[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5572-5576]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT AVAILABILITY ACT

  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3336) to ensure the exclusion of small lenders from certain 
regulations of the Dodd-Frank Act, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3336

       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 ``Small Business Credit 
     Availability Act''.

     SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF SWAP DEALER DEFINITION.

       Section 1a(49) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
     1a(49)) is amended by striking all that follows subparagraph 
     (A)(iv) through subparagraph (C) and inserting the following:
     ``provided however, in no event shall an insured depository 
     institution, an institution chartered and operating under the 
     Farm Credit Act of 1971, or a United States uninsured branch 
     or agency of a foreign bank that has a prudential regulator 
     be considered to be a swap dealer to the extent that it 
     enters into a swap--
       ``(I) with a customer that is seeking to manage risk in 
     connection with an extension of credit by the institution to, 
     on behalf of, or for the benefit of, the customer; or
       ``(II) to offset the risks arising from a swap that meets 
     the requirement of subclause (I).
       ``(B) Inclusion.--A person may be designated as a swap 
     dealer for a single type or single class or category of swap 
     or activities and considered not to be a swap dealer for 
     other types, classes, or categories of swaps or activities.
       ``(C) Exceptions.--
       ``(i) The term `swap dealer' does not include a person that 
     enters into swaps for such person's own account, either 
     individually or in a fiduciary capacity, but not as part of 
     regular business activities as described in subparagraph (A).
       ``(ii) In determining whether a person is a `swap dealer' 
     within the meaning of subparagraph (A), the following shall 
     not be considered as part of the determination:

       ``(I) any swap entered into for a person's own account for 
     the purpose of hedging or mitigating commercial risk; and
       ``(II) any swap entered into for a person's own account for 
     the purpose of meeting State or local governmental regulatory 
     compliance purposes.

       ``(iii) In determining whether a person is a `swap dealer' 
     within the meaning of subparagraph (A)(iii), any swap which 
     involves a capacity contract, a renewable energy credit, an 
     emissions allowance, or an emissions offset shall not be 
     considered as part of that determination, if--

       ``(I) the contract, credit, allowance, or offset is 
     utilized to meet obligations under State or local law or 
     regulation for that person; and
       ``(II) the swap is entered into for that person's own 
     account.''.

     SEC. 3. EXCLUSIONS FROM FINANCIAL ENTITY DEFINITION.

       Section 2(h)(7)(C)(ii) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 
     U.S.C. 2(h)(7)(C)(ii)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(ii) Exclusion.--Such definition shall not include an 
     entity that is a small bank, savings association, farm credit 
     system institution, non-profit cooperative lender controlled 
     by electric cooperatives, or credit union if the aggregate 
     uncollateralized outward exposure plus aggregate potential 
     outward exposure of the entity with respect to its swaps does 
     not exceed $1,000,000,000.''.

     SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF THE EXEMPTIONS FOR CAPTIVE FINANCE 
                   COMPANIES FROM THE DEFINITION OF MAJOR SWAP 
                   PARTICIPANT AND FROM THE SWAP CLEARING 
                   REQUIREMENT.

       (a) Exclusion From Definition of Major Swap Participant.--
     Section 1a(33)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
     1a(33)(D)) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(D) Exclusion of certain captive finance entities.--
       ``(i) In general.--The definition under this paragraph 
     shall not include an entity whose primary business is 
     providing financing that facilitates the sale or lease of 
     products by or on behalf of the parent company or another 
     subsidiary of the parent company, and uses derivatives only 
     for the purpose of hedging underlying commercial risks in a 
     consolidated financing and leasing portfolio, at least 90 
     percent of which, as of the end of its preceding fiscal year, 
     is qualifying financing (including loans, notes, installment 
     sales contracts, receivables, and operating and financing 
     leases).
       ``(ii) Definitions.--In this subparagraph:

       ``(I) Qualifying financing.--The term `qualifying 
     financing' means--

       ``(aa) any financing or lease of, or that includes, a 
     product; or
       ``(bb) any financing to or for the benefit of an affiliate 
     of the entity, a distribution entity, or any customer or 
     affiliate of a distribution entity,

     except that the term does not include any financing that does 
     not facilitate the sale of a product manufactured by the 
     entity or its affiliates, as determined by the Commission.
       ``(II) Product.--The term `product' means--

       ``(aa) any good that is manufactured or sold by an 
     affilliate of the entity; and
       ``(bb) any service that is provided by an affiliate of the 
     entity.

       ``(III) Distribution entity.--The term `distribution 
     entity' means a person whose primary business is the sale, 
     lease or servicing of a product that is manufactured by the 
     entity or its affiliates.
       ``(IV) Affiliate.--The term `affiliate' means, with respect 
     to an entity--

       ``(aa) a person that reports information or prepares 
     financial statements on a consolidated basis with the entity, 
     or for which a parent company reports information or prepares 
     financial statements on a consolidated basis for the person 
     and the entity; or
       ``(bb) a person of which the entity or the parent of the 
     entity holds 50 percent or more of the equity interests.

       ``(V) Person.--The term `person' means an individual, 
     partnership, corporation (including a business trust), 
     limited liability company, joint stock company, trust, 
     unincorporated association, joint venture or other entity, or 
     a government or any political subdivision or agency 
     thereof.''.

       (b) Exclusion From Swap Clearing Requirement.--Section 
     2(h)(7)(C)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2(h)(7)(C)(iii)) is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``(iii) Exclusion of certain captive finance entities.--
     Such term shall not include an entity excluded from the 
     definition of major swap participant by reason of section 
     1a(33)(D).''.

     SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendments made by this Act shall take effect as if 
     they had been included in subtitle A of title VII of the 
     Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

[[Page 5573]]



     SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION.

       The amendments made by this Act to the Commodity Exchange 
     Act shall be implemented--
       (1) without regard to--
       (A) chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code; and
       (B) the notice and comment provisions of section 553 of 
     title 5, United States Code;
       (2) through the promulgation of an interim final rule, 
     pursuant to which public comment will be sought before a 
     final rule is issued, and
       (3) such that paragraph (1) shall apply solely to changes 
     to rules and regulations, or proposed rules and regulations, 
     that are limited to and directly a consequence of such 
     amendments.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
the bill, H.R. 3336.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oklahoma?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to voice my support for this bill. First and 
foremost, I would like to thank my committee's ranking member, Mr. 
Peterson, and his staff for their diligent work on this bill on behalf 
of end-users and small business lenders. We have a longstanding 
tradition of bipartisanship at the Agriculture Committee, and their 
work was invaluable. I'd like to thank Representative Hartzler for her 
leadership on H.R. 3336 on behalf of the small business institutions 
and the businesses they serve.
  I would like to acknowledge and thank Representative Hultgren and 
Representative Boren, whose legislation, H.R. 3527, will not be 
considered today. As a result of their leadership and Mr. Peterson's 
support, many of the critical issues for end-users addressed in H.R. 
3527 were resolved by the CFTC in its final ``definitions rule.''
  I think we can reasonably feel assured that agricultural cooperatives 
and other end-users out in the countryside won't be unnecessarily 
deemed ``swap dealers'' and regulated like the largest financial 
institutions. As I said from the outset, if the CFTC on its own 
resolves concerns we have raised for months in our committee room, we 
would not proceed with legislation. And that's what we've done with 
H.R. 3527. However, concerns with the implementation of title VII 
remain, and so we are here today to proceed with H.R. 3336. This bill 
addresses issues that are important to community and farm credit 
banks--organizations which are instrumental to the economic vitality of 
our towns and rural communities.
  In the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress was careful to ensure that new 
regulations wouldn't impose unnecessary costs on small institutions 
that might deter them from extending credit to businesses across 
America. Small banks pose very little risk to our financial system. 
Within the banking system, 96 percent of the notional value of 
derivatives is held by the five largest banks. The very small remaining 
percentage of the derivatives exposure in our financial system is 
spread across hundreds of small institutions. That's why Congress never 
intended for these community lenders to be regulated the same as the 
largest global financial institutions.

                              {time}  1400

  This bill aims to restore Congressional intent by exempting small 
banks, credit unions, nonprofit cooperative lenders, and farm credit 
institutions from costly clearing requirements under Dodd-Frank. It 
also ensures that banks can continue to provide risk management tools 
to their borrowers.
  In addition, thanks to the leadership of Representatives Schilling, 
Owens, and McIntyre, provisions of H.R. 3336 will ensure captive 
finance affiliates of manufacturing companies like John Deere and 
Caterpillar are eligible for the same exemptions as their parent 
companies and other end-users. These affiliates are an important source 
of credit to consumers and businesses and promote our manufacturing 
sector.
  Lastly, through the hard work of Representatives Costa, Cardoza, and 
Baca, H.R. 3336 clarifies that utilities will not be miscast as swap 
dealers because they enter into contracts that are required by State 
law. The legislation clarifies that complying with State laws alone 
won't also draw new and costly Federal regulations.
  There are many Members on both sides of the aisle at the Ag Committee 
who have spent time getting this bill to where it is today. We have 
been careful not to create loopholes or to stray from congressional 
intent. The bill does not open the door for large financial players to 
evade regulations or engage in speculative or highly risky activities.
  Madam Speaker, in this economy, it all comes back to jobs. To create 
new jobs, businesses need access to credit to make new investments. 
This bill ensures that businesses maintain access to credit from 
community lenders.
  So I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3336 and ensure that 
America's small businesses can continue to access the credit they need 
to build our economy.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETERSON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, today, the House considers H.R. 3336, a bill which 
makes clarifying changes to the Dodd-Frank Act. Like two other Dodd-
Frank bills that the House passed previously--H.R. 2779, the inter-
affiliate bill, and H.R. 2682, the margin bill--this legislation was 
crafted in a bipartisan manner.
  As the Ag Committee continues to oversee the implementation of Dodd-
Frank, I firmly believe that the CFTC is ultimately going to get the 
rules and regulations right. If you look at the Dodd-Frank rules that 
have already been completed, by and large they have been bipartisan and 
responsive to the concerns that we have heard during our oversight 
hearings.
  For example, during a legislative hearing last year, we heard 
concerns about business conduct standards and the potential impact it 
could have on pension plans' ability to use swaps to hedge risk. When 
the commission approved a bipartisan final rule establishing these 
business conduct standards, the general response from the pension 
community was satisfaction.
  More recently, the CFTC approved last week--again with a bipartisan 
vote of 4-1--rules defining who will be subject of Dodd-Frank's new 
oversight. Again, the general view from the end-user community is that 
the rule addresses their concerns. In fact, I believe one of the bills 
the committee voted on earlier, H.R. 3527, which rewrote the swap 
dealer definition, now no longer seems necessary.
  I talk frequently with CFTC Chairman Gensler, and from what he has 
told me, I am confident that the remaining concerns that H.R. 3336 
seeks to address will ultimately be resolved satisfactorily by the 
CFTC. I think somebody used this bill to send a message to the CFTC, 
and since that message is consistent with the original intent of Dodd-
Frank, I have no objection to it.
  As originally considered by the committee, H.R. 3336 is meant to 
address concerns raised by farm credit institutions, credit unions, and 
small banks that worry about being forced to clear. Under current law, 
the CFTC is supposed to develop an asset-based exemption from clearing. 
When you look at the swap activity of some of the banks, questions were 
raised whether a fixed-asset test was appropriate. The risk-based test 
contained in the bill will, I think, prove more than adequate and 
certainly will provide incentives to banks to more robustly back up 
their swap positions, to the extent that they are not doing so now.
  During the committee's markup of H.R. 3336, Representatives McIntyre 
and Owens raised concerns they heard on behalf of captive finance 
companies which fear that the exemptions provided to them under the 
Dodd-Frank

[[Page 5574]]

law will not be implemented properly. This bill not only addresses 
those concerns, it closed a potential loophole in Dodd-Frank which 
could have allowed captive finance companies to use the original Dodd-
Frank exemption to engage in speculation or swap activities unrelated 
to the commercial business without proper oversight.
  Also, during the markup, Representative Costa raised concerns on 
behalf of California utilities, which fear being classified as swap 
dealers for entering into transactions necessary to comply with State 
regulations. Working with members of the California delegation, we were 
able to adequately address these concerns as well.
  Given that the legislation clarifies what Congress intended to do 
with the original Dodd-Frank law, I urge my colleagues to support its 
passage.
  And with that, Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I would like to yield 4 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Hartzler), who is the primary sponsor 
of our important piece of legislation today.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for bringing this forth and 
for the bipartisan support for this bill.
  I'm pleased to bring the Small Business Credit Availability Act 
forward today in order to help small businesses, American 
manufacturers, farmers, and consumers to access the credit they need in 
order to grow our economy.
  Madam Speaker, we need jobs in our country. We need manufacturing to 
stay strong in America, and we need small businesses to be able to 
grow. They can't do that if Washington stands in their way.
  The Small Business Credit Availability Act removes the onerous 
barriers to credit imposed by the 2009 Dodd-Frank bill governing a 
bank's ability to offer low-rate fixed loans to small businesses and 
manufacturers. This bill also removes the barriers to low-rate fixed 
loans for credit unions, farm credit banks, rural electric cooperative 
infrastructure lenders, and finance companies who offer credit to their 
customers.
  Without this bill, the Farm Credit Council alone expects that 
substantial new costs between $6 million and $27.2 million a year will 
be added to their cost of doing business, all for new processes and red 
tape that are not needed.
  It is important that local businesses, local manufacturers, and local 
farmers be able to access low-rate interest loans from local financial 
entities. This bill keeps the business in the local communities, where 
it belongs, by reducing the costly new regulations imposed by the 2009 
bill. In addition, it clarifies a provision of Dodd-Frank to ensure 
that manufacturers will be able to continue to provide credit to 
customers who buy their products.
  We need to do everything we can to keep manufacturing here in 
America, and H.R. 3336 helps do that.
  Lastly, our bill clarifies that State utilities are unduly burdened 
by Dodd-Frank when complying with State law as they enter into 
contracts. It's time for Washington to cut the unnecessary red tape 
that hampers job creation. By passing the Small Business Credit 
Availability Act, Congress will remove the barriers and clear the way 
for local entities to do business at home and create jobs while doing 
it.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this vital bill.
  Mr. PETERSON. Madam Speaker, I now yield such time as he may consume 
to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).
  Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3336, the 
Small Business Credit Availability Act.
  This bipartisan measure received unanimous support in the House 
Committee on Agriculture and ensures, as the previous speakers have 
indicated, that small financial entities such as community banks, farm 
credit system institutions, and credit unions will not be burdened with 
costly regulations resulting from the reform of our financial system. 
That was never Congress' intent.
  I appreciate very much the work of Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member 
Peterson and their staffs, as well as the bill's sponsor, 
Representative Hartzler, to reach an agreement with not only myself, 
but my colleagues, Congressmen Baca and Cardoza, who are also on the 
committee, as well as the California delegation on the underlying text 
of this bill. Without your support, obviously we could not address this 
issue pertaining to California.
  While we work to maintain the viability of small businesses 
recognized in H.R. 3336, we also must look for ways to avoid unintended 
consequences resulting from the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act on 
other entities, in this case, such as utilities.

                              {time}  1410

  It's always the difficult challenge we have in Congress, the law of 
unintended consequences, that we must respond to.
  Because of California's regulatory environment, I expressed concerns 
in the committee that California's energy providers, our utility 
companies, might be or would be inadvertently, as we believe, swept up 
by the ``swap dealer'' definition, which is the efforts that the 
committee has addressed. Over several weeks, we worked together with 
the staff and the utilities to develop language that provides the 
clarity needed to ensure that companies within California that provide 
energy for all businesses and residences--which are ultimately 
California's ratepayers--are not penalized by the Federal regulators 
for simply complying with State law.
  H.R. 3336 includes language clarifying that the actions undertaken to 
comply with State or local laws or regulations are excluded in 
determining whether or not an entity is considered a swap dealer. Let 
me be specific. The language clarifies that resource adequacy contracts 
entered into to satisfy California's Public Utilities Commission 
procurement requirements, renewable energy credits used to satisfy the 
California Renewable Portfolio Standard, and emission allowances to 
satisfy California's greenhouse regulations should not--and this is the 
key line--should not be considered in determining whether or not an 
entity is a swap dealer.
  My colleagues, we should understand that the situation we're dealing 
with in these examples, these transactions, are closely regulated by 
California's Public Utilities Commission or the California Air 
Resources Board, and they pose no systemic risk to our financial 
systems or to the ratepayers.
  While California is currently affected, it is possible that these 
concerns could be shared by energy providers in other States. That's 
why the committee, in their wisdom, chose to address this issue to help 
not only California, but possibly to extend to other States that might 
be similarly affected. For these reasons, I encourage my colleagues to 
support this bill.
  I once again want to thank the chairman, thank Ranking Member 
Peterson, Chairman Lucas, and the author of the bill, Representative 
Hartzler.
  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Schilling).
  Mr. SCHILLING. Thank you, Chairman Lucas.
  I rise in support of H.R. 3336, the Small Business Credit 
Availability Act.
  Madam Speaker, I've only been in Congress for a little over a year, 
but I have found the House Committee on Agriculture to be very 
bipartisan, and I believe that it is in large part due to the 
leadership of Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Peterson.
  I come to the floor today to speak in support of a bipartisan 
provision in the bill that is important to the American manufacturing 
sector--and particularly to Illinois companies like John Deere and 
Caterpillar, which employ almost 150,000 men and women.
  Many of the manufacturers here at home have what are called ``captive 
finance affiliates'' whose function is to provide loans and leases to 
customers to purchase the goods they make. The credit that captive 
finance companies provide is essential to agricultural producers, 
construction contractors, and manufacturers, and the jobs they support 
here at home.
  Congress provided an exemption in the current law for captive finance 
affiliates so that when they hedge risks associated with providing 
loans to their customers, they receive the same

[[Page 5575]]

exemptions available to the parent company and other end-users. 
However, there is a lack of guidance in the CFTC's implementation of 
the exemption, leading to concern that these captive finance companies 
could be subject to mandatory clearing requirements or regulated as 
major swap participants. There is bipartisan agreement that this is not 
what Congress originally intended.
  H.R. 3336 will provide the needed clarification for our manufacturers 
and their captive affiliates. It does so while also providing 
safeguards against abuse. First and foremost, this only applies to 
entities that use derivatives to manage their risks, meaning they 
cannot use derivatives to speculate. In addition, these entities cannot 
engage in financing that does not facilitate the sale of their 
manufactured products. The CFTC will have the authority to prevent 
affiliates from qualifying for this exemption.
  Again, I appreciate the bipartisan nature of providing certainty on 
this issue. I want to thank Chairman Lucas, Ranking Member Peterson, 
Congressman Bill Owens, Congressman Mike McIntyre, and Congressman 
Randy Neugebauer for their efforts on this issue. I also really want to 
thank the majority and minority House Ag Committee and their staff for 
their work on this issue, especially Ryan McKee and Clarke Ogilvie. It 
is important to provide certainty for our folks back home.
  Mr. PETERSON. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Conaway).
  Mr. CONAWAY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3336, the Small 
Business Credit Availability Act.
  Today's bill makes several narrow changes to the law which will 
further clarify exactly how Congress intended for the CFTC to implement 
the new swap dealer registration requirements under Dodd-Frank.
  In the law, Congress authorized the CFTC to exclude small financial 
institutions that provide swaps in connection with loans from the heavy 
regulations as swap dealers. We did so because we understood the 
importance of allowing these institutions the ability to package 
together loans and hedging instruments.
  Offering loans in this way allows small financial institutions to 
offset some of their underlying risk and offer lower loan rates to 
local farmers, ranchers, and small businesses. These lower loan rates 
mean the businesses that sustain our rural communities will have 
greater access to the capital they need to continue to invest in their 
growing businesses.
  With the Entity Definitions recently released by the CTFC--although 
not yet published in the Federal Reserve--the CFTC took steps towards 
resolving the issues addressed by H.R. 3336. However, it left some 
undone. Unfortunately, the current rule is silent on the commodity 
swaps for agricultural businesses, is unnecessarily restrictive of farm 
credit system institutions, and applies arbitrary time restrictions on 
excluded swaps.
  H.R. 3336 would strengthen the rule passed by the CTFC by expanding 
the scope of the exemption to protect the way rural America has long 
done business. The farms, ranches, and small businesses in the district 
I represent have never been and never will be a part of the systemic 
failure of our financial system. Neither they nor the small 
institutions that serve them ought to be considered as a threat.
  Today's legislation is carefully tailored to ensure that we do not 
shackle small businesses and family farms with rules that ought to 
apply and are meant to police the largest Wall Street banks.
  I want to thank Ms. Hartzler for the work that she's done on 
shepherding this bill through committee. She has been a staunch 
advocate for protecting small businesses from the overreach of Dodd-
Frank. I would also like to thank Ranking Member Boswell, my 
counterpart on the General Farm Committees and Risk Management 
Subcommittee; our chairman, Mr. Lucas; and our ranking member, Mr. 
Peterson, for their continued efforts at comity and bipartisanship on 
the House Agriculture Committee.
  Like many bills moved through our committee this year, H.R. 3336 
passed with unanimous bipartisan support. This is a testament to the 
leadership on both sides of the aisle and to the carefully crafted bill 
that Ms. Hartzler introduced.
  With those remarks, Madam Speaker, I urge swift adoption of the Small 
Business Credit Availability Act.
  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I would note to my colleague, the ranking 
member, I have one additional speaker, and then myself for whatever 
close I may have.
  Mr. PETERSON. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Hultgren).
  Mr. HULTGREN. Chairman Lucas, thank you so much for your support on 
this issue. It has been a pleasure working with you and your staff 
during my first term here in Congress and on the Ag Committee.
  In the committee this year, we have worked hard to protect farms and 
small businesses from Dodd-Frank red tape. That's why I rise today in 
strong support of Representative Vicky Hartzler's bill.
  H.R. 3336 reduces unnecessary regulatory burdens on small financial 
institutions to ensure they can continue to provide capital to small 
businesses in their communities.
  The bill ensures that small financial and farm credit institutions 
will continue to be able to provide swaps to their loan customers 
without being considered or registered as swap dealers.
  I am pleased that the CTFC has come out with a ruling more favorable 
than the original legislation, but I think it's important still to note 
that this bill ensures that the CTFC provides an exemption from 
clearing for small financial institutions that are hedging their own 
risks.
  I also want to thank my Illinois colleague, Congressman Bobby 
Schilling, for his work on this bill. He added a provision particularly 
important for companies like John Deere and Caterpillar, which has 
facilities in my district.

                              {time}  1420

  Mr. PETERSON. Madam Speaker, again, this bill clarifies what was the 
original intent of the Dodd-Frank deliberations. Some of what's in this 
bill, I think, has already been resolved, but there are some 
clarifications here. If there is duplication, it doesn't do any harm, 
so we support this bill and encourage that it be adopted.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I think, as we've heard here today, this piece of legislation is an 
effort, in a very bipartisan way, to address some of the issues in 
Dodd-Frank that need to be fixed. If you care about production 
agriculture, if you care about Main Street business, if you care about 
the people who work in the factories that produce the products and do 
the things that make this great economy move forward, then you'll 
support H.R. 3336.
  It won't affect the five biggest financial institutions that do 96 
percent of this kind of business, but it will help the people who 
really toil and struggle every day to make a living. It will help the 
small communities where those good folks live. It's a positive effort 
to address issues that have come to light in the course of the Ag 
Committee's exhaustive hearings.
  I simply thank my colleague, Congresswoman Hartzler, for working 
diligently on this bill. I thank the ranking member and my colleagues.
  Let's vote for H.R. 3336. Let's try and help the folks back home.
  With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, while there is a legitimate role for 
swaps and other derivatives when it comes to managing risk, one of the 
inescapable lessons from the last economic crisis is the havoc those 
instruments can cause when they are insufficiently regulated.

[[Page 5576]]

  In an effort to make sure the abuses that led to the Great Recession 
never happen again, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act properly 
placed these kinds of transactions under far more meaningful prudential 
regulation. Just last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission 
finalized the ``swap dealer'' rule at issue in today's legislation.
  Unfortunately, that final rule--already the product of compromise at 
the CFTC--is further weakened by the misleadingly named ``Small 
Business Credit Availability Act'' to the point where its ability to 
protect the public from the systemic risk it was originally intended to 
prevent is undermined.
  For example, we should not let big oil companies speculate in the oil 
futures markets without limit or oversight under the guise of hedging 
their commercial operations. Furthermore, we should not exempt vast 
swaths of our credit and debt markets from prudential regulation under 
the CFTC rule. Yet that's precisely what this bill proposes to do.
  Madam Speaker, we know where this road leads, and we simply can't 
afford to go back there.
  I support smart regulation that permits the legitimate uses of these 
instruments for the benefits they can provide while eliminating the 
speculative abuses that can cause the rest of us so much harm. And that 
is why I oppose today's legislation.
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3336. This 
misguided bill would remove crucial oversight of the trillion dollar 
derivatives market and strip away key reforms contained in the Dodd-
Frank Wall Street Reform law.
  Although the stated intent of H.R. 3336 is to increase credit 
availability to small businesses, it would do nothing more than provide 
a loophole for participants in the derivatives market to escape 
oversight and evade accountability. For the past two years, the CFTC 
and other government regulators of Wall Street have accepted public 
comments and participated in public hearings in an effort to implement 
sensible regulations that do not constrain credit lending to small 
businesses. Furthermore, the Dodd-Frank law already contains 
protections for small financial institutions, commercial businesses, 
and investors that use derivatives for legitimate hedging of risk.
  H.R. 3336 would exempt large financial institutions with up to $200 
billion in credit derivatives exposure from CFTC oversight. In 
addition, the bill could also exempt major oil companies such as Shell 
Oil and Koch Trading from oversight for their swaps dealing activities 
in the energy market, allowing for more financial speculation that 
drives up the price of gasoline. Given the crucial role of derivatives 
in the 2008 financial crisis, eliminating these important CFTC 
protections would jeopardize investor confidence and threaten the 
stability of our financial sector.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 3336.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3336, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam 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, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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