Chairman Mike Conaway said the House Agriculture Committee will clear a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reauthorization bill for House debate “as early in April as we can.” The starting point will be the bill that was approved, 265-144, by the House last summer, Conaway told reporters after an organizational meeting of the committee. Conaway was one of four co-sponsors of the bill, the Consumer Protection and End User Relief Act. He said he expected to invite CFTC chairman Timothy Massad to an oversight hearing early in the year and said he felt a “good rapport” with him.
The bill requires a cost-benefit analysis of proposed CFTC rules and relaxes regulation of so-called end users, such as utilities, manufacturers, airlines, and food processors who use futures contracts to assure price and supply of raw materials.
During the committee meeting, which lasted less than 15 minutes, Conaway said the panel would ensure the 2014 farm law “is implemented appropriately. We will also reauthorize CFTC while ensuring that other key end-user protections are signed into law. We will focus on aggressive oversight of all policies and programs under the committee’s jurisdiction, including a full-scale review of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.” Conaway said “I am not pre-judging the outcome” of the review of food stamps or other USDA programs.
In an unusual move, Conaway asked a fellow committee member, Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania Republican, to open the meeting with a prayer. The House and Senate open each session with public prayer. It is a rarity in committee action.