Political Quotes

“At this time I enter into the Record three letters of opposition to this bill. One is from the Executive Office of the President of the United States Office of Management and Budget; Americans for Financial Reform; and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, Washington, DC, June 11, 2013. Dear Representative: The AFL-CIO opposes the ``Swaps Jurisdiction Certainty Act'' (H.R. 1256) scheduled for floor consideration this week. If passed, this bill would undermine the framework Congress put in place in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 to prevent risky derivatives trading from contributing to another global financial crisis. It would impose major new procedural hurdles that would impede the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) ability to move forward with effective rules designed to prevent risks that arise from overseas derivatives trading from impacting the U.S. economy. The 2008 financial crisis provided vivid illustrations of how derivatives transactions conducted by U.S. institutions in overseas markets can wreak havoc on the U.S. economy--both the AIG bailout and the Lehman Brothers failure were caused to a large extent by offshore derivatives trades. As we saw with AIG and Lehman Brothers, U.S. institutions can easily conduct derivatives transactions outside U.S. borders that put U.S.…”