I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4457 
To require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to take certain 
actions to reduce excessive speculation in energy markets. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 19, 2012 
Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 
FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HONDA, Mr. JACKSON of Illi-
nois, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 
RANGEL, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VAN 
HOLLEN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. KISSELL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. YARMUTH, Mrs. 
DAVIS of California, Mr. MICHAUD, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to 
take certain actions to reduce excessive speculation in 
energy markets. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. ENERGY MARKETS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis-
sion was created as an independent agency, in 1974, 
with a mandate— 
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(A) to enforce and administer the Com-
modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); 
(B) to ensure market integrity; 
(C) to protect market users from fraud 
and abusive trading practices; and 
(D) to prevent and prosecute manipulation 
of the price of any commodity in interstate 
commerce; 
(2) Congress has given the Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission authority under the Commodity 
Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) to take necessary 
actions to address market emergencies; 
(3) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis-
sion may use the emergency authority of the Com-
mission with respect to any major market disturb-
ance that prevents the market from accurately re-
flecting the forces of supply and demand for a com-
modity; 
(4) Congress declared in section 4a of the Com-
modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 6a) that excessive 
speculation imposes an undue and unnecessary bur-
den on interstate commerce; 
(5) according to an article published in Forbes 
on February 27, 2012, excessive oil speculation 
‘‘translates out into a premium for gasoline at the 
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pump of $.56 a gallon’’ based on a recent report 
from Goldman Sachs; 
(6) on March 9, 2012— 
(A) the supply of crude oil and gasoline 
was higher than the supply was on March 6, 
2009, when the national average price for a gal-
lon of regular unleaded gasoline was just $1.94; 
and 
(B) demand for gasoline in the United 
States was lower than demand was on June 20, 
1997; 
(7) on March 12, 2012, the national average 
price of regular unleaded gasoline was over $3.82 a 
gallon, the highest price ever recorded in the United 
States during the month of March; 
(8) during the last quarter of 2011, according 
to the International Energy Agency— 
(A) the world oil supply rose by 1,300,000 
barrels per day while demand only increased by 
700,000 barrels per day; but 
(B) the price of Texas light sweet crude 
rose by over 12 percent; 
(9) on November 3, 2011, Gary Gensler, the 
Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Com-
mission testified before the Senate Permanent Sub-
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committee on Investigations that ‘‘80 to 87 percent 
of the [oil futures] market’’ is dominated by ‘‘finan-
cial participants, swap dealers, hedge funds, and 
other financials,’’ a figure that has more than dou-
bled over the past decade; 
(10) excessive oil and gasoline speculation is 
creating major market disturbances that prevent the 
market from accurately reflecting the forces of sup-
ply and demand; and 
(11) the Commodity Futures Trading Commis-
sion has a responsibility— 
(A) to ensure that the price discovery for 
oil and gasoline accurately reflects the fun-
damentals of supply and demand; and 
(B) to take immediate action to implement 
strong and meaningful position limits to regu-
lated exchange markets to eliminate excessive 
oil speculation. 
(b) ACTIONS.—Not later than 14 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission shall use the authority of the Commission (in-
cluding emergency powers)— 
(1) to curb immediately the role of excessive 
speculation in any contract market within the juris-
diction and control of the Commission, on or 
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through which energy futures or swaps are traded; 
and 
(2) to eliminate excessive speculation, price dis-
tortion, sudden or unreasonable fluctuations, or un-
warranted changes in prices, or other unlawful activ-
ity that is causing major market disturbances that 
prevent the market from accurately reflecting the 
forces of supply and demand for energy commod-
ities. 
Æ 
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