the nays are 48. the concurrent resolution is agreed to. >> the house takes up that health care repeal measure tomorrow morning with live coverage here on c-span at 9:00 a.m. eastern. right now on c-span we go live to the u.s. house which takes up two bills dealing with financial regulation. and ever present, you sent your profit to your people when they were in need of hope and vision. may isiah's words guide the members of this people's house. send your spirit upon them and our nation, that we may be open to hearing your word and actively seeking the salvation you alone can bring. make of us a people of compassion and holiness, pursuing the avenues of just for all, may we be a sign to the community of nations.

help each member to work toward the complete fulfillment of the deepest human hopes and your inspiring promises. with humility, let them embrace their calling, to be truly prophetic as your servants of old, but ernestly fulfilling your commands. and may all that is done be for your greater honor and glory, amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from minnesota, mr. emmer. mr. emremember -- mr. emmer: please join us in pledging allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the speaker: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on january 12, 2017, at 9:03 a.m. that the senate agreed to enate concurrent resolution 3. with best wishes i am sign sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: today marks the seventh anniversary of the earthquake in haiti which struck near its capital port-au-prince leaving in its wake total devastation and tens of thousands dead.

haitians have been resilient to come back from this massive disaster and the united states will remain committed to helping haiti get back on its feet. i had the privilege of visiting haiti during my times in congress and most recently in october i had the opportunity to travel to haiti with my dear florida colleague, frederica wilson, weeks yet after another terrible disaster, a hurricane, hit haiti. i'd like to commend local organizations in south florida ed by the haitian women of holding a d m, silence to the little haiti cultural central. silence a moment of at the haiti cultural central. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time.

for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kilmer: thanks, mr. speaker. i rise today to say goodbye to a dedicated public servant and a key part of my team. judith morris has served the olympic peninsula for a decade. judith's knowledge of the peninsula and her dedication is unmatched. there are few that combine her compassion and guidance to any constituent who had a question or needed help with a federal agency. whether at the office or at the grocery store or at an event, judith was available. mr. speaker, judith has served our nation with distinction, first in the peace corps and now in the united states house of representatives, making equity and conservation and human rights a tenet of her time in service. judith's wit, thoughtfulness and easy-going manner will be miss and our entire community hanks her and her husband, david, an outstanding public servant in his own right, who worked for the national park

service, for leaving integrity, excellence and service. i'm humbled and offer my sincere thanks to judith morris for her dedication to the sixth congressional district and i wish her the best as she continues her passion for travel. thank you, mr. speaker and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. earlier this week we celebrated law enforcement appreciation day, which acknowledges the contributions that men and women in uniform make on a daily basis to keep our communities safe and secure. it was heartening to see the display of support for these individuals throughout the house office buildings on monday. as the sun went down, you could see blue lights in windows across the capitol complex honoring those brave men and women. the dedicated individuals who serve in law enforcement helped to preserve the way of life we

hold so dear. they walked the neighborhood beats, patrol our streets and willingly do dangerous work to protect our families and communities. it's one of the most honorable activities anyone can engage in and i want to thank them for their selflessness and bravery they demonstrate as officers of the law. they deserve our profound gratitude. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland, the minority leader, seek recognition? mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: i thank my colleagues. mr. speaker, i rise out of a deep concern, not just for the 30 million americans who will lose access to health coverage and the tens of millions of others who will see their cost rise if republicans repeal the

affordable care act without a for cement but as well every american because the repeal will affect every american, including every american who has health insurance through their employer. let there be no mistake. every american will be adversely affected by the repeal of the affordable care act. the repeal and delay plan ought to be called repeal and deny. deny health coverage to tens of millions. deny tax credits to small businesses to help them cover their employees. deny those with pre-existing conditions. protection from high premiums and coverage denials. and deny parents from covering their children under age 26 through their own insurance plans. every american will be adversely affected if we repeal the affordable care act.

i heard recently through social media from a woman in my district whose family was able $1,200 a e than month because of the a.c.a. marketplace. another wrote to tell me the a.c.a. made it possible for her to sign up for coverage for the first time in years since she lost her job on her employer-based insurance. when she needed to be hospitalized this spring, having coverage saved her life. repeal and deny would be a disaster for our people and our economy. i urge my republican friends to instead work with the democrats to improve the affordable care act, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. poe: mr. speaker, americans nationwide are interested in

watching the supreme court at work, but only a handful on any given day are allowed to have access to the courtroom. the courtroom is small and seating is limited. well, why not give the public the ability to view the proceedings in their entirety n television or through live streaming? public court hearings are the bedrock of american justice. american wants to know what's going on behind those closed doors. a simple nonintrusive camera would allow for greater transparency and greater faith in the decisions made by the most powerful court in the world. i was one of the first judges in texas to allow cameras in the courtroom. all the nay sayers said, oh, it won't work, but it did. it benefited everyone. representative connelly from virginia and i are once again co-sponsoring a bill to allow cameras in the supreme court. it is better to show all of the

proceedings to the public than to rely on a 30-second sound bite from a news reporter on television during the 6:00 news. it's time for cameras in the supreme court. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for ne minute. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, i rise to keep america healthy, saving the affordable care act. i rise in the name of cynthia perry, facing a life or death scenario. without the law in place, cynthia perry will also be facing life or death. perry suffers from an immune deficiency that requires her to take medication she estimates costs roughly $40,000 a year. cynthia who lives today.

i rise to keep america healthy. kathryn will terrified about losing access to treatment. terrified by she herself at 28 years old was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. i rise to keep america healthy because the senator from kentucky said, we need to think through how we do this, and it's a huge mistake for republicans if they do not vote for replacement on the same day they vote for repeal. i rise to keep america healthy and not give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to insurance companies and drug manufacturers while eliminating tax credits for millions of working americans. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlelady has expired. ms. jackson lee: i rise to keep america healthy. vote to save the affordable care act. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlelady has expired. the time of the gentlelady has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask

unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, last week the post and courier of south carolina announced that is the fifth most popular state. south carolina achieved being in the top place for people looking to relocate. whether for a job, retirement or temporary climate. the post and courier detailed that the moving company this week said 60% of the trucks in south carolina dropped off household goods for new comers, placing it among the top destinations for those seeking a new home. the article reveals that recent data from the census bureau confirms the palmetto state is gaining significantly. i'm thankful to nicky haley, secretary of commerce bobby hitt and those who promote south carolina as a great place to work, live and raise a family. we have a pro business mindset, we're military friendly.

we have communities that promote job creation. we have a state that's ready to welcome transplants. in conclusion, god bless our troops and by the president by his actions never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, in his farewell speech, president obama said if anyone can put together an alternative health care plan that is demonstrably better and covers people at less cost he would publicly support it. i feel the same way. the a.c.a. is not perfect and anyone who's serious about working to improve our health care system should count me as a willing partner. that is not what we have heard from president-elect trump and my republican colleagues. their irresponsible plan is to repeal obamacare and then figure out what comes next.

that's like jumping ship without a life raft or a plan. repealing obamacare will leave 1.2 million people in my state without health insurance. allow insure urs to deny coverage and coverage base on pre-existing conditions or put annual or lifetime caps on coverage and deny young people the option of staying on their parent's plan. mr. schneider: this will hurt real people who is on the affordable care act act. i ask my colleagues to improve our health care system rather than burning it down and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. emmer: mr. speaker, i rise today to celebrate three small businesses in elk river, minnesota, who have been recognized by the elk river chamber of commerce for their outstanding track record over the past year. i want to congratulate the first national bank for being named business of the year.

serrano brothers catering for being recognized as the new business of the year, and sport tech for being honored as the employer of the year. small businesses are a huge driver of our economy in the state of minnesota, and they are what make each city and town unique. running a small business is no easy task, and the entrepreneurs who open these businesses take personal risk to bring jobs, commerce and excellent products and services to our communities. we cannot thank them enough for their valuable contributions which is why i am proud today to thank and congratulate first national bank, serrano brothers catering and sport tech for everything they do for our community and for the great state of minnesota. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? ms. lee: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. let me first say how happy i am today to acknowledge the

extraordinary accomplishments of two high school football teams in my beautiful congressional district. until now, oakland, california, never held a state championship, but now we have two. on december 17, bishop d, -- bishop odoud clinched the championship. they beat valley view high school 43-24 with former oakland raiders running back, coach coffman, leading them to victory. the same day, the warriors claimed the c.i.f. state 5-a championship with a 20-17 victory, becoming the first oakland athletic league to win a state championship. they are a public, historic high school in the west oakland community of my district. coach michael peters has coached them since 1992 and has shown his commitment over the years to ensuring his athletes succeed both on the field and in the classroom. bishop odoud, a catholic high school, has been an athletic force for years, and i am so proud of their team, they

achieved the historic accomplishment of their championship also. these young athletes have embodied the spirit, the passion and sportsmanship of oakland and the east bay. please join me in congratulating them on these championships. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. speaker. during human trafficking awareness month, i rise in support of the 21 million men, women and children world whide are victims of -- worldwide who are victims of this. human traffic something nothing less than modern day slavery. it targets society's most vulnerable, steel stealing their souls and depriving them of any hope to escape a downward spiral of despair. nations must be held accountable for their efforts to eradicate human trafficking within their borders, which is why today i am reintroducing the sex trafficking demand reduction act. this legislation targets the

demand for commercial sex because the evidence is clear that where markets for commercial sex exist, human trafficking proliferates as well. the bill requires governments to take the initiative, to eliminate the demand for purchase of commercial sex in their efforts to combat human trafficking overall. mr. hultgren: as a member of the congressional human trafficking task force, i'm pleased to see congress taking a leadership role in the fight against human trafficking. we're getting closer to the day when human trafficking will no longer represent a blight on humanity and we will see victims and survivors created in god's image, fully restored. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? without objection, so ordered. mr. higgins: mr. speaker, martin luther king day -- martin luther king jr. day is a time in our country to reflect on the progress we have made on civil rights, as well as how much further still as a nation we must go. when contemplating the prodwress

in western new york -- progress in western new york, frank messiah comes to mind. he's been a prominent civil rights leader in buffalo since 1950, folling his service in e united states army following a 20-year stay as esident of buffalo's naacp, he retired late last year and will continue to be a public watchdog. this time through the lens of an active citizens -- citizen. during his years of service, he's always been the first to stand up and fight on behalf of r community. he played a leading role in desegregating buffalo public schools. integrating the buffalo police department and fighting against nonclusive neighborhoods. mr. messiah has been a key leader in promoting tolerance and equality in western new york . his time as naacp president has concluded, his wisdom and passion endures in our community and has work will inspire generations -- his work will inspire generations to come. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from missouri seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to urge this administration to stop releasing terrorists from guantanamo a where they can be returned to the middle east -- guantanamo where they can be returned northeast and rejoin the fight. approximately one in three former guantanamo bay detainees are confirmed to have re-engaged or suspected of re-engaging in terrorist activities after transfer. the white house, despite clear understanding of congressional intent, recently gave four more individuals the opportunity to resume their fight against american ideals by releasing them to saudi arabia. mrs. hartzler: this is irresponsible and dangerous. even more disturbing are the president's plans to transfer more detainees. further threatening the safety of our troops and the security of the american people. it is appalling to me that the president would consider transferring the likes of saddam hussein's security guards and others -- osama bin laden's

security guards and others trained by al qaeda. i urge this administration in its final eight days to bear in mind potential consequences of his decision and to halt any more transfers. the security of american families and military personnel are at stake. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new hampshire seek recognition? the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mr. speaker, i am deeply concerned about the repeal of the affordable care act and what it would mean for americans struggling with debilitating diseases sms -- diseases. prior to the a.c.a., the struggle of a debilitating imness could be compounded because of the financial burden from lack of affordable health care. imagine being denied necessary health care because you or a loved one suffered from a pre-existing condition. these are the concerns that i am hearing from constituents across

the granite state. take sali from westchesterfield, whose daughter has crones disease. and she's on their family plan because she's under age 26. she will always need access to health care because of her condition. and in the affordable care act is repealed -- if the affordable care act is repealed and not replaced, she could lose coverage because of her pre-existing condition. these concerns are all too common place. i agree the a.c.a. is not perfect and i'm committed to working in a bipartisan way to ensure that the law will work for all americans, but in the meantime, the a.c.a. is helping 22 million americans, including one in every 10 granite staters. ms. kuster: we should build on those successes. i urge my colleagues on the republican side to resist the temptation to repeal the law, especially without a plan that ensures affordable coverage for all americans. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek

recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, as a medical provider, i understand the critical patient choice and input is necessary to yore all quality of our health care -- overall quality of our health care system. put simply, patients are better off when they're equipped to make their own decisions. unfortunately obamacare limits patient choices outlined in this chart. in fact, in the obamacare marketplace, patients in 2/3 of our country are limited to a choice of one or two insurers. across five entire states, patients have only one option. the marketplace looks more like a government-created monopoly under a system where every american is required by law to purchase the product, to me. mr. bucshon: to make matters worse, the onerous mandates in the law have led to restricted position networks -- physician

networks. not only do parents have little choice regarding their insurers, they're also limited to what physicians they can see. turns out we can't keep our doctors, even if we like them. that's why we are offering a better way plan that expands choice and empowers patients. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: mr. speaker, to know how high the stakes are in the republican effort to repeal the affordable care act, you only have to listen to your constituents. one of the many i have heard from is kevin from michigan who writes, i am a marine corps veteran. and i'm covered by the v.a. system, but my wife isn't. she has kidney disease and i found it hard to get coverage for her with the pre-existing condition.

but i found an affordable plan under the a.c.a. this allows for continued treatment and she's still with me. a.c.a. is not collapsing, contrary to what the speaker is saying. the republicans are trying to sink a.c.a., while it is very much afloat and alive for kevin and his wife and millions and millions of others. republicans have been promising a plan for seven years. and never delivered. they will not deliver now for all of america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition?

the gentleman is recognized. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate it. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of my legislation, the medical preparedness allowable use act, h.r. 437. last year in florida alone, we witnessed terrorism, major hurricanes and the outbreak of the zika virus. we need to be prepared for these types of emergencies and we need to make sure our first responders have the tools they need to keep us safe. my bill enhances medical preparedness and promotes the stockpiling of medical countermeasures. this includes medical kits, protective gear, ventilators and more. importantly, the legislation uses existing grant funds to accomplish this. it does not require new or additional funding. this medical preparedness allowable use act ensures we take these critical steps now so we are ready in case of crisis. in the wake of an emergency, our first responders bravely risk their lives on behalf of our safety. i introduced this bill to protect the public and protect our protectors. i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the

time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina seek recognition? the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. adams: i rise today to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the st. james church of greensboro, north carolina. the third oldest african-american church in greensboro, st. james is rich in history and tradition. under the leadership of reverend dr. diane gibbons moffet, st. james embraces the scene, celebrating 100 years, 150 years of walking in faith and service. it's rare but wonderful to find a group of individuals that have thoroughly enriched its community through dedicated service and good works. it's been my unique honor to represent the good people of st. james both in north carolina and in the congress for more than 30 years. st. james has helped make greensboro a more just and peaceful community. for that i am immensely proud.

congratulations once again, st. james, on your anniversary of century plus five decades and i look forward to witnessing the many ways in which st. james will continue to thrive, during its next 150 years. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as mercury dropped to record lows this week in pennsylvania, i rise to highlight an upcoming cold weather event in state college, pennsylvania. the light-up state cledge which will -- college which will attempt to break a record by lighting more than 3,000 ice luminaries on college street at 6:00 p.m. the first saturday in february. now, you may ask, what is an ice lumenary? according to guiness, the they are -- they are cup-shaped

structures made purely out of ice that hold a light inside. those interested in helping break this record can pick up a do it yourself ice lumenary kit in downtown state college. the current world record contains 2,651 separate lanterns and was set in 2013 by the residents of a small town in sweden. they've been making ice lanterns to coincide with a nearby winter market for the past 10 years. light-up state college is a partnership of three greeth groups, center foundation -- three groups, center foundation, make space and the knight foundation. organizers is have asked individuals and the state college to making ice lanterns as more than 2,000 are still needed to help put state college over the line and on the map. this record breaking event will take place in state college on saturday, september 4, and i wish them the best of luck. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition? the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute.

mrs. beatty: mr. speaker, what's the message? i rise today because i am fighting for medicare and i oppose any attempts to balance the budget on the backs of seniors by privatizing medicare. for over 50 years, medicare has guaranteed health care to all americans 65 years or older. and continues to do so for more than 50 million americans today. seniors like my constituent linda and her mother, who relies on medicare for their health care needs, do not want republicans to dismantle it. what's the message, mr. speaker? in my home state of ohio, about two million seniors and disabled individuals, including one million women, 260,000 african-americans are at risk of losing their medicare benefits if republicans privatize it. mr. speaker, i'm here to fight

for linda and her mother, for janet and mary and robert and many other seniors who count on medicare for their trrs' visits, their prescription -- doctors' visits, their prescription assistance and many other needs. mr. speaker, what's the message? we can't let our seniors down. democrats will fight to preserve medicare to protect our seniors for generations to come. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to stand against the plan to repeal the affordable care act. i believe my job as a member of congress is to work every day to improve the quality of life for all americans. if my colleagues and i are going to do our job, access to

affordable quality health care is the very foundation of that. ms. demmings: we know for a fact -- -- d s. demings: we know a fact that this country is the greatest. i ask today, which families should not have access to quality health care? repealing the a.c.a. would also have an affect on our economy. jobs will be lost. my state of florida is one that would be hit the hardest. almost 181,000 floridians would be at risk of losing their jobs almost immediately if the .c.a. were to be repealed. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to think long and hard about the people and work to strengthen and not repeal the affordable care act.

thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. am congressman raja krishnamoorthi. before i took the oath of office last week i was the president of small businesses in the chicago area. i stand namoorthi: here and say repealing without replacing the affordable care act will harm our economy and with that our working class families. repealing without replacing the affordable care act would destroy up to three million

good-paying jobs and destroy $1.5 trillion in economic activity. across illinois, repealing without replacing the a.c.a. would cost upwards of 100,000 jobs, and in the eighth district alone, repealing without replacing the a.c.a. would cost upwards of 4,000 jobs. middle-class families need good-paying jobs and affordable health care. repeal without replacing the a.c.a. would unfortunately rob them of both. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. green: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. green: for years after years of attacking the affordable care act, members and speaker, the republicans repeal plan have cold, hard consequences for millions of

americans. not just the millions on the insurance exchange but also those of our constituents who receive insurance through their employer coverage. beginning now on a state-by-state basis, hospitals, doctors, patient advocates and faith groups will be stepping forward to express the negative impacts of repealing the affordable care act. the affordable care act has improved americans' lives in areas of health care coverage, consumer protections, cost and quality. millions will lose health coverage. the individual insurance market will be in shambles. hospitals and our states will lose billions and our economy will be hurt. without health insurance, people with chronic diseases will lose care and become sicker. without health care coverage, people with chronic diseases die. it's bad for patients, budgets and the health care system as a whole. every major law that's passed congress and each have oversight and revisions to make sure it's effective is intended. congress can amend any law but

ing so in athat will -- in a way that will cost americans insurance is just wrong. repeal without replacement is wrong. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. the republican majority has declared its intent to immediately pass legislation to repeal the affordable care act without a replacement. that means millions of americans with health insurance today will lose their coverage. that's people like michelle from new brunswick in my district who recently wrote to me and she says, i quote, as a survivor of childhood cancer i'm deeply concerned about the repeal of the a.c.a. which could bar me from obtaining health insurance due to my pre-existing conditions. i access coverage from the a.c.a. insurance exchange when i lost my job due to a health condition in 2014 and 2015. because i had affordable

coverage i was able to obtain the necessary care needed to recover from the long-term effects of cancer. now i'm back on my feet working and contributing to the american people. i urge you to please defend the a.c.a. to help the 335,000 cancer survivors in new jersey who depend upon it. mr. speaker, the public deserves thorough and complete information on how working families will fair compared to today if the law is repealed. mr. speaker means life or death for american families. it's also nearly 18% of the nation's gross domestic product. we can't afford to be capricious with our approach to health care. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask for unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to bring attention to the burden that obamacare

placed on my constituents. they have seen their health care costs rise while their quality of care has lowered. it's imperative we repeal obamacare immediately. i also want to emphasize to the folks here and at home that as we repeal obamacare we will make sure there is a stable transition period during the replacement so that people don't have the rug pulled out from under them. mr. yoho: this transition period will give us time we need to ensure health care reform is full of truly patient-center solutions, one that will let patients and doctors to direct their health care. congress must focus on the principles of affordability, accessibility and quality to provide the american people with genuine health care reform, but we can only get to that point by repealing obamacare now and i promise to read the bill before voting on it unlike how it was passed and i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. conaway: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill h.r. 238. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to house resolution 40 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of consideration he of h.r. 238. the chair appoints the gentleman from tennessee, mr. duncan, to preside over the ommittee of the whole. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 238, which the clerk will report by

title. the clerk: a bill to re-authorize the commodity futures trading commission, to better protect futures customers, to provide end-users with market certainty, to make basic reforms to ensure transparency and accountability at the commission, to help , and , ranchers end-users manage risks, to help keep consumer costs low, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. the gentleman from texas, mr. conaway, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. peterson, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. conaway. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise today in support of h.r. 238, the commodity end-user relief act. the commodity end-user relief act is a bipartisan bill to re-authorize the commodity futures trading commission to make much-needed regulatory reforms and most importantly to make statutory changes to protect end-users and give them access to the tools they need to manage their risks. over the past four years, the

house committee on agriculture has held almost two dozen hearings examining the commission and investigating the impact of the dodd-frank act on our derivatives market. many are struggling to comply with the burdensome rules and portions of the underlying statute were consistent in their call for relief. to address their concerns, h.r. 238 makes reforms that fall into three categories. customer protections, commission reforms and end user relief. title 1 of the bill protects customers and margin funds they deposit at their merchants by codifying changes during the collapse and bankruptcies of two banks. title 2 makes meaningful reforms to the operations of the commission to improve the agency's deliberative process. in doing so, it also requires the commission to conduct more thorough and robust cost-benefit analysis to help get future rule makings right the first time. while the cftc is already required to look at cost and

benefits, its work has been called into question by the cftc inspector general who reported the commission staff seem to view the process more of a legal one than an economic one. end-users are the businesses that provide americans with food, clothing, transportation, energy, and much more. companies that produce, consume and transport the commodities that make -- use futures and swap markets -- of the businesses they face. farmers henl their crop in the spring so they'll know what they get pay in the failed. utilities can charge customers at a steady rate. and cost of steel and other inputs to lock in prices as they fill orders. the fact is no end-user played any part of the financial crisis and no end-user currently poses a systemic risk to the u.s. derivatives markets. yet, as the agriculture committee heard in countless hours of testimony, to say it's more difficult and expensive

for them to manage their risk than it was five years ago. some of these challenges are the result of amp gutes and text of the -- ambiguities and text of the act. today's legislation fixes statutory problems like section 304 which amends the definition of financial entity to ensure some end-users don't lose their clearing exemption simply because a hedging strategy makes up for losses in a physical transaction. or like section 315 which makes small changes to the swap core principles to align them in the swaps industry rather than the futures industry easing compliance burdens for those newly regulated entities. for example, section 308 sets aside a commission rule that would automatically lower the transaction threshold triggering renlstration as a swap dealer. this costly, complex registration process was intended for large financial institutions. but because this registration threshold was set arbitrarily

it has swept up some commodity firms as well. if the limits fall by 60% next year, it could sweep up 100 more firms into the reach of dodd-frank. while h.r. 238 would fix the level at its current $8 billion level, unless the commission proposes a new rule with evidence of a needed reduction. similarly, section 313 exempts religious pension plans and university endowment with a new rule to -- simply because they use standardized hedging products. what h.r. 238 does not do is roll title 7 of dodd-frank. it does not change the execution, changing, margining, capital or reporting framework set up by that act. in fact, not a sickle witness house eared before the committee on agriculture ever asked us to fundamentally up end these principles. these are concepts that have been part of the swaps markets long before the financial reform happened. the committee, the commission and the industry will continue to grapple with the details of

these core tenants, seeking to provide the right mix of flexibility and oversight. before i close i'd like to thank members of the ag committee who sat three all these hearings and markups. chairman scott and ranking member davis scott, two of my co-sponsors on this legislation, have led most of the committee's hearings on these issues and they have dean great work. together we put forward a bipartisan bill that makes narrowly targeted changes to provide relief on regulatory burdens. the commodity end-user relief act offers meaningful improvements to market participants without undermining the basic goals of title 7 of dodd-frank. and it does so by finding the right relief to the right people. with that i urge support of the commodity end-user relief act and with all of its amendments and submit into record letters of support from over 30 groups. and i reserve the balance of my time. . the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is rised. >> i thank the gentleman and i

yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. >> i rise in opposition to this bill. the bill last congress went too far and the one in this congress in my opinion, is going too far as well. the commission in my opinion just need as simple re-authorization. mr. peters: i urge members to consider this -- mr. peterson: i urge members to .ore this title 2 makes it more difficult for the commission to function. i'm also concerned that title 3's cross-border real making mandate will result in a race to the bottom for multinational banks in the swaps market. which is a global market. on top of that, this bill's cap -- this bill caps the agency's yearly budget at $250 million for the next five years. it does this when every single witness before the agriculture committee last year told us that the agency needs more resources to do its work.

maybe that's the whole point, that this bill will lead the agency to not doing much and i think that would be a mistake. we tried that once before and we found ourselves in a real mess. since we last discussed re-authorization, the market situation has changed. the cfpb has addressed many of our concerns through rulemaking. yet the agriculture committee wasn't given the chance to consider these issues before the bill was rushed to the floor here today. so we're moving forward once again without regular order. again, i oppose this bill, i urge my colleagues to vote no and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. chairman. i now recognize or yield three minutes to mr. crawford of arkansas who is the subcommittee chairman for the general farm commodities and risk management subcommittee. the chair: the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for three minutes. mr. crawford: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the distinguished chairman for the opportunity to

speak today. five years of bipartisan committee work has contributed to the drafting of h.r. 238, the commodity end user relief act. the time we passed it for the sake of businesses across the united states who need greater certainty in managing their risk. in advance of writing this legislation to re-authorize the cfpb, the house committee on agriculture held 22 hearings on the future of the commission and the state of the drisktives industry. i mention the number 22 to highlight how extensive data collection and deliberation has been, to make this re-authorization as complete and thorough as possible. those 22 hearings collected feedback and testimony from every segment of the futures and swaps markets. from end users to regulators. we've used the testimony to draft legislation that will make derivatives markets work better for those who need them most, businesses trying to manage their risk. not only is this re-authorization language exhaustively researched, it has also already been approved by this chamber multiple times, starting in the 113th congress. in the 113th congress, the

committee completed h.r. 4413, which passed the house with strong bipartisan support and in the 114th congress we put forward the commodity end user relief active 2015 which was very similar to h.r. 4413 and also passed the house with support from both parties. now not only is h.r. 238 virtually identical to the re-authorization -- re-authorization bill which passed the house last congress, h.r. 238 also includes the amendments that were adopted in the house floor during debate. i'll turn my focus toward the people that this tested proven language will help, largely end users, although end users are not investors, speculators or risk takers, they have borne the brunt of many of the consequences of new regulations. derivatives are used by a huge swath of billses for risk management purposes, including manufacturers, farmers, ranchers and other businesses that buy, sell products overseas, pension funds, insurance companies and others who face risk that the prices for their business outputs frequently fluctuate. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this long

overdue legislation and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. peters: mr. chairman, -- mr. peterson: mr. chairman, i'm now pleased to yield to the gentlelady from the virgin islands. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. plaskett: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you to my colleagues. mr. speaker, i rise today to speak on behalf of opposition to h.r. 238. and express my concerns with the process and the need for this legislation at this time. as we all know, commotities futures trade commission is an independent federal regulatory agency that after the 2008 financial crisis took on more responsibility to bring greater transparency and oversight to the multihundred-trillion-dollar derivatives market. this new bill, h.r. 238, has new mandates and steps in it which will force the commodities and futures trade commission to

redirect funding from its core mission to satisfy some of the new mandates within this rule. 238 sets a flat re-authorization level of $250 million per year for the next five years, despite the annual average budget request of the agency of well over $300 million since passage of dodd-frank. freezing the funding level makes the new rules almost impossible to enforce. while we understand the need for the end users, the work of this group must go forward. this punitive level effectively capps the cfpb budget and -- caps a the cftc budget sand a departure from language that provides funding that may be necessary for cftc to carry out its expanded authorities. 328 will make it more -- 238 will make it more difficult for cftc to function and stifle its ability to respond quickly to

the rapidly changing markets it regulates. i thank the chairman for having allowed us in the last congress to have many hearings and discussions about this bill, but we have not even as a matter organized the agriculture committee in the 115th congress. to bring this matter to the floor at this time. therefore, the substance of the bill, as well as the process by which it's coming to this floor, are to be questioned at this time and i urge my colleagues to vote against the bill. thank you very much, i yield back. the chair: the time of the gentlelady has expired. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. chairman. i'd now like to yield three minutes to mr. davis of illinois, who is the subcommittee chairman for biotechnology and risk management. the chair: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for three minutes. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, chairman conaway. i rise today in strong support of this legislation. farm something an inherently risky business yet i'm grateful to the farmers in my district and across crit who take on

these risks in order to provide this country and many countries across the globe with a sustainable, abundant food supply. given the importance of agriculture to our nation's food supply, it makes sense to provide farmers, agri-businesses and manufacturers the tools to hedge the risks that come with doing their business. because of the risks of price movements and commodities such as corn and soybean, these end users use derivatives to ensure they and their customers aren't negatively impacted by sudden price changes. this legislation re-authorizes the cftc, which has been without a statutory authorization for almost four years, that's unacceptable, mr. speaker. if we are serious about getting back to regular order in regards to the appropriations process, the authorizing committees must hold up their end of the bargain. the derivatives industry has been through major reforms during the past few years. this legislation recognizes and

appreciates the transformation of this industry while providing congress with an opportunity to use the re-authorization process as a means to improve the regulatory environment and the impact it has on responsible market participants. in that vain this legislation also include -- vein, this legislation also includes an amendment i offered at the committee that would remove unnecessary and duplicative regulations created by the cftc that require certain registered investment companies such as mutual funds to be regulated by both the s.e.c. and the cftc. costly, burdensome, redundant regulations have real world impacts. congress needs to shift its focus back to policies that promote strong and healthy markets. this is a great start. mr. speaker, i'm proud of the committee's work on this bill, i want to express my appreciation for chairman conaway's leadership and work to get us here. this is an important bill and i urge my colleagues to vote yes and i yield back the balance of my time.

the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. peters: -- mr. peterson: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm now pleased to yield four minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. machine govern. the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for four minutes. mr. mcgovern: thank you, and i want to thank my friend, mr. peterson, the ranking member of the agriculture committee, for yielding me the time. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 238. legislation to re-authorize the commodity futures trading commission, better known as the cftc. instead of working through regular order to produce an authorization bill that both democrats and republicans could have supported, the majority in this house rushed to the floor a deeply flawed piece of legislation that hamstrings the cftc and undermines its ability to react to changing market conditions. the burdensome requirements in this legislation and the lack of appropriate funding are nothing more than a misguided attempt by republicans to make it more difficult for the commission to

function, to make it harder to protect consumers and make it more difficult to rein in the abuses of wall street. i strongly object to the authorization level in this legislation. basically, my republican friends are flat-funding the cftc for five years. and that is despite cause from the former -- calls from the former and current chairmen asking us to provide additional resources to the agency to enhance their ability to police wall street. dodd-frank significantly expanded the commission's role in overseeing our financial markets. and the commission has done its part to create rules that will help to prevent another financial crisis. despite the fact that congress has not provided appropriate funding. i get it. my republican friends don't like dodd-frank. ever since they took back control of the house, they have tried to dismantle the law piece by piece, which was enacted to protect consumers and protect our markets in the wake of that terrible financial crisis that

practically ruined our economy. republicans say they don't like regulation and it seems they especially don't like any regulation on wall street. they have forgotten -- have they forgotten the recent financial crisis that nearly destroyed our economy? have they forgotten who was primarily responsible for that crisis? apparently they have. i'm not for endless and unnecessary regulation. nobody is. but i do think it is appropriate for us to create commonsense rules that protect our markets and protect our constituents' hard-earned dollars. i find it troubling that republican leaders in this house don't want to provide necessary resources to the commission to patrol wall street. without cops on the beat, who will ensure wall street actors aren't gaming the system and putting the economy at risk for another mementdown? i ask my republican friends -- meltdown? i ask my republican friends, when will main street take priority over wall street? i also take issue with the various provisions of this bill that will both slow the agency's

work and create new avenues for costly and lengthy legal battles. by the way, implementing these provisions will cost the commission an additional $45 million over the next five years. and will require an additional 30 full-time employees. so in addition to underfande funding an already -- underfunding an already overworked agency, we're creating a situation where even more resources will be needed to satisfy burdensome and unnecessary requirements. that means fewer dollars for the commission to carry out its core mission of combating abuse and fraud in our markets and ensuring end users, investors and the public are protected. mr. speaker, our constituents didn't send us to washington to ignore bad actors in our financial markets. they certainly didn't send us to washington to create a regulatory environment that could put us on a path toward another down turn. so who are we here to represent? the wall street banks or our hardworking constituents who deserve elected representatives who do everything in their power to prevent another financial crisis? i'd also like to say a few words

about the cross-border requirements imposed by this bill. requirements that would hamstring the commission's efforts to regulate the global swaps industry and cooperation with regulators around the globe. my colleagues across the aisle keep seeing -- saying that this bill is essential to help farmers and ranchers, utilities and main street small business. but the farmers in this country don't have a london office to trade their swaps. and they don't have a derivatives dess income tokyo and they aren't -- desk in tokyo and they aren't trading interest rate swaps in geneva. mr. peterson: i yield the gentleman another minute. mr. mcgovern: let's be clear about who the cross-border provision in this bill is designed to help. it isn't end users. it isn't farmers. it isn't manufacturers or utilities or main street businesses. it is the small group of multinational financial firms that have controlled the swaps market from the beginning. and we have seen what happens when they are left to their own devices. crises in the swaps market do not respect national borders. and boundaries. and that is why our regulators

from the commission have been engaged in their international -- with their international counterparts in crafting rules for these markets since 2009. they should be encouraged in that effort in every way possible, through funding and expansive authority, to get the rules right. this bill provides neither. so, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to oppose this misguided legislation, i thank the gentleman and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. chairman. i would like to point out for the record that over the past two fiscal years, since 2013, the cftc's received a 29% increase in funding. that's gone from $194 million to its current level of $250 million. and i think you'd be hard pressed to find any other agency throughout this government that's gotten a 29% increase in its resources over that time frame. i'd now like to yield three minutes to mr. hartzler, a valuable member -- mrs. hartzler, a valuable member of the ag committee. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes.

. mrs. hartzler: i rise today in support of the act. ---i thank the chairman for the hours he put in to crafting this bill to provide relief to the end users across the nation never intended to be burdened by these rules and regulations. i have heard from many end users in my district about the need for commence reforms o our financial regulations encapsulated in this bill. these regulations affect entities, the people i represent, rely on every day. from the rural electric cooperatives that use these tools to keep energy prices as low and stable as possible for rural missourians to the local grean elevators and farmers that manage their price civic using futures and options at a time when prices are low and times are hard in farm country. regulatory relief for main street is way past due on these regulations that were designed to regulation wall street. during this debate i have heard

from some of my colleagues concerns that this bill has not followed regular order, but we have spent countless hours in briefings, hearings, and markups on this very bill. and many of us even took a trip to chicago to visit the cftc field office and tour key industry facilities. in the six years i have served on this committee, we have held 22 hearings on the future of the commission and state of the derivatives industry. we held two separate markups from previous versions of of this re-authorization in the 113th and 114th congresses, followed by passage of these bills on the house floor. the bill we're taking up today is almost identical to the bill passed on this floor last congress. every single amendment to this bill offered by a member of the house will be voted on today, including my amendment to provide relief to farmers, agriculture cooperatives, and grain elevators from burdensome reporting requirements. let me reiterate, the process for considering the bills has been fair and open.

i would like to again thank the chairman for bringing up this much needed bill to provide regulatory relief to my constituents through this fair and open process. i encourage my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yield back the balance of her time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. peterson: aim now pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from arizona, new member of the house and our committee, somebody who actually has experience in this business during his storied career, mr. o'halleran from arizona. the chair: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for three minutes. mr. o'halleran: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the ranking member with whom i look forward to serving on the agriculture committee on behalf of the people of arizona. mr. speaker, i rise today to express my deep opposition to h.r. 238. i am troubled by the way this legislation, the commodity end user relief act, has been brought to the floor. this bill has -- was only

introduced last week and is being rushed to a vow. i -- vote. i'm especially bothered by the attempt to bring this bill to the floor outside the rules of regular order. there were no committee hearings, there were no markup held by the committee, and the members of the agriculture committee have been denied the opportunity to discuss the merits of this legislation. as a freshman member of the 115th congress, i am especially bothered that this bill has been brought to the floor before the agriculture committee has even been fully organized. as a new member of the agriculture committee, i am troubled that my colleagues think they can bypass the important feedback provided during the committee process. i represent over 80 communities in my district with a wide range of opinions and interests. from my constituents andnts

getting feedback is critical to my duties as their representative in congress. we should include their voices and policymaking process not just special interest who have the resources to keep lobbyists here in he washington. the committee process allows members to gather together critical information, have a positive discussion, and make necessary changes to the legislation. as everyone on this floor knows, the committee process is essential to ensuring that the interest of the american people are truly represented in the legislation and brought to the floor. i understand that this bill was brought up in the 114th congress where it was reviewed by the committee. it is only right that we maintain our democratic principles and ensure that h.r. 238 fully undergoes committee review in this congress. mr. speaker, this is not a partisan concept. these are the values i held as a republican state legislator, police officer working in the community, and as a community

leader. mr. speaker, i ask if this legislation was sent through the committee in the last congress, is it not going to the committee again? this process subverts the rules of this congress, which i might add were established only last week. bypassing the normal rules of order marginalizes the voice of the american people. the legislative process and courses of vote on legislation that is not complete. i encourage my colleagues to make sure that the voice of the american people is heard and this legislation is brought up under the rules of regular order. for that -- this reason i ask my colleagues to join me in opposing this legislation before us. i yield back. the chair: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: i proceed i yield to three minutes to mr. yoho from florida.

the chair: the gentleman from florida virginia tech for three minutes. mr. yoho: i appreciate the opportunity to speak in favor of h.r. 238, the commodity end users relief act. i also like to thank chairman conaway for his leadership and continued commitment to positive reforms through the agricultural committee. it has been a privilege to work with you on this issue impacting our nation's rural commutes. i would also like to thank the subcommittee chairman, austin scott, for bringing this bill to the floor yet again. this bill will provide much needed relief to the end users of this country in the wake of the dodd-frank wall street reform bill. end users in this bill are the farmers, ranchers, and public utilities across our country. when cost increase for them, they increase for all americans. the farmer was not the reason for the economic recession that began in 2008. the rancher was not the reason. nor was the power company. so why bring them under the umbrella of the dodd-frank wall street reform? rural america is not wall

street. it is this view held by some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that has alienated so many in rural america. the ag committee has approved this measure four times through regular order in the committee. it's commonsense reforms have garnered bipartisan support in the 114th congress and the 113th congress. it is my hope that with this new administration taking office next week these commonsense changes will finally be signed into law. i implore my fellow colleagues, listen to rural america. remember they are not wall street. i thank chairman conaway, subcommittee chairman austin scott, and ranking member david scott, for making this a priority. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. peterson: i'm pleased to yield four minutes to the gentlelady from california, the ranking member of the financial services committee, ms. waters. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized for -- the gentlelady

from california is recognized for four minutes. ms. waters: thank you very much. mr. chairman, i rise today in strong opposition to h.r. 238, a bill that would hamstring the ability of the commodity futures trading commission to protect our nation's farmers, manufacture manufacturers, municipalities, and retirees. indeed, the agency has weighty responsibility to oversee our commodity, futures, and swaps markets to ensure that they are not only fair to market participants, but also that they are protected from manipulation, fraud, and abuse. such misconduct in these markets can impact everything from the price of oil, natural gas, and bread. to the interest rates on mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, and student loans. and as we saw in the financial

crisis, fraud and abuse in the swaps markets can lead to systemic risk. recall that credit, default swaps made famous by a.i.g., fueled the crisis, bankrupt millions of homeowners, and cost taxpayers trillions of dollars. to prevent that from happening again, congress in the dodd-frank act gave the cftc new authority over the swaps market and required it to adopt reforms , which, thanks to its hard work, are largely in place. but rather than applaud the work of the cftc and provided with the funds it needs to -- provide it with the funds it needs to do its job, republicans continue to seek to undermine this regulatory authority, impose new procedural hurdles, and ultimately block its ability to

protect the american people. or example, h.r. 238 would impose onerous burdens and introduce new litigation risk by requiring the cftc to conduct what is known as cost benefit analysis slanted toward the industry. simply tying the s.e.c.'s hands and setting up roadblocks to keep them from doing their job and protect investors. this is a tactic that used by opponents are financial reform to preconvenient vent, weaken, and now under a trump administration repeal any rules implementing the dodd-frank act. this bill would also make it harder for the cftc to police the overseas derivatives operations of megabanks like citigroup, j.p. morgan, and the bank of america even though the risk may still be borne by u.s. taxpayers.

it also creates an unreasonable and hard to overturn presumption that the regulations of the largest eight foreign swaps markets are equivalent to u.s. regulation, allowing global megabanks to opt out of cftc regulation. r. 238 is simply a bad bill, but not leaving well enough alone, republicans are attempting to make it worse through multiple amendments. troubling the lucas amendment would create loopholes in our swaps regime by exempting trades between affiliates. therefore such trades would not have to comply with certain reporting, clearing, or initial margin requirements creating a dangerous blind spot in the markets. what's more, the amendment is in direct contravention to already

provided targeted relief, including the interaffiliate clearing exemption that congress passed in a bipartisan fashion in the 2016 consolidated appropriations act, which contained numerous safeguards to ensure appropriate cftc oversight. the chair: the time -- ms. waters: i urge my colleagues to join me in opposing that and other harmful amendments and oppose h.r. 238. the chair: the time of the gentlelady has expired. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: i would like to point out for the record that the cost benefit analysis rule in this bill are modeled after executive order 13563, which president obama signed into the executive order status. and they are forward-looking. nothing in our bill would require either currently what might be a much needed relook at the dodd-frank rules done in the past. this analysis would require any future rule making. i now would like to yield three minutes to mr. lamalfa from california, another valuable

member of the ag committee. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, chairman conaway, for your leadership and opportunity to speak today. i rise today in strong support of h.r. 238, the commodity end user relief act. for the last two years member of the ag committee have worked to improve operations to the commodity futures trading commission. through a great deal of bipartisan hearings, members were able to hear from everyone at the table, the regulators, market participants, and end users alike. when discussing how to ensure robust markets and consumer protections and relief for end users, h.r. 238 truly represents a true agreement. after all, the end users are our customers, they are the people -- whole reason for this legislation and this entity to begin with. another important provision is language i previously introduced, the public power risk management act. which ensures that 47 million

americans who rely on public power for electricity will not see their rates increase due to unintended consequences of dodd-frank. there are 2,000 publicly owned utilities across this country, including one in my own district, who use swaps to manage their risk for years. this bill safeguards their ability to do so while protecting taxpayers from high unnecessary costs. . the end users and other businesses who pose no systemic risk to our financial system and did not cause the financial crisis should not have to face costly red tape from policies meant to protect them in the first place. i want to thank again chairman conaway for leading on this issue and for the hard work and -- in committee, all the conversations, all the background it takes to get this done, and put the light on the practical effects of the unintended consequences on the actual customers, the end users -- users. this bill is about american

producers and consumers. i'm proud to be part of this work product we have on the floor today and urge my colleagues to support this measure. thank you. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. peterson: i yield or i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. conaway: thank you. i inquire how much time is left on both sides. the chair: the gentleman has 13 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from minnesota has 14 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. conaway: thank you. now proud to yield three minutes to austin scott, who is the chairman of the subcommittee on commotcommodities, exchanges, energy and credit -- commodities, exchanges, energy and credit. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scott: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 238, the commodity end user relief act. it is simply good governance to re-authorize the commodities future trading commission which has been operating without authorization since 2013. i think this legislation

represents the kind of thoughtful and bipartisan approach to policymaking that's often lacking in this place. the 114th congress, i served as chairman of the subcommittee on commodity, exchanges. we heard diverse perspectives, from end users, market participants and regulators. that testimony, coupled with the testimony from numerous other hearings at the subcommittee and full committee level, and past congresses, was instrument nal drafting the legislation before us -- instrumental in drafting the legislation before us today, which is this same legislation that passed the house of representatives last congress, in june, 2015. this bill includes needed reforms to clarify congressional intent, minimize regulatory burdens and, most importantly, preserve the ability of necessary risk management markets to serve those who need them. time and again we've heard how end users, who i want to point out, the end users were not the cause of the final crisis, have been collateral damage of dodd-frank reforms. these end users are our farmers,

ranchers, manufacturers and electric and gas utilities and they rely on the derivatives markets to manage their risk, thereby helping keep consumer costs low. it is essential that we provide end users with much-needed relief and clarity in order for the cost of unnecessary regulatory burdens that lead to increased costs and uncertainty being shouldered by the american citizens in my district and across the country. i want to note this legislation in no way undermines the goals of dodd-frank. instead it simply eases the regulatory burden on those who use the derivatives markets new york city so they can speculate -- markets, not so they can speculate, but so that they can hedge risk. this bill is about protecting the american producer and the american consumer. i want to close by thanking chairman conaway for his strong leadership on the house committee of agriculture and the ranking member of the commodity exchanges energy and credit subcommittee and my colleague from georgia who has been a steady partner throughout this effort. we've worked diligently to produce legislation that provides needed reforms to

ensure our regulatory framework protects the integrity of our markets, while not limiting the ability of end users to access those tools to conduct their bills. mr. speaker, i believe the cftc should be re-authorized and i'm proud to support h.r. 238, the commodity end user relief act, and i urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this legislation. thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. peterson: mr. chairman, if i could inquire of the chairman conaway, are you -- do you have any more speakers? mr. conaway: i have no further speakers. mr. peterson: ok. prepared to close? are you prepared -- mr. conaway: mr. speaker, may i inquire who has a right to close? the chair: you have the right to close. the gentleman from texas has the right to close. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. peterson: in closing, i just wish to -- wish that i could support a re-authorization bill, a clean bill, for the cftc.

that came through the ag committee in regular order. but that's not what's happened. i want to thank chairman conaway for his work in the last congress, trying to find common ground and i hope that we can get back to regular order in the future, in the committee. so, again, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to oppose h.r. 238 and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized to close debate on this legislation. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. chairman. as i close, i want to remind us of the need to act today. but before i do, i also want to thank the ranking member. while we may vote differently on this bill, he and i generally work well together on a myriad of issues that face not only production in agriculture but rural america as well. i thank him for his work, even though we may not vote exactly the same way today. over the past four years, the committee on agriculture heard dozens of witnesses about the upheaval end users have been facing while trying to use derivative markets in the wake of the post-crisis financial reforms. while this congress took

affirmative steps in dodd-frank to protect end users from harm, today it's clear that there's still work to be done. it isn't enough to simply raise these issues and hope that the cftc will take care of them for us. for one, sometimes they cannot. there are numerous small oversights in the statute that have big implications for end users that we must correct in this legislation. currently, the c.e. arment defines some -- c.e.a. defines so that ty companies they're stripped of being end users. lifted almost word for word from the core principles for futures exchanges, even though swaps exchanges and futures exchanges operate pretty i -- completely differently and they cannot perform many of the functions of the futures exchange. the commission cannot fix this. certainly the commission can and has tried to paper over these problems, issuing staff letters explaining how to will deep diehl with incongress fruityies in the law. that isn't good enough. we know the problems. we should fix them and fix them

now. sometimes, though, the problem isn't the statute. there are a number of end user issues that we have heard testimony about which the cftc will not fix. because the commission simply disagrees with congress about how to apply the law. we know these problems also. the commission's promulgated a rule that reduces the transaction threshold to be considered a swap dealer from $8 billion to $3 billion, a 60% decline, while it is still studying the matter. we should require that the cftc complete the study and have a public vote on that matter. the commission has proposed a new megget odd of grant aing -- method of granting new exemptions. upening long standing hedge exemptions. this proposal has the added disadvantage of being dramatically more labor-intensive for the commission. we should insist that historic hedging practices be protected. the commission has issued a new rule on ownership control and reporting that it knows isn't working. they've delayed its implementation for over three years while continuing to parcel

out temporary reprieves. we should insist the commission amend the rule so that market participants know definitively what their compliance obligations are. the definition of swap does not include transactions that are wholly contained within a single company. and not market facing. regulators have used this leeway to require businesses and financial institutions to follow rules that are quite frankly inappropriate for risk management purposes and costly for the companies to use them. we should amend the statute to make it clear that interaffiliate transaction should not be regulated the same way as publicly transacted swaps. the challenge facing businesses who hedge their risk in derivatives markets are real. today we have an opportunity to fix some of those problems. every dollar that a business can save by better managing its risk is a dollar available to grow that bills. pay higher wages and lower costs to consumers while protecting investors. over the past week, over 30 organizations representing thousands of american businesses have voiced their support for the important reforms and the commodity end user relief act.

businesses from farm country to major manufacturers to public utilities need every tool available to manage their businesses and reduce the uncertainties they face each day in today's global economy. i urge my colleagues to support the end user act, protect these companies and make sure they have the tools they need to compete in a global economy. and i want to thank the chairman and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas has yielded back his time. all time for general debate has expired. pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of rules committee print 115-2. that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. no amendment to that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in part b of house report 115-3.

each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report by a member designated in the report, shall be considered read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report, equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question. it is now in order to consider amendment number 1 printed in part b of house report 115-3. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? mr. aderholt: mr. chairman, i have and at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 1 printed in part b of house report 115-3 offered by mr. aderholt of alabama. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 40, the gentleman from alabama, mr. aderholt, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from alabama. mr. aderholt: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is

recognized. mr. aderholt: thank you, mr. chairman. i present to you an amendment, as the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee for agriculture, that provides funding and oversight for the commodities future trading commission known as the cftc. this amendment that is before us this afternoon is a simple, yet is a very necessary solution to issues identified at the cftc regarding its leasing practices by its own inspector general and the government accountability office. this amendment, mr. chairman, would allow the cftc to manage its leases through a third party. such as the general services administration. up until now, the cftc has demonstrated they have not responsibly managed their own leases and such missteps have created a number of problems for the agency itself. these include core management

and oversight of the agency's leasing practices, resulting in millions of dollars in excess space and leasing costs. the g.a.o. legal division have identified instances of the cftc violating the appropriations law with regard to its leasing payments and contracts. g.a.o. has further reviewed additional legal issues that are related to the cftc's leasing contracts and we expect that the issuance of opinions in the near future that will justify the need for this very amendment that we're talking about this afternoon. let me add that the cftc, they are experts at their oversight and commodity and the futures and swap markets. however, the cftc are not expert in leasing practices. and they should be relieved from their -- the burden of doing this as we move forward. so i would ask my colleagues to support this amendment at the desk and i yield back the balance of my time.

the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota -- is the gentleman from minnesota opposed to this amendment? mr. peterson: mr. chairman, i am. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. peterson: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in opposition to this amendment. according to the cftc, there's a drafting error in this amendment. i don't know exactly what it is, but they claim that there's a drafting error. they also claim that it prohibits the cftc from entering into leases going forward. they expressed concern that this prohibition will affect their ability to enter into contracts with g.s.a. in emergency situations, and in order to sublease unused space. so, i don't know -- this is one of the problems that i have with this bill. in skipping the process of consideration in the ag committee. if we would have done that, we'd

have had a chance to go over this, figure out exactly what's going on, who's right and who's wrong, and what the situation is. according to them, there's problems. we haven't gone through regular order. so i reluctantly oppose the amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota yields back. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. aderholt: thankou, mr. chairman. this amendment s been vetted by the house legislative council and the staff at the cftc. i -- the chair: the gentleman from alabama did yield back. does the gentleman from alabama seek unanimous consent to reclaim the time? mr. aderholt: i seek unanimous consent t get back my time. the chair: without objection, so ordered. mr. aderholt: the amendment has been vetted by the house leggetive council and the staff at -- legislative council and the staff at the cftc. i understand and can appriate

any concerns that the ranking member would have. let me say as we move forward, we will take any of this into account, as we move forward on this process -- in this process, any technical changes that are neceary before this bill becomes law, and we'll be happy to work with the ranking member as we move forward. mr. peteon: would the gentleman yield? mr. aderholt: yes. mr. peterson:you know, again, we're being td by the cftc that this is not the case. again, i don't know who is right or wrong and appreciate your ofr to work with us to get to the bottom of this. again, this is the problem that you have when you don't go through regular order. . mr. ater holt: if i have my time baci would just add that this amendment, we will work any concerns that th may have and try to fix anything that may be. this is something that needs to be addressed as there is real probls over the cftc regarding the issue and i would ask my

colleagues to support this amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yield back. the question is on the amendment offed by the gentleman from alabama. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, n in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 2 printed in art b of house report 115-3. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. scott: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2, printed in part b of house report number 115-3, offer by mr. austin scott of georgia. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 40, the gentleman from georgia, mr. scott, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. scott: mr. chair, i ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read. the chair: without objection, so

ordered. mr. scott: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for such time. mr. scott: mr. chairman, i rise to offer the scott amendment to h.r. 238. this commonsense amendment brings much needed reforms and guidance for the consumer protection fund at the commodity futures trading commission. drafters of dodd-frank envisioned this fund to be capped at $100 million. however through agency interpretations, this fund currently has a balance of nearly $250 million. while the fund is certainly well intended and can be used to fund education initiatives, there is no limit on the amount of the fund that can be spent on these customer education initiatives. there is also a vea broad definition of what constitutes a customer education initiative. for instance, the vast majority of the fund is currently being spent on programs like advertising, opening offices in cities with little need, and paying for cftc staff travel. this amendment would do two things. first, it would place a hard cap

on which administrators can't bypass on the fund of $50 million. this would simply make a commonsense decision to return approximately $200 million to the treasury and kept fund from carrying an excessive balance in the future. should whistleblower payouts exceed $50 million, the treasury would place additional money into the fund. the amendment would also limit spending on customer education initiatives to $5 million per year. millions have been spent in advertising, congressional budget office formally indicates these changes would save more than $40 million and would preserve the customer protection fund while making commonsense reforms to protect taxpayer resources. i encourage adoption of my amendment. mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from minnesota opposed? mr. peterson: i am opposed, mr. chairman. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes.

mr. peterson: thank you, mr. chairman. as was indicated this places a $5 million limit on expenditures. again, i don't know if it's drafting error or difference of opinion, but according to the cftc they claim that this amendment does things that were not explained and were not, in their opinion, made clear in the amendment. they are calling it an error or whatever it is. there is a provision in there that says that this fund once it gets above $100 million can't go above $50 million. so what this does is it basically limits the amount once they get -- go back into the fund to replenish it. who , i'm not exactly sure is write or who is wrong here, but another example of something

that could have been avoided if this would have come through the agriculture committee in regular order. the cftc's education initiatives to help consumers protect themselves have been successful since this initiative began. the main expense is the website broker check. and whistleblower awards have increased and shown to be effective of enforcing the commodity exchange act. again, i would ask opposition to the amendment and again make the point that had we gone through the committee process we could have resolved this and probably been on the same page. yield back. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota has yielded back. the gentleman from georgia yielded back. does he request unanimous consent to reclaim the balance of his time? mr. scott: yes, sir, mr. chairman. the chair: without objection, so ordered. mr. scott: mr. chairman, i would point out that there is over

$200 million in the account. somebody was going to make $200 million subject to the appropriation process, i imagine any bureaucrat would object if that was going to happen at their agentcy. the fact of the matter is that's one of the ways that we as members of congress are able to make sure that taxpayer funds are spent where we expect them to be spent. this does not in any way, shape, or form hinder the ability to pay out to whistle blowers. i firmly believe we should be paying whistle blowers. if the fund needs additional resources, we have the ability to appropriate it, but it would prohibit the agency from maintaining balances well in excess of what was anticipated in the dodd-frank legislation. with that, mr. speaker, i yield the remainder of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time on this amendment having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from georgia.

so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 3 printed in part b of house report 115-3. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. conaway: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the -- will designated the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 3, printed in part b of house report number 115-3, offered by mr. conaway of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 40, the gentleman from texas, mr. conaway, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. conway: thank you, mr. chairman. this is a pretty straightforward amendment. it proposes certain technical corrections within the bills. this would have normally been handled by the rules committee. without this need for a particular amendment. i said yesterday

language of 238 is exact language out of last year's bill -- june 15 bill except for things that we dropped. and limiting the appropriations to $250 million. in the spirit of total transparency, bringing this amendment forward so the full body can work its will on this technical correction that would normally been held -- been fixed by the rules committee. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas reserves. does the gentleman from minnesota claim time in opposition? mr. peterson: no, mr. chairman. i support the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offer by the gentleman from texas. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 4, printed in

art b of house report 115-3. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. conaway: i have an amendment at the desk. the clerk: amendment number 4, printed in part b of house report number 115-3, offered by mr. conaway of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution, the gentleman from texas, mr. conaway, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. conaway: the amendment offered today will clarify amendments made to the commodities exchange act by dodd-frank and require the cftc to actually determine the position limits will help reduce excessive speculation before they implement those new rules. this past fall my colleagues and i -- all ran for re-election promising to reduce government regulation and eliminate rules that needlessly burden the economy. as we consider the ongoing work, we should look no further than the position rule making to begin that task. position limits are a tool that have merit and purpose in

regulating commodities market. today designated contract markets core principal 5 requires every u.s. exchange to impose as is necessary and appropriate position limits or accountable levels on the contracts they offer. further, there are several agriculture contracts that have long established and well understood federally mandated position limits. my amendment would not change any of those existing limits. prior to dodd-frank the law was clear. if the commission wanted to impose position limits, it first had to make a determination that such limits would in fact diminish, eliminate, or prevent the burdens of excess speculation. post-dodd-frank the courts have ruled additions to the statute have rendered it ambiguous. we have disagreed how to read the statute. today my amendment fixes this by requiring the commission to determine the position limits will reduce the burdens of excessive speculation before they put them in place. the need for limits because limits are an unmistakable burden on market participants.

this proposal would cause market participants time and money to comply. it fundamentally changes the way hedgers can seek relief from those rules. agriculture producers and processors, power companies, and other commercial herges may have fewer bona fide hedges. what's more, they might get to a hedge exemption only to get a call from washington telling their hedge is invalid and must liquidate that position. the proposal also imposes new record keeping and reporting obligations on futures commissions merchants, exchanges, and market participants. less well understood but no less supported, what it would have on market liquidity t does not have anything to do with long-term price of commodities. the price of oil is driven by supply and demand. congress itself recognizes this characteristic that this characterized the burdens of excessive speck lakes as the sudden and unreasonable fluctuations or unwarranted changes in the price of commodity.

there is nothing sudden about a year's long run-up or decline in commodity prices. that said, i agree there is in fact a role for position limits to play in the management of our commodity markets. especially in managing the convergence of prices at the expiration of a contract. limits are a regulatory tool to promote orderly markets not a silver bull tote lower commodity prices for consumers. as a tool they need to be cal lated -- calibrated to the historical patterns of each commodity. my amendment is agnostic about the merits of position limits. but it is clear about the need for the government to justify its rules that restrict economic activity. as this congress sets about reducing regulatory burdens, it's important we start by requiring the cftc to make a determination about the need for further regulations before they act. i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from texas reserves. does the gentleman from minnesota claim the time in opposition? mr. peterson: mr. chairman, i claim the time. i am opposed. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes.

mr. peterson: i thank the gentleman. i'm going to yield our time to mr. courtney from connecticut who was one of the original folks that brought this forward and one of the original authors of this provision. we're going to let him carry the day on the opposition to this amendment. the chair: the gentleman from connecticut will control the time in opposition. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, to mr. peterson and mr. conaway who i did serve on the agriculture committee with a number years ago. i recall well some of the discussion and debate as chairman against letter appeared before the committee on article 7 of the dodd-frank act. although i didn't author that position, the former senator of that act is a constituent of mine. that's close enough to -- work that was done creating this section. again, let's be very clear about what this amendment does. it is not about clarifying anything. it's about stripping from the law article 7 of dodd-frank

which was a congressional mandate to establish position limits for speculative trading. again, this was not done in a vacuum. it was done because there has been an explosion of speculative trading that's taken place in commodities markets. we had testimony in the congress back in 2010 that it had grown on 22% to 67% speculation wall street. goldman sachs, we were dealing with close to $4 a gallon gas, had a report which said that 27% of that price was due to speculation. congress appropriately insfructed cftc to come back with d.n.a. instructed cftc to come back with a regulatory plan to limit speculative positions in a reasonable way. again, no one quarles with the fact that end users -- quarrels with the fact that end users, whether it's farms, ranchers, airlines should be able to exercise options and market

swaps. in those instances these are firms and businesses which actually take physical possession and control of the commodity. what goldman sacks and other analysts had demonstrated is what has been a burgeoning trend is that firms were beginning to take dominant position in markets who again were not even close or remotely involved in the actual production, processing, or use of the commodities that were in question. cftc has begun an arduous, painful process of trying to craft a rule. in fact, just a few weeks ago, on december 5, the cftc voted unanimously to, again, move that process along and come up with a draft of a balanced, reasonable rule. so the not a dead end situation -- so it's not a dead end situation. it's been reported, what they basically were looking at was a fundamental or a basic limit of

roughly about 25% of a commodity could not be controlled by one firm. the end users that i spoke to, as this rule has been making its way, actually think that the cftc is being too generous in terms of allowing an individual firm to control up to 25% of a market. i think a lot of americans would understand that that kind of position really would provide for an opportunity to manipulate market prices. in fact, there are some end users who think the rule should be very simple, that you have to take actual, physical possession of the commodity in order to be able to hedge a position or engage in a future option. again, the cftc did not go to that radical extreme. they tried to listen to the thousands of comments, chairmen, to try to fashion a rule that allowed a healthy market but did not allow situations which were occurring during high gas and oil price as. in connecticut, we had home

heating oil suppliers who were describing situations where their price of the heating oil, by the time the truck left the garage and came back, was going up 10, 15 cents, just during that short period of time, for no reason at all there. wasn't a refinery explosion or some incident that was happening overseas. it was the -- again, the movement in wall street of people who were profiting, not from use of the commodity, but in fact just for the movement on the price. that's really what cftc has been hard at work doing. this amendment will basically shut that down. it is not a clarification, it basically takes away what was congress' instruction to cftc and, again, i respectfully oppose this amendment. i think we should allow the commission, which is going to have a republican chairman -- chairman in a few weeks, to continue to work on this issue and provide protection for the true end use aers, the people who actually use the -- users, the people who actually use the

commodities, as well as users, those who get their home heating oil tank full, their gas tank full, whether it's farmers and ranchers who were dealing with things like feet costs, we -- feed costs, we should have a healthy system of making sure that individuals or firms cannot nant position in terms of controlling commodities -- dominant position in terms of controlling commodities. this is not an arcane issue for americans. this affects how much they pay for essential goods and commodities for them and their families. again, i would strongly urge the members to not accept this amendment and i urge a no vote. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. chairman. how much time doo i have? -- do i have? the chair: the gentleman from texas has 1 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. chairman. cftc prepared a draft report this past year, quoting from page 142 of that draft, says, master hypothesis, which my colleague, who i have great

respect for, said the mere presence of -- massive passives distorts the marketplace. that's what they said. the cftc found there's no reputable economic studies which fully endorse this view of how the commodities future markets work. i'd like to close with this comment. from another study by the chief economist. comment leders on -- letters on either side declaring the matter is settled in their favor is simply incorrect. the best economists on both sides of the debate concede there's legitimate debate afoot. this analysis paper documents that the academic debate amongst economists about the magnitude, prove lens and pervasiveness of the risk of outsized positions has reputable standard bearers for positions. i agree with that in full. all we're asking the cftc to do, mr. chairman, is to do the work to prove that the specific position on this they want to implement, should they believe one is needed, that they would have to go through regular order, their regular order, to make that happen. i encourage a yes vote on the amendment and i yield back the

balance of my time. the chair: all time on this amendment has expired. all those in favor of the amendment by the gentleman from texas will say aye. all those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the gentleman from connecticut. mr. courtney: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: the gentleman has requested a recorded vote. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 5 printed in part b of house report 115-3. for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin seek recognition? mr. duffy: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 5 printed in part b of house report 115-3 offered by mr. duffy of wisconsin. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 40, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. duffy, and a

member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. duffy: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the gentleman from texas for his support and insight in this amendment. i was a prosecutor in a former life. and we care a lot about due process. making sure that the government can't take something from a private individual just because they want to take it. as an american, i know that protecting intellectual property is a corner stone of our free enterprise system. that's why i'm concerned about the cftc's rule on automated trading, which makes the unprecedented step of requiring a wide array of market participants engaged in all trading to maintain a source code repository and make it available for inspection by the cftc or the department of justice without a subpoena. now, this is a highly sensitive

source code. this is intellectual property that helped the functionality of our marketplace. and to think that this kind of sensitive data can be taken by the federal government without a subpoena should shock our conscience. there are times when the government should get this information. but if they should have it, they should be able to use the subpoena and lay out the cause in the case for why they need to have it. that's not just my only concern. but, the cftc is potentially going to be taking this source code from all different market players and holding it in a warehouse or a repository. and so, we have a concern for hacking. it's been a big conversation as of late. but instead of a foreign entity hacking into individual companies, they just have to hack the cftc. and they get all the source code s. just think of the malicious things that can happen if you

have the source code of market players, how you can disrupt it, how you can take it down. it's absolutely frightening. so i think we should have great pause. take a little time to reflect on our constitution and continue to respect and support due process, which means if the government wants this information, they should have a subpoena a, lay out their case, and that's -- speen, lay out their case, -- subpoena, lay out their case, and that's the avenue of how they get it, not just because they want it. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. does the gentleman from minnesota claim time in opposition? mr. peterson: i do, mr. chairman. i'm opposed to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. peterson: mr. chairman, this amendment addresses a problem that cftc is already well on its way to resolving in its proposed rule on automated trading. it requires that the commission must vote to issue subpoenas to collect source code from high frequency trading firms, before the commission can examine it. you know, i support the protections for the source code

as intellectual property. i know that chairman -- commissioner, soon to be chairman, i think, giancarlo, has made this a priority. but this amendment, i think, is poorly drafted and, again, i don't want to harp on this too much, but it's something that could have been resolved had we had a committee process to do this bill. i want -- one of the questions i have, i don't quite understand why this language is in the bill regarding similar intellectual property. the people at the cftc, they don't know what this means, they don't know why you put that language in there and they think it's going to cause a lot of problems. so, we're trying to get at the source code. i have a problem with that. but why is this language in there? would the gentleman yield, would he be willing to explain to me why that was in there and what it means? mr. duffy: i appreciate the gentleman for yielding. again, as an american, when the government wants to take very

secure intellectual property and data, we do have this belief that they should be able to get a subpoena to access it. we don't have a disagreement that the cftc in circumstances -- we want them to get access to this information. but highly sensitive intellectual property, we think, similar data should -- mr. peterson: what is that intellectual property that the cftc might go after? i don't -- they don't know what it is. i don't know what it is. is there some reason -- mr. duffy: could i -- mr. peterson: the source code is what the issue is, right? mr. duffy: so, is the gentleman saying that if the government just wants highly sensitive intellectual property they should be able to go in and -- mr. peterson: no, it's a cftc, it's a very specific part of the government. mr. duffy: but it is the government. mr. peterson: right. well, i just -- i don't know what it means. they think it's problematic. i think it's either an example of why we would have been better off with regular order and i oppose the amendment and yield back.

the chair: the gentleman from minnesota yields back. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. duffy: i would -- i just want to clarify. in the proposed rule there is no requirement for a subpoena. that doesn't exist. they might have told you that they want to reform that rule. but that's not the way the proposed rule stand today. again, -- stands today. again, if our government wants information from the private sector, we all believe they should have a subpoena for it. number one. but again, on the concern of hacking, i wrote the chair of the cftc and asked for additional information about how they can preserve and protect this very sensitive information and in essence they said, we can protect it because we say we can protect it. that doesn't give me great confidence. i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman controls the only time remaining. dutch duff -- mr. duffy: i yield back as well. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from wisconsin. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 6 printed in part b of house report 115-3. the hat purpose does gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. chairman. it's a simple amendment, straightforward measure bringing clarity -- the chair: does the gentleman have an amendment at the desk? mr. lamalfa: i'm sorry, yes, do i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6 printed in part b of house report 115-3 offered by mr. lamalfa of california. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 40, the gentleman from california, mr. lamalfa, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california.

mr. lamalfa: thank you again, mr. chairman. my amendment is a simple, straightforward one. bringing clarity to the law, relief, again, to the end users. such as farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, that use swaps to hedge commercial risks sorked with their business -- associated with their business, including volatile markets and price fluctuations on a day to day basis. this critical financial tool allows them to do their jobs and provide products in an affordable and accessible manner, keeping consumer costs low. discussing dodd-frank, congress always intended that these end users should not have to clear swaps -- clear the swaps entered to hedge these commercial risks. and provide the end user exception to that end. the commodity exchange act defines a financial entity a person predominantly engaged in certain financial activities. the fed's rulemaking, when defining financial activities, repeat lid states the rule is for purposes of title -- repeatedly states the rule is for purposes of title 1,

therefore bringing it into title 7 is something they didn't have in mind when issuing their definitions of predominantly engaged financial entities. therefore, financial entities cannot rely on this end user exception. however, because of a catch-all in the definition of financial entities, end users that engage in successful hedging programs could be regarded as financial entities. thereby creating barriers and unnecessary restrictions to their business operations. this letly turns the concept of being -- completely turns the concept of being an end user in title 7 on its head. this ensures end users will not lose their ability to rely on the end user exception to the clearing requirement, due simply to the position performance of a transaction entered into solely to mitigate commercial risk. so, thank you and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? mr. peterson: mr. chairman, i'm not exactly sure why this is needed.

but i don't have any problem with the amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. and the amendment is agreed to. it's now in order to consider amendment number 7, printed in part b of house report 115-3. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? mr. lucas: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 7, printed in part b of house report number 115-3, offered by mr. lucas of oklahoma. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 40, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lucas, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lucas: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise today in sport of the lucas amount h.r. 238.