[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 107 (Thursday, June 26, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H6103-H6110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ENERGY MARKETS EMERGENCY ACT OF 2008

  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 6377) to direct the Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission to utilize all its authority, including its emergency 
powers, to curb immediately the role of excessive speculation in any 
contract market within the jurisdiction and control of the Commodity 
Futures Trading Commission, on or through which energy futures or swaps 
are traded, and to eliminate excessive speculation, price distortion, 
sudden or unreasonable fluctuations or unwarranted changes in prices, 
or other unlawful activity that is causing major market disturbances 
that prevent the market from accurately reflecting the forces of supply 
and demand for energy commodities.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6377

       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 ``Energy Markets Emergency Act 
     of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. ENERGY MARKETS.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
       (1) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission was created as 
     an independent agency, in 1974, with the mandate to enforce 
     and administer the Commodity Exchange Act, to ensure market 
     integrity, to protect market users from fraud and abusive 
     trading practices, and to prevent and prosecute manipulation 
     of the price of any commodity in interstate commerce.
       (2) Congress has given the Commodity Futures Trading 
     Commission authority under the Commodity Exchange Act to take 
     necessary actions to address market emergencies.

[[Page H6104]]

       (3) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission may use its 
     emergency authority with respect to any major market 
     disturbance which prevents the market from accurately 
     reflecting the forces of supply and demand for a commodity.
       (4) Congress has declared, in section 4a of the Commodity 
     Exchange Act, that excessive speculation imposes an undue and 
     unnecessary burden on interstate commerce.
       (5) On June 6, 2008, the price of crude oil traded on the 
     New York Mercantile Exchange hit an all-time record of 
     $139.12 per barrel.
       (6) The average price of a barrel of crude oil in 2007 was 
     $72, and the average price of a barrel of crude oil to date 
     in 2008 is $109.
       (7) Heating oil futures contracts have risen in price from 
     $2.97 to $3.81 during the March through May contract months.
       (8) United States airlines are forecast to spend 
     $61,200,000,000 on jet fuel in 2008, which is $20,000,000,000 
     more than they spent for jet fuel in 2007.
       (9) According to the American Automobile Association--
       (A) families and businesses are paying an average of $4.07 
     per gallon for regular gasoline, which is near the all-time 
     high and is more than double the price in 2001; and
       (B) truckers and farmers are paying an average of $4.77 per 
     gallon for diesel fuel, which is near the all-time high and 
     triple the price in 2001.
       (10) During this decade, energy demand has been steadily on 
     the rise in nations such as China and other Asian exporting 
     nations.
       (11) In a May 2008 report, the International Monetary Fund 
     raised the possibility that speculation has played a 
     significant role in the run-up of oil prices, and stated ``It 
     is hard to explain current oil prices in terms of 
     fundamentals alone. The recent surge in the oil price seems 
     to go well beyond what would be indicated by the growth of 
     the world economy.''.
       (b) Direction From Congress.--The Commodity Futures Trading 
     Commission shall utilize all its authority, including its 
     emergency powers, to--
       (1) curb immediately the role of excessive speculation in 
     any contract market within the jurisdiction and control of 
     the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, on or through which 
     energy futures or swaps are traded; and
       (2) eliminate excessive speculation, price distortion, 
     sudden or unreasonable fluctuations or unwarranted changes in 
     prices, or other unlawful activity that is causing major 
     market disturbances that prevent the market from accurately 
     reflecting the forces of supply and demand for energy 
     commodities.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Peterson) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Goodlatte) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6377 directs the CFTC to utilize all of its 
authority, including its emergency powers, to immediately curb the role 
of excessive speculation, if any, in the energy and swaps futures 
market within its jurisdiction, and to eliminate any unlawful activity 
causing major market disturbances that prevent the market from 
accurately reflecting the forces of supply and demand of energy 
commodities.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't think I would be covering any new ground in this 
Chamber if I were to speak about high prices of gasoline. Everybody in 
this chamber understands that problem. But, Mr. Speaker, a growing 
number of people believe a flood of speculative money into the energies 
futures is driving the increase in prices. The weak dollar and 
increased worldwide demand has led to a greater number of well 
capitalized investors into the commodities futures market, including 
the crude oil market, as these investors seek greater returns than they 
traditionally found in cash and securities.

                              {time}  1215

  It is undeniable that this group of institutional investors has a 
greater presence in futures markets than ever before.
  So what we are doing here is asking the CFTC to look into this and 
use the powers that they have to look at this situation and determine 
and give us a report which they have done in the past. We are asking 
them to take one more look and make sure that these additional moneys 
that are coming into the futures market are not having any undo effect 
on prices that people are concerned about.
  The CFTC is the chief regulator of the commodities futures and 
options market. It is their responsibility to identify, pursue and 
prosecute fraud in this area. I believe they are doing a good job in 
that regard. Chairman Lukken and his staff have testified repeatedly 
before our committee and others that at this point they can see no 
evidence of speculation causing problems in these markets. But there 
are a lot of folks who are concerned this is going on, and so we are 
asking them to take one more look.
  Under current law, U.S. traders can execute transactions in West 
Texas Intermediate crude oil, which is the benchmark oil contract on 
NYMEX, a CFTC-regulated exchange, and on London's ICE exchange that is 
regulated by the United Kingdom's FSA. The CFTC, however, has 
information on the positions of traders on the NYMEX that they don't 
have on the traders on ICE, and this is part of the issue that has 
caused us to be concerned because we don't have complete information on 
exactly what is going on in all of these markets.
  Mr. Speaker, CFTC right now is taking steps to gain more information. 
They have gone into an agreement with the FSA to expand trader data, 
and that is all good and we welcome these steps, but we believe more 
should be done. CFTC should immediately take these steps to utilize 
their authority to make sure that, as I said before, there is not 
excessive speculation in these markets.
  We on the Agriculture Committee are going to work with the CFTC to 
try to acquire more information, and we will thoroughly examine all of 
the bills in July that have been introduced in this area in a 
methodical way, we will listen to all sides, and we are going to try to 
move ahead with a consensus bill if we can come to a consensus about 
what, if anything, should be done to move on this situation.
  Mr. Speaker, I am here today to, we hope, provide a reasonable and 
useful voice to come to the right conclusion and get the right answers 
about what is going on in the futures market and what is going on with 
oil prices in this country.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the chairman of the committee, Mr. 
Peterson, for his work in this area. We held a hearing on this issue on 
Tuesday of this week. In the farm bill which the Congress just passed 
overwhelmingly several times, we overrode the President's veto, it 
includes legislative language that takes further steps to complete the 
closure of the Enron loophole. In that testimony we received on 
Tuesday, we received assurance that between the language that was in 
the Commodity Futures Modernization Act passed in the aftermath of the 
Enron scandal, and in the language that was included in the farm bill, 
the Enron loophole is now closed.
  I have no reason to oppose this legislation and I therefore will 
support it. It simply tells the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to 
do what it already has the authority to do, and based upon the 
testimony that we received on Tuesday is already doing to ensure that 
there is not excessive speculation in the energy futures markets. I 
have every confidence that they will do so, that they will heed this 
additional voice of support for their doing their jobs. But, quite 
frankly, this legislation does not do what needs to be done by this 
Congress.
  The Democratic leadership in this Congress is continuing a pattern 
that the American people are increasingly concerned about, and that is 
to do everything they can to try to blame everyone but themselves for 
the problem that we face in this country of having years of neglect of 
not having a domestic energy policy dedicated toward increasing the 
supply, increasing the supply of oil, increasing the supply of natural 
gas, increasing the supply of clean-burning coal, increasing the supply 
of nuclear power, increasing the supply of alternative fuels, 
increasing efforts to bring about new technologies. This is the all-of-
the-above approach that this Congress should be taking that our 
conference has taken. In fact, we have worked very hard to see that 
this policy be brought to the floor of the House.
  Yes, I will support this bill telling the CFTC to use its authority 
to curb excessive speculation, but I think it appalling that we aren't 
doing the job that needs to be done. It is being blocked by the party 
that controls the access to the floor of this House.

[[Page H6105]]

  H.R. 2279, to expedite the construction of new refining capacity on 
closed military installations in the United States, and for other 
purposes, sponsored by Representative Pitts of Pennsylvania with 55 
cosponsors. From the House Energy and Commerce and Armed Services 
Committees, last major action taken, a motion to discharge petition 
filed by Mr. English, petition 110-9. Why haven't we seen this bill 
brought to the floor of the House?
  H.R. 3089, the No More Excuses Energy Act of 2007 sponsored by 
Representative Thornberry of Texas, 77 cosponsors, referred to the 
Committees on Natural Resources, House Ways and Means, and Energy and 
Commerce. Last major action, June 10, motion to discharge petition 
filed by Mr. Walberg. A motion was filed to discharge the Natural 
Resources, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce Committees of this 
action. No action taken. Why hasn't that bill been brought to the floor 
of the House?
  We have this week another discharge petition on H.R. 5656 which 
repeals the requirement with respect to the procurement and acquisition 
of alternative fuels, a discharge petition filed this week by 
Representative Hensarling. Why hasn't this legislation been brought to 
the floor of this House?
  There are scores of other bills sponsored by both Republicans and 
Democrats dedicated to relieving this energy crisis that have been 
bottled up by the Democratic majority.
  When, Mr. Speaker, will we get the chance to vote on these very 
worthy bills? When will we get the chance to actually start offering 
relief from the outrageously high gas prices that American consumers 
are facing?
  That's the problem we are confronting. That's the problem that the 
leadership in this Congress is not allowing us to address. That's what 
needs to be done, not telling the CFTC to do the job that they are 
already doing and already have the authority to do, but acting to make 
sure that we are increasing supply of all sources of energy, new 
sources of energy, traditional sources of energy, acting to make sure 
that the incentives are in place for Americans to conserve. My 
goodness, they are already doing that. We are seeing that reflected in 
their activities. This Congress could be helping them out. It is 
failing to do so. And that, Mr. Speaker, is why we are failing the 
American people when the leadership of this Congress does not allow us 
to have these votes.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. I am pleased now to yield to the chairman 
of the subcommittee that has jurisdiction over this issue and has done 
outstanding work in leading his subcommittee to make sure we are on top 
of this issue, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), for 2 
minutes.
  (Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I rise in support of the Energy Market Emergency Act of 2008.
  I don't have to tell anyone that gas prices have skyrocketed over the 
last several months. We can all remember when we thought $2 a gallon 
gas was high. Now we would like to return to that. Now it is on average 
over $4.
  On June 6, the price of crude oil hit an all-time record of $139 per 
barrel. American families are paying an average of $4.07 for gasoline, 
double the price from 2001 when President Bush took over. Truckers and 
farmers are paying an average of $4.77 per gallon for diesel, triple 
the price from 2001 when the President took office.
  There is clearly not just one factor leading to these outrageous 
prices. However, there is a growing concern that excessive speculation 
by investors could be a significant cause of the prices we are 
experiencing. North Carolina families are struggling to make ends meet, 
as are families all across the country. Congress must act to ensure 
speculators are not artificially raising energy prices for their own 
gain while hardworking Americans are suffering.
  This legislation tells the CFTC, which is responsible for overseeing 
our energy markets, to use all other authority to ensure that excessive 
speculation is not occurring.
  I can't blame them. When the price of crude oil spikes $10, folks 
really believe something is wrong. The House Ag Committee will conduct 
hearings in July to examine all of the various pieces of legislation to 
address this issue, including legislation that I have introduced called 
the Increasing Transparency and Accountability Act of 2008.
  I believe after a careful review we can craft responsible legislation 
that can improve the price discovery function of these commodity 
markets. But no amount of CFTC authority will make a difference if the 
agency doesn't have the resources to do their job.
  Since 2002, trading on the commodity markets has increased six times.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from North 
Carolina has expired.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 
seconds.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. While trading has increased six times, under the Bush 
administration, staff levels have fallen to the lowest level in the 33-
year history of the exchange.
  My legislation and others will increase it by 100 people. These are 
investigators. Let me just say for those who are listening, that means 
if you have a speed limit of 55 or 60 miles an hour, we are going to 
put more cops on the beat. That's what we need.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support the Energy Market Emergency Act 
of 2008.
  I don't have to tell anyone here that gas prices have sky rocketed 
over the last several months. I remember a few years ago when two-
dollar-a-gallon gas seemed outrageous. Now the national average is four 
dollars.
  On June 6th, the price of crude oil hit an all time record of $139.12 
per barrel.
  American families are paying an average of $4.07 per gallon for 
regular gasoline, double the price from 2001 when President Bush took 
office.
  Truckers and farmers are paying an average of $4.77 per gallon for 
diesel fuel; triple the price from 2001, again when the President took 
office.
  There is clearly not just one factor leading to these outrageous 
prices. However, there is a growing concern that excessive speculation 
by investors could be a significant cause of the prices we are 
experiencing.
  North Carolina's families are struggling to make ends meet while the 
cost of energy soars. Congress must ensure that investors are not 
artificially raising energy costs for their own gain while hard-working 
Americans are suffering.
  This legislation tells the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 
which is responsible for overseeing our energy markets, to use all of 
its authority to ensure that excessive speculation is not occurring.
  I serve as chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities 
and Risk Management, which has jurisdiction over the CFTC, and I'm here 
to tell you that people think something is not right.
  And I cannot blame them. When the price of crude oil spikes $10.00 in 
one day, people think somebody is making some money, and it isn't them.
  The House Agriculture Committee will conduct hearings in July to 
examine all of the various legislative proposals to address this issue, 
including legislation I have introduced, H.R. 6334, the Increasing 
Transparency and Accountability in Oil Prices Act of 2008.
  I believe after a careful review, we can craft responsible 
legislation that can improve the price discovery function of these 
commodity markets.
  No amount of additional CFTC authority will make a difference if the 
agency doesn't have the resources to do their job. Since 2000, trading 
on commodity markets has increased six-fold.
  However, during that time, the Bush administration let staffing 
levels at the CFTC fall to their lowest level in the agency's 33-year 
history.
  My legislation calls for 100 additional full-time positions at the 
CFTC, mostly for enforcement because they need the talent to keep an 
eye on these markets.
  And I want to applaud Representative Rosa DeLauro for knowing this 
simple truth and providing more funding for the CFTC than the President 
requested in the Agriculture Appropriations bill.
  Commodity markets are like highways in that both have limits. If 
drivers don't think there are any cops watching on the road, they are 
going to push past the speed limits. If the CFTC doesn't have enough 
staff to monitor an ever growing and changing marketplace, investors 
will push the limits there as well.
  Today's directive to the CFTC will send a message to the 
administration that they must get serious about these sky rocketing 
costs

[[Page H6106]]

and will pave the way for more comprehensive legislation in the future. 
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time it is my pleasure to yield 3 
minutes to the ranking member on the subcommittee with jurisdiction 
over the CFTC, the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Goodlatte for yielding 
me time to speak in support of a bill that has been developed in part 
by the House Agriculture Committee. I am glad to see that this issue, 
the issue of speculation in the futures industry, is being handled by 
the committee of jurisdiction, the Committee on Agriculture. I think it 
is important for us to continue our long-standing effort at oversight 
at CFTC and the futures industry that the Agriculture Committee has had 
now for many years.
  This is an important issue. In fact, I don't think there is a more 
important issue that this Congress will face except for energy prices. 
It is a significant conversation, as we all know, and with dramatic 
consequences upon our constituents.
  An e-mail from one of my constituents in Olpe, Kansas, ``What will it 
take to get beyond partisan politics and the blame game? Society 
expects children to get along, work together, but they have lousy role 
models when it comes to government. Many of us are losing hope of 
Congress ever getting beyond bickering--and in the meantime, our 
country's problems get worse and worse. It seems that most of our 
government officials are insulated from the reality that face middle 
and lower-income families day after day,'' talking about the cost of 
energy, the prices that Americans are encountering at the pump.
  What concerns me, despite my support for this and a belief that CFTC 
ought to have every tool to discover manipulation, ought to have every 
tool to discover whatever ``excessive speculation'' means, and we ought 
to make certain that their enforcement capabilities are strong and 
beneficial on behalf of the consumer in this country, what concerns me 
most is that this issue has become the opportunity to do nothing on the 
underlying cause of why oil and gas prices are so high. And that is 
increasing demands at a time when we are doing little to increase 
supply.
  And this Congress, we pass legislation dealing with the Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve, requiring that our government no longer fill the 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

                              {time}  1230

  Whether or not that's a good idea or bad idea, I think all of us 
would admit it's not going to solve our energy problem. We debated and 
passed legislation dealing with antitrust and OPEC, and whether that's 
a good idea or a bad idea, all of us would agree it's not going to 
solve the problem with the price of energy and the cost at the pump.
  And today we're on the House floor talking about speculation. I agree 
with the gentleman from Virginia. It is time for this Congress to get 
to this underlying issue that we face in this country: increasing 
demand for energy and a lack of increase in the supply. The laws of 
supply and demand work. As much as we Members of Congress might want to 
pass a law to overcome supply and demand, it cannot be done. And so 
this Congress needs to adequately express the laws of supply and demand 
that this country needs.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield to 
the gentleman from Maryland who has sponsored legislation in this area 
and has a passionate interest in this issue and has been very much 
involved, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), for 3 minutes.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I thank my colleague and the chairman of the 
Agriculture Committee, Mr. Peterson, for his leadership on this, along 
with our colleagues Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Larson, 
and many others who have moved quickly to address the problems of 
rampant speculation in the energy futures market.
  The title of this legislation is the Energy Markets Emergency Act, 
and what it does is direct the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, 
the CFTC, to invoke its emergency powers to crack down on extreme 
speculation in the futures market. We all know that families across 
this country are facing emergencies in their family budgets, and it's 
time that the CFTC stepped forward and treated this like the emergency 
that it is.
  Part of the rise in prices is of course due to supply and demand and 
the fact that China and India are boosting a demand. That's part of it. 
But the other part of it is in fact an increase in speculation, extreme 
speculation. There's been testimony before this Congress in front of 
the committee, subcommittee of Mr. Stupak, and on the Senate side and 
the House side by Professor Greenberger from the University of Maryland 
School of Law and many others that make it absolutely clear that a 
component of the increase in price does not have to do solely with 
supply and demand.
  And the CFTC has the authority under the statute to invoke its 
emergency powers if market prices do not adequately reflect the forces 
of supply and demand. And I must say, Mr. Goodlatte, that it has not 
done that. This legislation does not say to the CFTC, Just keep doing 
what you're doing. The fact of the matter is, they haven't made that 
finding, they have not invoked their emergency powers, and there's some 
permanent issues we have to come back and fix. We have to finally close 
the Enron loophole. We need to deal with what's called the London 
loophole. We need to do some things on an emergency basis.
  But if they invoke their emergency powers, they will have the 
authority to deal with those issues and close those loopholes on an 
emergency basis, and they have not done that. If they access and invoke 
these powers, they can put new position limits on, they can require 
greater margin requirements, they can even suspend tradings in certain 
funds.
  So what this does is say to them, use the powers that you have; do 
not sit on your hands and do not stand by and refuse to enact your 
emergency powers because while they have taken certain steps, they have 
not made the finding that this bill essentially says which is that 
speculation is part of the problem. No one says it's all of the 
problem. But it is a part of the problem, and they therefore have the 
authority under existing law to invoke the emergency powers, and it 
opens up a whole set of new tools that they are not using.
  So on this immediate basis, they can do everything necessary to 
address the problems of the Enron loophole, and they can do everything 
necessary to deal with the London loophole. They are not doing it 
today. We are directing them to treat this as the emergency it is.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to respond.
  I support this resolution because it gives nothing new to the CFTC 
but it gives it encouragement to do its work. It does not make any 
finding that there is excessive speculation in the market, and if there 
is excessive speculation in the market, then I certainly expect and 
support action by the CFTC to exercise its emergency powers to do so.
  But the gentleman is exactly right when he notes that India and China 
are increasing their consumption of all different types of sources of 
energy, and they're not the only ones. They're just the largest ones.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's time has expired.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I yield myself an additional 30 seconds to say further 
to the gentleman that when demand around the world, and not just in 
China and India, is increasing as steadily as it has in recent years 
and the United States sits back and waits for other countries to 
increase that supply and increases our dependence upon foreign oil from 
such unreliable sources as Venezuela and Nigeria and the Middle East, 
and we then think that simply asking the CFTC to do its job will solve 
this problem, that is a very serious problem.
  At this time, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to a member of the 
Agriculture Committee and the ranking member of our Department 
Operations and Oversight Subcommittee, the gentleman from Louisiana 
(Mr. Boustany).
  Mr. BOUSTANY. I thank my colleague for yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, but I want to restate 
that it's a redundancy. It's a restatement of CFTC's authority, and it 
does urge them to

[[Page H6107]]

move forward with haste, which I believe that they are doing. We heard 
testimony just yesterday, and the chairman of the CFTC pointed out a 
couple things: One, they're taking the lead in creating this 
interagency process working with all of the other agencies, the 
Department of Treasury, the SEC and others to really take a hard look 
at this issue of speculation.
  Secondly, they've moved forward with haste to come up with a mutual 
recognition agreement with London and other jurisdictions to broaden 
their reach so that they can find out and get more transparency and 
more information as to what is really happening in these markets. The 
energy markets are a very complicated issue. And the danger is that 
Congress will take steps before we have adequate information that could 
truly be detrimental.
  I fear that this debate today is taking valuable floor time away from 
bills that would really make a difference in working on our energy 
issues. We need a long-term strategy, a mid-term, and a short-term 
strategy clearly. And dealing with the issue of speculation is part of 
a short-term strategy.
  But we cannot get away from the fact that we have very tight supply 
and demand. It is about evenly matched. And when you have a million 
barrels a day offline because of terrorist activity in Nigeria, when 
you have Venezuela's production declining because of aged technology 
and mismanagement, when you have Mexican production declining because 
of mismanagement and contract problems, these are all issues that are 
further putting stress on supply.
  Finally, I would point out on the supply side that we have a shortage 
of rig materials around the world, actually. China is dealing with 
pulling in all kinds of commodities and it is adding costs to this. We 
have a workforce shortage in this oil and gas industry. There are major 
factors all coming into the supply side of this that are a problem.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's time has expired.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1 
minute.
  Mr. BOUSTANY. I think it's important to recognize these factors. What 
is driving uncertainty is clearly the lack of a confidence of energy 
policy, and this House can take action. There are bills ready. This 
House could clearly take action. We've got a number of bills, as my 
colleague, the ranking member of this committee, outlined earlier.
  Furthermore, the London loophole, CFTC has taken steps with their 
mutual recognition agreement. The farm bill provisions take substantive 
steps to close the Enron loophole.
  And finally, if we move prematurely to impose artificial standards 
and limits to trading, we could definitely hurt our transportation 
companies, our truckers, our farmers who hedge on these high energy 
prices.
  Furthermore, we may drive transactions into less transparent markets 
such as Dubai and other markets. This also denies a threat that the low 
value of the dollar, and there is a threat globally that we could be 
seeing a move in energy transaction, too. A different currency, the 
euro. And this is a further issue.
  So we need to move forward and not delay any further.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Minnesota has 10 minutes 
remaining. The gentleman from Virginia, 7\1/2\.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 3 
minutes to the Chair of the House Agriculture appropriations committee 
who has been also very passionate in leading on this issue and also 
working in her committee to make sure that the CFTC has the resources 
they need to complete their task, the gentlelady from Connecticut (Ms. 
DeLauro) for 3 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation that 
we bring to the floor today along with my colleagues, Mr. Peterson, I 
thank him for his leadership, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. 
Stupak, Mr. Larson.
  What is it about? It's about stopping the excessive energy commodity 
speculation that has driven up the price of gasoline by as much as 30 
percent, according to independent economists.
  Last October, the Government Accountability Office issued a report 
indicating that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission did not have 
the resources and the authority that it needed to protect the American 
people. When the report was issued, a gallon of gas cost on average 
$2.90. Today in my State of Connecticut, gas costs $4.37 a gallon. 
Commodity prices have skyrocketed in the past 5 years, but those 
unprecedented price spikes cannot be explained entirely by increased 
demand from China and India or the dollar's valuation.
  So what is the cause? Independent economists point to one significant 
culprit: unregulated speculation in our futures markets. A May 2008 
International Monetary Fund report agrees. Professional investors have 
purchased contracts for more than a billion barrels of petroleum 
essentially adding eight times as much demand for oil as the U.S. has 
added to its Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last 5 years. The 
CFTC should be the cop on the beat protecting American consumers by 
putting a halt to out-of-control speculation. Unfortunately, the CFTC 
may be partly to blame for allowing loopholes and opening up 
exemptions.
  The resolution before us today is simple. It directs the Commodity 
Futures Trading Commission to use its emergency powers granted by 
Congress under section 4a of the Commodity Exchange Act to investigate 
excessive speculation in any contract market within the CFTC's 
jurisdiction and take the necessary action to eliminate excessive 
speculation that is artificially inflating gas prices.
  What the CFTC needs to do is to use its powers to close the Enron 
loophole, to end the London-Dubai foreign border trade loophole. I urge 
my colleagues to support this effort. What it essentially does is 
restore sanity to the markets, and it provides consumers with the 
relief that they need in order to be able to continue to lead their 
lives and not be forced to make choices of whether to not buy gasoline 
for their cars and put food on the table or other things to take care 
of their families.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Record a 
joint analysis prepared by the majority and minority staff of the 
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the testimony of 
Michael Greenberger before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation on June 3, 2008. It responds to a number of 
assertions made about what might happen to the market. And while I 
certainly would hope that something could be found to lower gas prices 
by as much as Mr. Greenberger suggested in his testimony, here are 
several pages of reasons why that may indeed not be the case.

 Select Excerpts of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on 
                             Investigations

       8. STATEMENT: ``Overnight, [prohibiting the trading of 
     energy commodities in Exempt Commercial Markets) will bring 
     down the price of crude oil, I believe, by 25 percent.''
       RESPONSE: According to recent market data, there is little 
     to no trading of crude oil contracts on exempt commercial 
     markets in the United States. Prohibiting the trading of 
     energy commodities in a market in which no trading is 
     currently taking place is, thus, unlikely to have an effect 
     on the price of crude oil. Moreover, although there have 
     never been any Exempt Commercial Markets for agricultural 
     commodities, many agricultural commodities have recently 
     experienced substantial price spikes. There is no credible 
     evidence that simply amending the CEA to regulate energy 
     commodities as if they were agricultural commodities will 
     lead to lower energy prices.
       19. STATEMENT (p. 8): ``The Senate Permanent Investigating 
     Subcommittee has now issued two reports, one in June 2006 and 
     one in June 2007, that make a very strong (if not 
     irrefutable) case that trading on ICE has been used to 
     manipulate or excessively speculate in U.S. delivered crude 
     oil and natural gas contracts. The June 2006 report cited 
     economists who then concluded that when a barrel of crude was 
     @ $77 in June 2006, $20 to $30 of that cost was due to 
     excessive speculation and/or manipulation on unregulated 
     exchanges.''
       RESPONSE: The 2006 and 2007 PSI reports focused on the role 
     of excessive speculation in U.S. commodity markets; neither 
     report contained any findings on whether traders manipulated 
     crude oil or natural gas prices.

  Mr. GOODLATTE. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to 
the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick).

[[Page H6108]]

  Mrs. MYRICK. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I support this bill, and if there is a problem with speculators, yes, 
we need to get to the bottom of it, but we also need to look at our 
supply and start using our own resources. Yes, it may be a stopgap to 
take us on to alternatives, which I totally support because there are a 
lot of things out there that will work and will stop our dependence on 
foreign oil. This is a national security issue, and that's what bothers 
me so much because right now, we are totally dependent on people who 
don't like us for our oil. And what that does is put money in their 
pocket that they are using against us to finance terrorism. It makes no 
sense. We have to look at supply, and we have to look at our own 
supply.

                              {time}  1245

  I have a bill that is the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, and very 
simply, it allows us to drill off the Outer Continental Shelf because 
it's estimated there is a lot of supply out there. And it lets the 
States decide if they want to do it, and they share in the revenue.
  We have got to get serious about this, and we need to get moving now, 
not wait. There are a lot of bills out there that could be on the 
floor, but we need to ensure our energy and national security with 
serious bills. Supply, we need to look at nuclear, and expand that.
  We need all the alternatives on the table because that's the only 
thing that's going to solve the problem. We can't just put band-aids on 
it. We have to address it in a serious manner.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I'm now pleased to yield to 
my good friend and Blue Dog colleague from Utah (Mr. Matheson) for 2 
minutes.
  Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, this is an important first step. This bill 
asks the CFTC to exercise its ability to determine if undue speculation 
is having an impact on oil prices in this country. We've heard 
witnesses before the House of Representatives testify before different 
committees that suggest this could be upwards of $50 of the price per 
barrel right now may be due to this type of activity. So I think it's 
important we take this first step.
  But I call it a first step. I would encourage our colleagues to 
continue to work together in a consensus way to have a productive 
effort in closing what's called the London loophole.
  I, along with many other Members in this body, have put forth 
legislation to stop unwarranted speculation in foreign financial 
markets. Such legislation may be the best available option we have got 
here in Congress to address oil prices in the short-term.
  When we do address this issue more fully, however, though, I also 
want to offer a word of caution. We should be careful not to be too 
overzealous. While we need to address the London loophole, we must make 
sure we do not take action that would damage our market-based economy.
  And finally, I will say this. While we do work on market 
manipulation, we also need to recognize Congress has other issues to 
deal with when it comes to the oil price issue. There is no one single 
factor. As much as folks come down on the floor of the House at times 
to talk about just one issue, this is a very complex issue that has 
many dynamics affecting the global price of oil.
  I think market manipulation is an important one for us to consider, 
but we also need to look at a more comprehensive package of issues to 
try to fully address this issue.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it's my pleasure to yield 2 
minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon).
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. There is a reason why there's so much 
speculation in the oil commodities market, and it is because supply is 
less than demand. This happens in any commodities market. Where demand 
is exceeding supply, the speculators dive in. And you can try to 
encourage the CFTC and you can pass new regulations on speculation, but 
as long as supply is less than demand, the speculators are going to 
move in.
  And I will say further, that if you try to regulate this market so 
much that it becomes dysfunctional, it will just go overseas. And the 
reason the speculators are getting in is because they know that this 
Congress does not want to open up American sources of energy.
  I sit on the Appropriations Committee, and outrageously, today, we 
had the Interior bill before us, and we had three amendments: one to 
open up ANWR, a huge source of oil; one to open up our offshore assets 
of natural gas and oil, which can be done safely with today's 
technology; and the third is to open up shale. We have more 
hydrocarbons in shale than the Saudis have oil, but amazingly, the 
Democratic leadership didn't want to vote on those things. They don't 
want to open up those sources.
  That is the political position of the majority, the Democratic 
majority in this Congress, no increased domestic oil production, and 
that's why the speculators are pouring in. And there's going to be no 
relief for price at the pump, no matter what we do in this body, if we 
do not address the issue of supply.
  We have domestic energy. We can access that domestic energy safely 
and cleanly, but people are standing in the way in this body and the 
Congress of the United States.
  I predict that this bill is going to have absolutely no impact. We're 
going to do two more bills that probably will have no impact, and 
prices will probably continue to go up.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I'm now pleased to yield 1 
minute to my good friend from Vermont (Mr. Welch).
  Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, as has been said, there's a number 
of causes for the high price in gasoline: a weak dollar, increasing 
demand from around the world, the failure of leadership to move into 
alternative energy policies. We have to focus on all of them.
  But one of the reasons is rampant speculation, and the question is, 
will we try to squeeze the speculator or will we allow speculation to 
continue to squeeze the consumer?
  This is a first step, where we're telling the Commodities Futures 
Trading Commission to do its job, determine the facts, make specific 
recommendations and actions on how to protect us, and incidentally, 
many innocent Americans have pension fund investments that are pouring 
into the speculative market.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it's my pleasure to yield 2 
minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I'd just like to say to my colleagues who 
oppose drilling for oil and natural gas in the United States, go home 
this weekend, this next week during the recess and talk to your 
constituents. Go to the gas stations and ask them if they would rather 
have the price of gasoline be as high as it is or start drilling for 
oil in the United States.
  We have the supply. We have the ability. And we're not doing a darn 
thing about it, and the American people and our economy is suffering. 
It is not just gas prices. Food prices and everything else is going to 
go up because it has to be transported across the roads.
  We need to move toward energy independence. We talked about it back 
in the seventies during the Carter years. We haven't done a darn thing 
in 30 years. It's time we started drilling here in the United States. 
The minute we start doing that the price will drop. Mark my words.
  I'd just like to say to my colleagues, use a little analogy. Nero 
started fiddling while Rome burned. We're fiddling right now with the 
energy of the United States and the economy of the United States. This 
body and the other body has the ability to do something about the 
prices of gas and other commodities in this country, and we're not 
doing anything about it.
  Another week has gone by. We're going to go back home. We haven't 
done a darn thing, and the American people are suffering.
  So, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have 
reservations about drilling here in the United States and give me all 
this environmental stuff, this is the time to do it. We want to move 
toward other forms of energy. We want to be concerned about the ecology 
of this country and other forms of transportation, but at the same 
time, it's going to take time for that to happen.
  We have to start drilling now. We can't wait. The American people 
want

[[Page H6109]]

us to do it, and if you don't believe me, ask them when you go home 
this week. They're signing petitions by the thousands. The people of 
this country want to move toward energy independence. They want their 
gas prices to come down. They want other prices to come down, and they 
won't until this Congress and the other body starts moving toward 
energy independence by drilling here in the United States.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6377.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I'm now pleased to yield to a 
leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee and energy issues in 
general, Mr. Markey from Massachusetts, 1\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. MARKEY. I thank the chairman so much, and I congratulate him on 
his superior work on this legislation.
  In the year 2000, a new thing happened in regulation because of a 
Republican-controlled Congress. It passed a massive deregulatory bill 
into law. This bill included the so-called ``Enron loophole,'' named 
after the now-notorious energy trading firm that had lobbied for its 
creation. This loophole is being exploited. It has not been fixed. As a 
result, the bill that we are debating today directs the Commodities 
Futures Trading Commission to examine excessive oil speculation and use 
their emergency powers to take corrective action.
  The CFTC simply has not been as aggressive as it should be in 
policing these markets. Part of the problem stems from the limited 
resources which the Bush administration have given them, but another 
part of the problem is that the CFTC has historically been a reluctant 
regulator. Instead of a commodities markets watchdog, it has been an 
industry lapdog, unwilling to use the full authorities that it does 
have to crack down on excessive speculation.
  This bill tells them to use their authorities to more aggressively 
police the energy futures market from manipulation for fraud, for 
excessive speculation. This is a good step.
  An ``aye'' vote on the Collin Peterson bill is essential to 
protecting the public from being tipped upside down and having money 
shaken out of their pocket.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time is remaining on 
each side.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia has 2 minutes 
remaining. The gentleman from Minnesota has 3 minutes remaining.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield 
1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway), a member of the 
committee.
  Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate and thank the ranking member 
for recognizing me.
  It's interesting that, if you look at this bill, which I intend to 
vote for, what it basically does is it points a finger in the face of 
the commodities future trading corporation and very sternly and mean-
eyed says: Do your job. Great.
  They're doing their job. As a matter of fact, I'm sure it's already 
been mentioned on the floor this afternoon that we had the acting 
chairman of the CFTC in front of the Ag Committee this week, and he 
reported that he is, in fact, doing his job, that he looks for every 
day manipulation in the oil market. He looks every day for undue impact 
by speculators on swaps in the market.
  And to the best of their ability and their economists' estimation, 
the price of crude oil is currently fundamentally set by laws of supply 
and demand, and that while they are not able to find any evidence of 
it, they look for that evidence or look for manipulation and undue 
influence of speculators in the market every single day.
  I want to thank the chairman for doing his good work on that 
committee. I know that he will take this stern advice to continue to do 
his job to heart.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 
minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee).
  (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, when the Saudi Arabians tell you you have a 
problem in your oil speculation market, you've got a problem in your 
oil speculation market.
  Now, some people have argued that a 100 percent increase in the 
amount of financial speculation in these markets is necessary to 
liquidity of the markets. Hogwash. We need more liquidity in these 
markets the way Iowans need more liquidity in the rivers right now. We 
are drowning in liquidity.
  There has been over 100 percent increase of this speculation going 
into these markets, and we have now had clear, cogent and convincing 
testimony this is one of the reasons for 100 percent increase in prices 
of oil in the last year.
  We have seen this movie before. It was called Enron. And my 
constituents saw their electrical bills go up 1,000 percent. Now, 
they're seeing their oil go up double per barrel in one year in this 
bad movie.
  Pass this bill.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I'd ask the chairman if he has additional 
speakers. I have only myself to close.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. At this moment we have no additional 
speakers, so I probably can move to close.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. That being the case, I will yield myself the balance 
of my time to say to the chairman again, I thank him for his work on 
this issue.
  I support this measure. Certainly, I expect the Commodities Futures 
Trading Commission to address any problems with excessive speculation 
in the energies markets and to use their emergency powers to do so, if 
appropriate.
  But I will tell you that this is a problem that's been going on a lot 
longer than recent speculation in this market. It's been going on for 
years because of a lack of increase of supplies of oil and natural gas 
and other basic sources of energy in this country.
  All we ask of the Democratic leadership is to put the bills on the 
floor that get what the American people want, and that is a vote to 
open up America to increase domestic supply of energy. The Speaker of 
the House doesn't have to support the legislation. The majority leader 
doesn't have to support the legislation. All they have to do is let 
this happen on a bipartisan basis, and we will have a bipartisan vote 
to do what the American people want. Let us have that vote. Let us have 
that debate on the floor of this House, and we will do what the 
American people want.

                              {time}  1300

  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to say to my good friend, Mr. Goodlatte, that I 
appreciate his support for this measure. And what we're trying to do in 
our committee is to develop a consensus as we move through this issue. 
And there are a lot of ideas, a lot of different opinions out there, a 
lot of bills that have been introduced.
  This is a step that we can make today I think on a basis where we can 
come together and make sure that the CFTC is using the powers that they 
have to examine this market and make sure that the speculation, the 
extra money that's coming in is being done properly and is not 
affecting these markets in a way that is not appropriate. And I trust 
that they will do that job.
  But moving forward, what we intend to do, as I said earlier, as soon 
as we come back here from the July recess, our committee will convene 
on Wednesday after we come back and we will examine all of the bills 
that have been introduced or are introduced in the meantime. And we 
will have a debate on all the different aspects and all the different 
positions. And what we will try to do on that committee is to sort 
through all of this and hopefully come to a consensus about what is the 
appropriate way for us to move ahead.
  These are very complicated markets and issues, and I want to make 
sure that whatever we do is the appropriate response, and as somebody 
said earlier, we don't have unintended consequences because of the 
actions that we take here.

[[Page H6110]]

  So I look forward to working with my colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle with my colleagues on this side of the aisle to find a 
consensus that can have bipartisan support like we achieved on the farm 
bill to move something ahead that makes sense for the American people 
and gets the right answer.
  With that, I urge adoption of the bill.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support to H.R. 6377, the 
Energy Markets Emergency Act, because I believe the Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission, CFTC, must investigate speculation in the energy 
futures market and account for any manipulation and price distortion.
  It is clear the increased positions of institutional investors, such 
as pension funds, endowments and sovereign funds, in the energy futures 
market are contributing to the escalating price of oil at an alarming 
rate. The CFTC should level the playing field and apply the 20 million 
barrel position limit to the institutional investors, the same limit 
that everyone else adheres to.
  I also believe the CFTC must work with the British Financial Services 
Authority, FSA, to establish position limits on oil futures traded on 
the London Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, similar to those established 
by the CFTC for traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange, NYMEX.
  In overseas markets, such as ICE, U.S. investors can buy as much oil 
as they want, driving up demand with little to no regulation.
  It is essential the CFTC work with the FSA in London to limit 
positions and gather accurate information on the impact that 
speculation has on oil prices.
  Rising gas prices are indicative of the United States need to affirm 
its commitment to renewable energy research and development, and focus 
on reducing our demand for oil by emphasizing conservation. In 
addition, however, transparency in the oil futures market is needed and 
appropriate.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6377, the 
Energy Markets Emergency Act of 2008.
  This bill is an important first step in reaffirming the authority of 
the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate excessive 
speculation in the energy futures market. There are many reasons that 
the cost of a barrel of oil has risen so dramatically in the last few 
years, including increased demand from developing nations, instability 
in oil-producing nations, the weakening of the dollar, and price 
gouging on the part of the oil companies. The recent surge in gasoline 
prices should serve as an urgent reminder that we immediately need to 
change the way that we produce and use energy.
  Nonetheless, consumers should not suffer unnecessary increases in 
gasoline prices that don't reflect actual changes in supply and demand. 
I have heard from economists that excessive speculation has added 
anywhere between $20 and $60 to the price of a barrel of oil. The Bush 
administration has an appalling record on oversight, and they have 
allowed the CFTC to become powerless to regulate the commodities 
market. The CFTC has emergency powers at its disposal, and this bill 
mandates the use of this authority. In addition to curbing speculation, 
the CFTC must prohibit the outright fraud and abuse currently being 
perpetrated on the market.
  Closing the loopholes that have allowed dark energy markets to 
flourish is just one step toward addressing our current energy crisis. 
I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this important bill.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6377.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________