Ed Markey: “I thank the chairman so much, and I congratulate him on his superior work on this legislation. In the year 2000, a new…”

“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.”