Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. LUCAS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2244, a bill to extend the
expiration date of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. Specifically, I
support H.R. 634, the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization
Act that is included as a part of this larger effort.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 634 provides critical regulatory relief to end
users, the market participants, businesses, and job creators that use
derivatives to manage the risks they face in their daily operations.
For example, farmers who need to hedge against the volatility of crop
prices and manufacturers who need to hedge against the rising input
costs of fuel use derivatives as a part of their business plans.

During the consideration of the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress clearly
intended to exempt end users from some of the most costly new
regulations, such as margin requirements. Margin requirements
needlessly divert working capital away from job-creating production and
investment; however, the CFTC has narrowly interpreted the law which
has negatively impacted end users and their bottom line.

Mr. Speaker, including the Business Risk Mitigation and Price
Stabilization Act in today's bill permanently fixes this issue for end users. It ensures that those businesses which have been exempted from clearing requirements of their trades are also exempted from margining their trades, just as Congress always intended.

The language in H.R. 634 has passed through the Committee on
Agriculture by a voice vote and then through the House four other
times. As a stand-alone bill, it passed with the support of 411
Members. Other times, as part of a larger package, it continued to
receive overwhelming bipartisan support. The House of Representatives
has spoken clearly on this issue: end users should not be required to
post margin on their transactions.

I thank the chairman for including the Business Risk Mitigation and
Price Stabilizations Act in today's bill. It is time to give our farms
and our businesses the relief they need from this costly and damaging
rule. I urge a vote for TRIA.

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Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see the inclusion of H.R.
634, the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stability Act, as Title III
of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act. This
language, which was also included in H.R. 4413, the Customer Protection
and End-User Relief Act, provides an important protection to end-users
from costly margining requirements that will divert need capital away
from job creation.

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