Small Business Credit Availability Act

Floor Speech

Ms. MCCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3336. This misguided bill would remove crucial oversight of the trillion dollar derivatives market and strip away key reforms contained in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform law.

Although the stated intent of H.R. 3336 is to increase credit availability to small businesses, it would do nothing more than provide a loophole for participants in the derivatives market to escape oversight and evade accountability. For the past two years, the CFTC and other government regulators of Wall Street have accepted public comments and participated in public hearings in an effort to implement sensible regulations that do not constrain credit lending to small businesses. Furthermore, the Dodd-Frank law already contains protections for small financial institutions, commercial businesses, and investors that use derivatives for legitimate hedging of risk.

H.R. 3336 would exempt large financial institutions with up to $200 billion in credit derivatives exposure from CFTC oversight. In addition, the bill could also exempt major oil companies such as Shell Oil and Koch Trading from oversight for their swaps dealing activities in the energy market, allowing for more financial speculation that drives up the price of gasoline. Given the crucial role of derivatives in the 2008 financial crisis, eliminating these important CFTC protections would jeopardize investor confidence and threaten the stability of our financial sector.

I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 3336.

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