,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ghe  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,february #ae1 #bjac 
,mr4 ,markey 7for himself1 ,ms4         
,de,lauro1 ,ms4 ,bordallo1 ,ms4 ,brown  
of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,capuano1 ,ms4        
,edwards1 ,mr4 ,grijalva1 ,mr4 ,holt1   
,ms4 ,lee of ,california1 ,mr4 ,michaud1
 ,mr4 ,moran1 ,mr4 ,pascrell1 ,ms4      
,schakowsky1 ,mr4 ,scott of ,virginia1  
,ms4 ,slaughter1 ,ms4 ,speier1 ,mr4     
,tierney1 and ,mr4 ,watt7 introduced the
 following bill2 which was referred to  
the ,committee on ,agriculture  ,a      
,,bill  ,to prevent excessive           
speculation in energy commodities1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,halt    
,index ,trading of ,energy ,commodities 
7,,hitec7 ,act4  #b4 ,findings ,the     
,congress finds the following3  7#a7    
,investment in our commodities markets  
has grown dramatically in recent years4 
,while the volume of futures contracts  
traded in the ,united ,states was only  

#fcj1jjj1jjj in #aiih1 that volume      
ballooned to over #c1bjj1jjj1jjj in     
#bjjg4  7#b7 ,according to testimony    
provided to the ,committee on ,natural  
,resources of the ,house of             
,representatives1 this growth in volume 
has been accompanied by a huge increase 
in the percentage of commodity futures  
contracts owned by speculators4 ,while  
physical hedgers used to account for #gj
 percent of futures contracts and       
speculators accounted for just #cj      
percent1 those numbers have reversed1   
and speculators now possess #gj percent 
of all open commodity futures contracts4
  7#c7 ,almost all of this increase in  
speculation has been caused by a surge  
in trading of commodity index funds4    
7#d7 ,commodity index trading is        
investing in funds or other financial   
products which are indexed to changes in
 value of various commodities traded on 
commodity markets in the ,united        
,states4 ,these funds can be tied to a  
basket of different commodities or just 

to a single commodity4  7#e7 ,investment
 in funds tied to these indexes has     
grown enormously in the last #b decades4
 ,according to the ,commodity ,futures  
,trading ,commission1 a partial tally of
 net long positions in ,united ,states  
markets in these indexes reached to over
 #afj1jjj1jjj1jjj in ,february #bjab1   
and net long positions in ,west ,texas  
,intermediate ,crude ,oil reached to    
over #ci1jjj1jjj1jjj4 ,many of the      
investors in these funds are            
institutional clients1 such as pension  
funds and universities4  7#f7 ,the vast 
majority of investors in commodity index
 funds do not use the commodities       
involved4 ,these investors are only     
interested in profiting from a rise in  
value of the commodities and must sell  
their interests in the commodities      
before the futures contracts they own   
close4 ,this practice1 known as rolling1
 causes hundreds of billions of dollars 
of additional trading to flow through   
our commodities markets each month1     

artificially increasing the volatility  
of our markets and driving up prices for
 many of our commodities1 including     
crude oil4  7#g7 ,because our           
commodities markets are tied to the     
actual retail prices of our commodities1
 the artificial and excessive levels of 
speculation have significantly increased
 the retail prices our citizens pay for 
their commodities4 ,in the case of oil1 
excessive speculation may have added    
nearly #a4jj to the per gallon price of 
gasoline4  7#h7 ,as sharp increases in  
energy costs reduce economic growth1    
these commodity index funds are creating
 a weight on the overall economy1       
threatening to delay our ,nation's full 
recovery from the #bjjh financial crisis
 and recession4  7#i7 ,thus1 commodity  
index funds hurt economic growth and    
consumer's wallets4  7#aj7 ,in the      
,dodd-,frank ,wall ,street ,reform ,act1
 ,congress ordered the ,commodity       
,futures ,trading ,commission to limit  
the number of positions that a person or

 a class of persons may hold in the     
commodities markets4 ,congress has taken
 initial steps to set boundaries on     
commodity trading1 but more must be done
 to address the role of commodity index 
funds in the energy commodity markets4  
7#aa7 ,because oil prices have been at  
elevated levels for much of the last    
year1 ,congress believes the situation  
is an emergency and warrants immediate  
action to ban commodity index trading in
 energy commodities4  #c4 ,prevention of
 excessive speculation in energy        
commodities ,section #d;c of the        
,commodity ,exchange ,act 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 
#f;c7 is amended by adding at the end   
the following3  7h7 7#a7 7,a7 ,it shall 
be unlawful for a commodity index fund  
to engage in a transaction involving an 
energy commodity if any person investing
 in the fund is an excluded investor4   
7,b7 ,it shall be unlawful for an energy
 commodity index fund to accept an      
investment from a person who is an      
excluded investor4  7,c7 ,beginning #b  

years after the date of the enactment of
 this subsection1 it shall be unlawful  
for a commodity index fund to hold an   
investment in an energy commodity if any
 person investing in the fund is an     
excluded investor4  7#b7 ,in this       
subsection3  7,a7 ,the term commodity   
index fund means a fund that consists   
principally of swaps involving1 or      
contracts of sale for future delivery   
of1 more than #a commodity1 the value or
 level of which is based1 in whole or in
 part1 on the value or level of more    
than #a commodity1 and that transfers1  
as between the parties to the           
transaction1 in whole or in part1 the   
financial risk associated with a future 
change in any such value or level4  7,b7
 ,the term energy commodity index fund  
means a commodity index fund that       
consists principally of swaps involving1
 or contracts of sale for future        
delivery of1 more than #a energy        
commodity4  7,c7 ,the term energy       
commodity means crude oil1 natural gas1 

or any other product 7other than an     
agricultural commodity7 that is produced
 or refined1 in whole or in part1 from  
crude oil or natural gas and that may be
 used as fuel for a power source of any 
kind1 but does not include electricity4 
7,d7 ,the term excluded investor means a
 person with respect to whom there is no
 position in at least #a energy         
commodity which1 if held by the person1 
would be considered a bona fide hedging 
position 7within the meaning of section 
#d;a7c77#a774  7,e7 ,the term swap shall
 have the meaning the term would have if
 the provisions of title ,,vii of the   
,dodd-,frank ,wall ,street ,reform and  
,consumer ,protection ,act defining1 and
 authorizing further definition of1 the 
term were in effect4  4