07/10/08 Commodity speculation focus of House Ag Committee hearings

Farm and Ranch July 10, 2008 The U.S. House Agriculture Committee began three consecutive days of hearings Wednesday on legislative proposals to amend the Commodity Exchange Act to address the issue of excessive speculation in the commodity markets, particularly oil. Excessive speculation has been blamed by many to be at least part of the cause of high agricultural and energy commodity prices. Yesterday the Ag Committee heard from several fellow members of the House who have introduced bills to close regulatory loopholes. Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak's bill, the 2008 Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices, or PUMP Act was typical of what lawmakers are proposing. Stupak emphasized the need for a comprehensive remedy. Stupak: "I bring this balloon because it helps to explain, no matter what loophole you close here with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. You squeeze the Enron loophole they go to swaps. You squeeze swaps we go back to Enron. You do hedging or the bona fide exemption or the foreign boards of trade it squeezes. You have to do it all. Whatever you do to one side of the balloon it just rushes to the other. You have to get all of these in order to stop the excessive speculation we see in the energy market." House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson cautioned that any legislation must take care not to negatively impact agricultural hedgers. He said the plan is to have the full House vote on a bill before the August recess. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.