[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9413-9414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           CFTC CONFIRMATIONS

  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, the Senate has now approved three 
nominations to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC is an 
important independent agency with a mission to provide oversight of the 
futures, swaps, and options markets, protecting market participants 
from fraud and manipulation. The agency ensures safety and soundness of 
the market and makes sure that hedgers, such as farmers and ranchers or 
manufacturing companies, can manage risks appropriately, and there 
needs to be confidence in those markets and in the oversight of those 
markets. The Commissioners confirmed today will not only help protect 
those markets but finish the implementation of reforms contained in the 
Wall Street Reform Act.
  Earlier today I spoke about Sharon Bowen's qualifications, and I was 
very pleased to see the Senate approve her nomination. Now I wish to 
talk about the other two CFTC Commissioners appointed by the President 
who were also confirmed by the Senate just a few minutes ago.
  For the role of CFTC Chairman, President Obama has selected Timothy 
Massad. Mr. Massad has a sterling record of public service. Three years 
ago he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate to serve as the 
Department of Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability. 
In that position Mr. Massad oversaw the winddown of the Troubled Asset 
Relief Program. He devoted himself to helping homeowners who were 
struggling to stay in their homes while helping communities where 
vacant houses were a blight to neighborhoods. It is a tribute to Mr. 
Massad's leadership that the banks that benefited from TARP have repaid 
nearly every dollar.
  At the Treasury Department Mr. Massad not only made good on his 
responsibility to ensure a positive return to American taxpayers, he 
did so with complete transparency.
  During Mr. Massad's testimony before the Agriculture Committee, he 
emphasized that need for strong enforcement to ensure public confidence 
in our markets, which is so very important. He demonstrated an 
understanding of how markets must provide hedging and price discovery 
for end users.
  Mr. Massad demonstrated that he will be an advocate for strong 
international regulatory standards in a global derivatives market. 
Throughout the course of his career in the private sector and then in 
the public sector, Mr. Massad has earned a reputation as a consensus 
builder, a tireless worker, and a protector of the public interest. I 
have no doubt Mr. Massad will continue his excellence in his role as 
CFTC Chair.
  The second nominee chosen by President Obama is Christopher 
Giancarlo. Since 2000, Mr. Giancarlo has worked in companies that 
focused on swaps markets regulated by the CFTC. For most of that time 
Mr. Giancarlo has been a senior executive at the interdealer broker, 
GFI Group.
  At his confirmation hearing, Mr. Giancarlo talked about how the 
futures and swaps markets must serve the needs of farmers and other end 
users. He recognizes the central role that commodities play in our 
Nation's economy.
  Like Mr. Massad Mr. Giancarlo understands the important lessons of 
the financial crisis. For example, in his remarks Mr. Giancarlo 
emphasized the value of transparency in the swaps markets. He agrees 
with the provisions in the Wall Street Reform Act that allow robust 
oversight of U.S. swaps intermediaries, while at the same time Mr. 
Giancarlo talked about the importance of balanced regulatory oversight 
in open and competitive markets. In short, Mr. Giancarlo is a 
pragmatist. This is a quality that will serve him well as a CFTC 
Commissioner.
  I congratulate not only Mr. Giancarlo but Mr. Massad and Ms. Bowen on 
their confirmations today. I have every expectation that they will work 
well with all of the stakeholders involved in the vitally important 
work of the CFTC. This will ensure that CFTC is fulfilling its mission 
of protecting the public, which is the bottom line.
  In Congress we must also do our part to protect these markets and 
make sure the CFTC has the resources it needs to do its job, and that 
means having both the staff and technology in place so the CFTC can 
perform its work. We have given them so much more work with the new 
legislation, so we need to make sure they have the resources to do what 
we have asked them to do.
  The agency must be able to keep up with the markets they are 
overseeing. They can't do that if they don't have the funding they 
need, and this will be a priority for me as we seek to update the CFTC 
and its abilities to protect consumers and market participants. We have 
21st century markets and we need a 21st century CFTC to oversee them.

[[Page 9414]]

  The Senate Agriculture Committee is beginning its work on a CFTC 
reauthorization bill. The approval of today's nominees and our upcoming 
work on this legislation will help make sure the Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission is fully empowered to do everything that we and the 
public are relying on them to do.
  Again, I congratulate all of those confirmed today. I thank my 
colleagues for their support, and I thank the Presiding Officer.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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