Walz Harsh on Wall Street Speculators at AG Committee Hearing

Press Release

Today, Congressman Tim Walz, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, grilled witnesses in a hearing held in response to growing concern that speculators and commodity traders are driving oil prices higher. At today's hearing, Congressman Walz had the opportunity to hear from experts who testified about the role that excessive speculation is playing in driving up global oil prices, and he sharply challenged the testimony of others who suggested that this speculation does not contribute to skyrocketing gas prices.

"Today, I heard from some experts in the field who testified about the role Wall Street speculators play in driving up oil prices," said Walz. "Gas prices are up and people are hurting - and hurting bad. That's why I asked tough questions of these witnesses. These speculators have some explaining to do."

Walz continued: "I'm not the only one who thinks that speculation is a problem. Just last December, the Secretary General of OPEC said: ‘The market is not controlled by supply and demand…It is totally controlled by speculators.' It will take bipartisan work from Democrats and Republicans to crack down on Wall Street speculators and bring down gas prices. I'm going to keep fighting to crack down on excessive speculation and price gougers until working people get some relief."

In his questioning, Congressman Walz also mentioned a letter sent today by executives of all the major U.S. airlines today to airline customers around the world. The letter states in part, "Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper."

Congressional oversight of commodity futures trading is under the jurisdiction of the House Agriculture Committee, chaired by Congressman Peterson. The Farm Bill, enacted into law earlier this month over the President's veto, reauthorizes the chief regulator of these markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, through 2013. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is the chief U.S. regulatory agency that oversees the actions of the futures and option markets. The CFTC was created in 1974 with the mandate to ensure market integrity, protect market users from fraud and abusive trading practices, and to prevent and prosecute price manipulation in the commodity markets.

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