Press Releases

Farr Opening Statement at Full Committee Markup of the Agriculture Appropriations bill, FY2013

"Dodd-Frank expanded CFTC’s oversight 8-fold from the $37 trillion futures market to the over-the-counter swaps market -- a domestic market of over $300 trillion in notional value. So just when the CFTC needs to scale up, they’re being slapped with deep cuts that strangle their ability to safeguard against another financial collapse."
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Farr at Press Conference on GOP Proposal to Cut CFTC by 41%

"The 41% cut from the President's $308 million budget request for the CFTC is unconscionable. It's designed to cripple the CFTC."
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Farr Opening Statement at Subcommittee Markup for Agriculture Appropriations bill, FY13

"The $25 million cut to the CFTC will have drastic effects on the American economy and will harm the American taxpayer. 4 years ago, our financial system failed. Over 8 million jobs evaporated. Millions lost their homes. Unregulated swaps played a critical role in the 2008 financial meltdown – for instance, the near-failure of AIG was triggered by its substantial swap business. Dodd-Frank got to the root of the problem by charging the CFTC with swap market oversight."

Farr Statement on House Republican Subcommittee Allocations

"Let us stop and think about what this says about our government."
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Farr Opening Statement at Hearing on FY13 Budget for the Commodity Future Trading Commission

"The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is on the front lines of bringing trust back into the market. Every day it is working to assure that the futures and swaps market operates with integrity, and away from the darkness which it operated in for years. With the hundreds of trillions of dollars that make up the swaps market, I strongly believe that this is not an area we want to leave to chance. This is an area that needs to be watched. Recent history has taught us that. That means that we need to fund the CFTC at a level that allows this agency to do its critical work."