Senate Proceeding on May 19th, 2009 :: 3:14:20 to 3:19:50
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3:14:00 to 3:14:21( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: of imposing order on a marketplace whose collapse the current recession much deeper, more painful for average americans understan than it needed to be of the administration's commitment to bringing a dark market into light is very important. congress has received a commitment from the administration that they will bring the unregulated, over-the-counter derivative

3:14:20 to 3:19:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Maria Cantwell

3:14:22 to 3:14:44( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: market under full regulation for the very first time. and this means that they will importantly have over-the-counter derivative markets and regulatory reform in key areas. first, if congress and the administration push through, we will finally gain transparency in dark all derivative transactions and

3:14:45 to 3:15:05( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: dealers will be brought under prudent regulation and supervision. that means even those that are the customized derivatives, not just the o.t.c. market. so prudent regulation and supervision, including capital adequacy requirements, antifraud and antimanipulation authority, very clear transparency and

3:15:06 to 3:15:27( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: reporting requirements. and, second, there will be standardized trading of physical commodities and derivatives will be fully and finally required to be traded on fully regulated exchanges. and third, the administration has also committed position limits on regulated markets to prevent any market player from amassing large

3:15:28 to 3:15:49( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: positions that can harm market. and i have -- that can harm markets. and i have received assurances from the white house that the administration believes these position limits should be applied in aggregate across all markets. but, mr. president, i still remain concerned about mr. gensler's nomination to chair the commodities future trading commission. mr. gensler was at the

3:15:50 to 3:16:12( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: department of the treasury a decade ago and he helped push through aill that gave -- that was passed by congress that provided an ironclad protection against the regulation of the financial products, such as credit default swaps and derivatives, that are at the heart of this financial crisis.

3:16:13 to 3:16:34( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: the unfettered speculation that resulted helped bring about not just the energy crisis in my region but decade of other problems -- decades of other problems that we're going to be seeing in the future that contributed to the demise of a.i.g. and lehman brothers and bear stearns. mr. president, i believe we need new blood at the cftc and all regulatory agencies. we need people who are going to

3:16:35 to 3:16:55( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: help move us from a world of unregulated toxic assets to a world of transparency and aggressive oversight. for nearly three decade, the financial industry has had its way in washington, successfully pushing deregulation inhe name of innovation. and time-tested regulatory policies that were -- that protected investors and

3:16:56 to 3:17:17( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: consumers since the depression were systematically eroded. many factors led to the present economic meltdown but we know that chief among them was the policy that was advocated by mr. gensler of not fully regulating the derivatives market. a decade ago, at the end of the 106th congress, in the dark of night, congress passed a law known as the commodities future

3:17:18 to 3:17:38( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: modernization act. but instead of modernizing commodity trading, it actually took us back in when securities trading was subject to wild speculation. this law, which was backed by mr. gensler, that provided that ironclad protection against regulation and oversight of derivatives has caused many problems.

3:17:39 to 3:17:59( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: one courageous regulator at the time, then commodities future trading commissionwoman -- chairwoman brooks leborn, warned congress and the financial community that unregulated derivatives would economy to serious dangers. but some in washington blocked her efforts, including many on

3:18:00 to 3:18:21( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: wall street, and one high-ranking treasury official charged with pushing these deregulation bills through congress was gary gensler, a former ranking executive at goldman sachs. as under secretary of the treasury, mr. gensler testified before congress that he opposed regulating the derivatives market and mr. gensler, as we

3:18:22 to 3:18:45( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: know now, was wrong. so just as yesterday, brooks le born received recognition for her courage in standing up to the powerful special interests in proposing tough was presented with the proceed nile courage award by the john f. kennedy -- profile in courage award by the john f. kennedy f remarkably now, the senate is confirming mr. gensler to serve

3:18:46 to 3:19:06( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: as the chair of the cftc, the same agency brooks leborn chaired but the same agency that mr. gensler worked so hard to defang in his previous tenure as under secretary of treasury. that is why i'm opposing mr. gensler's confirmation to run the cftc at a critical, important tim when we need more financial regulation in these agencies.

3:19:07 to 3:19:27( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: inhe months ahead, i will be looking forward to working with the cftc and the president's rking group on financial markets and the department of treasury to actively engage congress on the reforms that needed to be passed into law. i will be looking to the cftc to do its job to prevent excessive speculation from stunning the nation's economic -- from

3:19:28 to 3:19:52( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: stunting the nation's economic recovery. and i will be looking to mr. gensler to earn the trust of congress and provide oversight over the commodities and derivatives markets. i thank the president, and i yield the floor. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington.