[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 130 (Wednesday, July 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CONFIRMATION OF HEATH P. TARBERT

  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, today I applaud the Senate's bipartisan 
confirmation of Dr. Heath Tarbert to head the Commodity Futures Trading 
Comission. I am confident that Dr. Tarbert, who is no stranger to 
public service, will lead the CFTC well. As the former acting Under 
Secretary for International Affairs at the Department of the Treasury, 
Dr. Tarbert has exactly the right experience, at the right time, to 
lead the CFTC. The CFTC needs a strong leader like Dr. Tarbert. He 
understands how the markets are impacted by actions taken by Congress 
and U.S. Federal regulators, as well as those of our legislative and 
regulatory partners around the world. His experience clearly 
demonstrates appreciation of what led to the financial crisis 10 years 
ago. Dr. Tarbert also has the support of a range of agricultural 
groups, all voicing strong sport and appreciation for his experience in 
the financial sector, the effort demonstrated to understand priority 
issues, and the commitment to visiting agricultural operations to 
reinforce the importance of these markets to farmers, ranchers, 
growers, and agribusiness.
  The CFTC is charged with fostering open, transparent, competitive, 
and financially sound markets, while working to prevent systemic risk. 
The regulation and oversight provided by the CFTC allows end users--
farmers, ranchers, commercial companies, municipalities, energy 
companies, pension funds, and others--to hedge commercial risk using 
the derivatives market. These markets allow companies to generate jobs 
and produce goods and services for our economy. I look forward to 
working with Dr. Tarbert in his new role. Thank you.

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