I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6334 
To provide energy price relief by authorizing greater resources and authority 
for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 20, 2008 
Mr. ETHERIDGE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To provide energy price relief by authorizing greater re-
sources and authority for the Commodity Futures Trad-
ing Commission, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Increasing Trans-
parency and Accountability in Oil Prices Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE HOUSE ON ADDITIONAL EMER-
GENCY FUNDING FOR COMMISSION. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House of Representatives finds 
that— 
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(1) excessive speculation may be adding signifi-
cantly to the price of oil and other energy commod-
ities; 
(2) the public and Congress are concerned that 
overseas exchange transactions are not being ade-
quately reviewed by any regulatory body; 
(3) an important Federal overseer of commodity 
speculation, the Commodity Futures Trading Com-
mission, has staffing levels that have dropped to the 
lowest levels in the 33-year history of the Commis-
sion; and 
(4) the acting Chairman of the Commission has 
said publicly that an additional 100 employees are 
needed in light of the inflow of trading volume. 
(b) SENSE OF THE HOUSE.—It is the sense of the 
House of Representatives that the President should imme-
diately send to Congress a request for emergency appro-
priations for fiscal year 2008 for the Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission in an amount that is sufficient— 
(1) to help restore public confidence in energy 
commodities markets and Federal oversight of those 
markets; 
(2) to potentially impose limits on excessive 
speculation that may be increasing the price of oil, 
gasoline, diesel, and other energy commodities; 
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(3) to significantly improve the information 
technology capabilities of the Commission to help the 
Commission effectively regulate the energy futures 
markets; and 
(4) to fund at least 100 new full-time positions 
at the Commission to oversee energy commodity 
market speculation and to enforce the Commodity 
Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL COMMISSION EMPLOYEES FOR IM-
PROVED ENFORCEMENT. 
Section 2(a)(7) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 
U.S.C. 2(a)(7)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES.—As soon 
as practicable after the date of enactment of 
this subparagraph, the Commission shall ap-
point at least 100 full-time employees (in addi-
tion to the employees employed by the Commis-
sion as of the date of enactment of this sub-
paragraph)— 
‘‘(i) to increase the public trans-
parency of operations in energy futures 
markets; 
‘‘(ii) to improve the enforcement of 
this Act in those markets; and 
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‘‘(iii) to carry out such other duties as 
are prescribed by the Commission.’’. 
SEC. 4. SPECULATIVE LIMITS AND TRANSPARENCY FOR 
OFF-SHORE OIL TRADING. 
Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
6) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) FOREIGN BOARDS OF TRADE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any foreign 
board of trade for which the Commission has grant-
ed or is considering an application to grant a board 
of trade located outside of the United States relief 
from the requirement of subsection (a) to become a 
designated contract market, derivatives transaction 
execution facility, or other registered entity, with re-
spect to an energy commodity that is physically de-
livered in the United States, prior to continuing to 
or initially granting the relief, the Commission shall 
determine that the foreign board of trade— 
‘‘(A) applies comparable principles or re-
quirements regarding the daily publication of 
trading information and position limits or ac-
countability levels for speculators as apply to a 
designated contract market, derivatives trans-
action execution facility, or other registered en-
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tity trading energy commodities physically deliv-
ered in the United States; and 
‘‘(B) provides such information to the 
Commission regarding the extent of speculative 
and nonspeculative trading in the energy com-
modity that is comparable to the information 
the Commission determines necessary to publish 
a Commitment of Traders report for a des-
ignated contract market, derivatives transaction 
execution facility, or other registered entity 
trading energy commodities physically delivered 
in the United States. 
‘‘(2) EXISTING FOREIGN BOARDS OF TRADE.— 
During the period beginning 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this subsection and ending 18 months 
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
Commission shall determine whether to continue to 
grant relief in accordance with paragraph (1) to any 
foreign board of trade for which the Commission 
granted relief prior to the date of enactment of this 
subsection.’’. 
SEC. 5. DISAGGREGATION OF INDEX FUNDS AND OTHER 
DATA IN ENERGY MARKETS. 
Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
6) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(h) DISAGGREGATION OF INDEX FUNDS AND DATA 
IN
ENERGY
MARKETS.—The 
Commission 
shall 
disaggregate and make public monthly— 
‘‘(1) the number of positions and total value of 
index funds and other passive, long-only positions in 
energy markets; and 
‘‘(2) data on speculative positions relative to 
bona fide physical hedgers in those markets.’’. 
Æ 
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