Schakowsky Votes for Energy Bill to Crackdown on Excessive Oil Speculation
September 18, 2008
| For Immediate Release: September 18, 2008 | Contact: Peter Karafotas (202) 226-6898 |
SCHAKOWSKY VOTES FOR ENERGY BILL TO CRACKDOWN ON EXCESSIVE OIL SPECULATION | ||
| Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, joined a bipartisan majority today in voting for H.R. 6604, the Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act. H.R. 6604, which passed the House by a vote of 283 to 133, would help lower gas prices by tightening restrictions on excessive speculation and improving transparency in the futures markets. "In the same manner that deregulation has caused turmoil on Wall Street, the Bush Administration's decision to deregulate oil and gas speculation has passed high energy costs directly to American consumers... said U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). "The unprecedented increase in gas prices we have seen this summer is proof that we need more transparency and greater oversight to prevent market manipulation and fraud. Our bill will protect consumers and lower the price of gas by cracking down on unscrupulous speculators and giving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the tools it needs to enforce the law.... The Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act would close the "London Loophole... by placing offshore markets that trade in the U.S. under the same rules as U.S. exchanges. H.R. 6604 would increase the number of the CFTC employees to prevent manipulation and to prosecute fraud. The bill would also put limits on the size of the stake that each speculative investor can hold in a given market and unchecked over-the-counter trading market. |