Senate committee on agriculture

U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., made the following statement after efforts to weaken the Lincoln-authored derivatives title in the Dodd-Lincoln Wall Street reform bill failed. The Chambliss substitute amendment was defeated, garnering only 39 votes. Republican Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, voted in support of the Lincoln language.

U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee today gave a speech on the Senate floor discussing the derivatives title in the Dodd-Lincoln Wall Street reform bill.

Below are Lincoln’s remarks on the Senate floor as prepared for delivery.

Bipartisan Bill Passage will Pave Way to Ending Backroom Wall Street Deals
Lincoln Bill will Bring Transparency, Accountability to Wall Street

Lincoln Bill will Bring Total Transparency, Accountability to Wall Street

U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today introduced the “The Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act” to bring 100 percent transparency to the nation’s financial markets, prevent future bailouts and protect jobs on Main Street.

Chairman Dodd, Senator Shelby, and members of the Committee, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I would also like to express my gratitude to President Obama for nominating me to a second term as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and for his support for a strong and independent Federal Reserve. Finally, I thank my colleagues throughout the Federal Reserve System for the remarkable resourcefulness, dedication, and stamina they have demonstrated over the past two years under extremely trying conditions.

Reval, a global derivative risk management and hedge accounting solutions provider to over 375 publicly traded companies, delivered today what may be the final testimony heard on Capitol Hill this year on the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market. In his testimony before the U.S.

U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today reaffirmed that the Committee will produce a bipartisan over-the-counter derivatives bill that will provide greater oversight and transparency to the nation’s financial markets. Lincoln’s comments came before the Committee’s second hearing on financial market regulation reform in the span of two weeks. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner testified on behalf of the Administration.

Chairman Lincoln, Ranking Member Chambliss, members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today about a critical component of our financial reform package – a comprehensive framework for regulating over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.

Let me begin by discussing the larger context within which this component fits – a broad and thorough reform of our financial system designed to protect Americans from the consequences of a preventable economic collapse.

As prepared for delivery.
 

Good morning Chairman Lincoln, Ranking Member Chambliss and members of the Committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify today regarding the regulation of over- the-counter derivatives. I also will provide this Committee with an update on our joint efforts with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to tailor our regulations in the best interest of the American public. I am pleased to testify on behalf of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).