that is physically delivered in the United 
        States, prior to continuing to or initially granting the 
        relief, the Commission shall determine that the foreign board 
        of trade--
                    ``(A) applies comparable principles or requirements 
                regarding the daily publication of trading information 
                and position limits or accountability levels for 
                speculators as apply to a designated contract market, 
                derivatives transaction execution facility, or other 
                registered entity trading energy commodities physically 
                delivered in the United States; and
                    ``(B) provides such information to the Commission 
                regarding the extent of speculative and nonspeculative 
                trading in the energy commodity that is comparable to 
                the information the Commission determines necessary to 
                publish a Commitment of Traders report for a designated 
                contract market, derivatives transaction execution 
                facility, or other registered entity trading energy 
                commodities physically delivered in the United States.
            ``(2) Existing foreign boards of trade.--During the period 
        beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection 
        and ending 18 months after the date of enactment of this 
        subsection, the Commission shall determine whether to continue 
        to grant relief in accordance with paragraph (1) to any foreign 
        board of trade for which the Commission granted relief prior to 
        the date of enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 5. DISAGGREGATION OF INDEX FUNDS AND OTHER DATA IN ENERGY MARKETS.

    Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 6) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Disaggregation of Index Funds and Data in Energy Markets.--
The Commission shall disaggregate and make public monthly--
            ``(1) the number of positions and total value of index 
        funds and other passive, long-only positions in energy markets; 
        and
            ``(2) data on speculative positions relative to bona fide 
        physical hedgers in those markets.''.
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