A bill to provide for the availability of amounts for customer education initiatives and non-awards expenses of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 409. I want to second what my colleague, the gentleman from California, has said about the importance of the CFTC Whistleblower Office and the Office of Customer Education and Outreach, and, of course, the employees who work in those offices.

These offices help the Commission meet its mission to promote integrity, resilience, and vibrancy of the U.S. derivatives markets. I am proud to support today's legislation to avoid unnecessary disruptions to these activities and needless staff furloughs.

The work in these offices, particularly the Whistleblower Office, helps to root out violations of the law which harm individuals and undermine derivatives markets. Fraud and market manipulation can steal customer funds, distort prices, disrupt orderly trading and settlement, and sap confidence in the fairness of our markets. Whistleblowers are a critical source of information which helps the Commission protect the integrity of our commodity markets.

I also want to emphasize that today's legislation does not spend any new money or create any new programs. Rather, it sets aside existing funds to meet existing obligations. S. 409 ensures that funds to support the functioning of the whistleblower and customer education offices are temporarily prioritized over the funds to pay whistleblower awards in order to keep the offices fully functional. In the end, both obligations will be fully met as Congress intended.

As the ranking member of the Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit Subcommittee, I feel a particular responsibility to make sure that the CFTC has the best tools at its disposal to meet its mission.

As we move forward in the coming months, I am looking forward to digging deeper into the work of the Commission and coming together to craft a responsible CFTC reauthorization bill which makes permanent improvements to the Whistleblower Office funding mechanism and meets the needs of the 21st century financial regulator.

I want to take a moment to thank Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Thompson for their willingness to involve the whole committee in this legislative effort. As a new member of the committee, I appreciated the opportunity to act as a body in support of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say simply that I am proud to support this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 409) to provide for the availability of amounts for customer education initiatives and non-awards expenses of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 409.

S. 409 provides a bipartisan, short-term legislative solution to address a funding shortage in CFTC's Customer Protection Fund. The Consumer Protection Fund is used to pay whistleblower awards that fund the salaries and expenses of the Whistleblower Office and the Office of Customer Education and Outreach.

Without this critical funding, CFTC would have to suspend some operations and furlough employees in the Whistleblower Office and the Office of Customer Education and Outreach.

This short-term solution is by no means a replacement for the much- needed comprehensive CFTC reauthorization. It will still, though, be a positive step to ensure that the CFTC can accomplish the important mission to promote the integrity, resilience, and vibrancy of the U.S. derivatives markets.

The Committee on Agriculture passed a committee print equivalent of this measure unanimously by voice vote last Wednesday.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be discharged from further consideration of S. 409 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the Stabenow-Boozman amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; that

the amendment to the title be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 11 of House Resolution 486, I move to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 482, H.R. 704, H.R. 961,

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.