Etheridge Congressional Record Statement on Inspector General of Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6406, Mr. Larson's bill to make the Inspector General at the CFTC a Presidential appointment, and hence more of an independent office within the Commission.

Madam Speaker, as you know, the provisions of H.R. 6406 were originally part of the Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act introduced by the Ag chairman, Chairman Peterson, and myself after Representative Larson had brought it to us. The House has already supported those provisions with 276 votes when the CMTA was first considered on July 30 of this year. Unfortunately, because of jurisdictional issues, the provisions were not a part of the version of the CMTA Act that passed the House last week. I am pleased that we are able to take this vote today to promote an independent Inspector General for the CFTC as originally intended.

We passed the CMTA to bring some more sunshine to the commodities market and over-the-counter trading of energy and agricultural commodities. This greater transparency will help establish greater confidence in the markets. An independent Inspector General will contribute further to that goal.

I applaud the gentleman from Connecticut for his perseverance in moving the bill forward. The points he has raised regarding the need for this bill have merit. Currently, the Department of the Treasury is the only financial regulator with a Presidentially-appointed Inspector General. This bill will make the CFTC the second financial regulator with this kind of independent oversight.

Given the financial turmoil that we have seen in other financial markets, the arguments for a more independent Inspector General for the CFTC also apply to other financial regulators, like the Federal Reserve Board and the SEC. Congress may want to consider requiring similar provisions for other financial regulators.

This bill is a step in the right direction to bring confidence to financial markets. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

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