II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3205 

To direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to utilize all its 

authority, including its emergency powers, to curb immediately the role 

of excessive speculation in any contract market within the jurisdiction 

and control of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, on or 

through which energy futures or swaps are traded, and to eliminate 

excessive speculation, price distortion, sudden or unreasonable fluctuations or unwarranted changes in prices, or other unlawful activity that 

is causing major market disturbances that prevent the market from 

accurately reflecting the forces of supply and demand for energy commodities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2008 

Ms. CANTWELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to 

utilize all its authority, including its emergency powers, 

to curb immediately the role of excessive speculation 

in any contract market within the jurisdiction and control of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, on 

or through which energy futures or swaps are traded, 

and to eliminate excessive speculation, price distortion, 

sudden or unreasonable fluctuations or unwarranted 

changes in prices, or other unlawful activity that is causing major market disturbances that prevent the market 


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from accurately reflecting the forces of supply and demand for energy commodities. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Markets Emer5 gency Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENERGY MARKETS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) The Commodity Futures Trading Commis9 sion was created as an independent agency, in 1974, 

10 with the mandate to enforce and administer the 

11 Commodity Exchange Act, to ensure market integ12 rity, to protect market users from fraud and abusive 

13 trading practices, and to prevent and prosecute ma14 nipulation of the price of any commodity in inter15 state commerce. 

16 (2) Congress has given the Commodity Futures 

17 Trading Commission authority under the Commodity 

18 Exchange Act to take necessary actions to address 

19 market emergencies. 

20 (3) The Commodity Futures Trading Commis21 sion may use its emergency authority with respect to 

22 any major market disturbance which prevents the 

23 market from accurately reflecting the forces of sup24 ply and demand for a commodity. 


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1 (4) Congress has declared, in section 4a of the 

2 Commodity Exchange Act, that excessive speculation 

3 imposes an undue and unnecessary burden on inter4 state commerce. 

5 (5) On June 6, 2008, the price of crude oil 

6 traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit an 

7 all-time record of $139.12 per barrel. 

8 (6) The average price of a barrel of crude oil 

9 in 2007 was $72, and the average price of a barrel 

10 of crude oil to date in 2008 is $109. 

11 (7) Heating oil futures contracts have risen in 

12 price from $2.97 to $3.81 during the March through 

13 May contract months. 

14 (8) United States airlines are forecast to spend 

15 $61,200,000,000 on jet fuel in 2008, which is 

16 $20,000,000,000 more than they spent for jet fuel 

17 in 2007. 

18 (9) According to the American Automobile As19 sociation— 

20 (A) families and businesses are paying an 

21 average of $4.07 per gallon for regular gasoline, 

22 which is near the all-time high and is more 

23 than double the price in 2001; and 

24 (B) truckers and farmers are paying an 

25 average of $4.77 per gallon for diesel fuel, 


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1 which is near the all-time high and triple the 

2 price in 2001. 

3 (10) During this decade, energy demand has 

4 been steadily on the rise in nations such as China 

5 and other Asian exporting nations. 

6 (11) In a May 2008 report, the International 

7 Monetary Fund raised the possibility that specula8 tion has played a significant role in the run-up of oil 

9 prices, and stated ‘‘It is hard to explain current oil 

10 prices in terms of fundamentals alone. The recent 

11 surge in the oil price seems to go well beyond what 

12 would be indicated by the growth of the world econ13 omy.’’. 

14 (b) DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS.—The Commodity 

15 Futures Trading Commission shall utilize all its authority, 

16 including its emergency powers, to— 

17 (1) curb immediately the role of excessive spec18 ulation in any contract market within the jurisdic19 tion and control of the Commodity Futures Trading 

20 Commission, on or through which energy futures or 

21 swaps are traded; and 

22 (2) eliminate excessive speculation, price distor23 tion, sudden or unreasonable fluctuations or unwar24 ranted changes in prices, or other unlawful activity 

25 that is causing major market disturbances that preVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:42 Jun 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3205.IS S3205

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1 vent the market from accurately reflecting the forces 

2 of supply and demand for energy commodities. 

Æ 


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