On the recordFebruary 11, 2011
I am here today to address regulations, primarily pending, that fall under the jurisdiction of the subcommittee I chair. These regulations, many of which seem to be both illogical and prescriptive, possess the ability to adversely impact economic growth. The General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee has jurisdictional oversight over the CFTC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Historically, the CFTC has been a model regulatory agency. As the implementation of Dodd-Frank has begun to unfold, however, this reputation has begun to suffer. With each rule proposed, a newfound distrust is growing between participants and the CFTC. I believe this springs largely from the arbitrary and confusing way in which the Commission is undertaking its mandates. Currently, the commission's consideration of costs and benefits is sorely lacking. By prioritizing speed over deliberations, the Commission is not only producing poorly understood proposals; it is also creating an irrational sequence of rulemaking. Because so many of the rules hinge upon components of other rules, the order in which they are drafted and put before the public matters. For example, the Commission has still failed to provide certainty regarding its definition of what constitutes a 'swaps dealer' and who may be captured in that definition. The Commission is already attempting to categorize various commercial entities as 'swaps dealers,' which makes no sense.
