Boswell For Congress

Washington, DC – Congressman Leonard Boswell has been selected to serve on the joint conference committee to craft a final version of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that would end taxpayer-funded bailouts, protect families’ investments and small businesses’ financial futures, end predatory lending practices and “too big to fail firms,” and inject transparency and accountability into the financial system by regulating the derivatives market.

“After bailing out the Wall Street executives and big banks that gambled with the livelihoods and futures of Main Street, Congress pledged that the rules of the game on Wall Street would change and that Washington would be steadfast in enforcing new regulations,” Boswell said. “My position on this conference committee will allow me to use the experience and knowledge that I have gained through my chairmanship to ensure that American consumers are protected in the marketplace; greedy executives are held accountable; and regulations prevent the irresponsible behavior that brought our economy to its knees. These large financial institutions have already proven that they cannot and will not regulate themselves.”

Boswell was selected to serve on the conference committee due to his leadership as Chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management which oversees the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The conference committee’s first meeting was today and Boswell delivered an opening statement. His statement that was submitted for the record is below.

I would like to commend the Chairmen, Frank and Peterson, and Ranking Members, Bachus and Lucas, for their hard work and dedication to craft a bill in the House which will bring greater transparency and accountability to the market place.  And I look forward to working with our colleagues in the Senate.

Our job in Congress and in this Conference is to provide transparency and oversight to Wall Street and the over-the-counter derivatives markets, and to ensure that we provide necessary oversight of these markets without hindering legitimate consumers from operating within them.  To the extent fraudulent activity is taking place and hard-working Americans are getting taken to the cleaners, we need to ensure that federal regulators have the tools necessary to protect consumers.

After bailing out the Wall Street executives and big banks that gambled with the livelihoods and futures of Main Street, Congress pledged that the rules of the game on Wall Street would change and that Washington would be steadfast in enforcing new regulations.  We must ensure that American consumers are protected in the marketplace; greedy executives are held accountable; and regulations prevent the irresponsible behavior that brought our economy to its knees in 2008. These large financial institutions have already proven that they cannot and will not regulate themselves.

We must send a strong message to Wall Street that business as usual will no longer tolerated and we are committed to protecting the American taxpayer.  I look forward to working with everyone on this Conference Committee and bringing the experience and knowledge that I have gained as Chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management to the discussion. My personal history in agriculture provides me with a unique perspective as I have depended on the markets as a farmer to manage risk and my operations effectively. I will place myself in the shoes of a market “end user” as we work through negotiations on this bill to ensure that final legislation brings greater oversight and transparency to the over-the-counter derivatives market while balancing the interests of our nation’s farmers and business owners who legitimately utilize these markets to hedge operations costs and lock-in commodity prices for responsible business planning.