Airlines back speculation bill
The Air Transport Association of America issued a statement in support of S. 3268 - Stop Excessive Speculation Act, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).“Millions of U.S. voters have asked Congress to act immediately to limit rampant oil speculation, which has been significantly driving up fuel prices. Congress listened. Sen. Reid and others introduced S. 3268 - Stop Excessive Speculation Act, a bill that accomplishes our most important goal of putting reasonable limits on excessive speculation,” said ATA President and CEO James C. May. “We are pleased that Sen. Reid and other sponsors have taken this matter so seriously. This bill is good for Americans and the U.S. economy and it is a good first step toward ensuring that formerly “dark” over-the-counter markets will now be required to do business in the sunshine and ensure that no one entity unduly controls the market.”
May added that this bill creates a much needed distinction between legitimate hedgers and those who are in the market for purely speculative purposes. “This ensures that traders with no relationship to the physical product no longer can take advantage of existing loopholes,” said May. “The bill would close the ‘Foreign Board of Trade’ or ‘London’ loopholes by requiring transparency and limits similar to those required for trading on U.S. exchanges.”
Other sponsors of the bill are Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard Durbin (D-IL), Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray (D-WA) and Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND).
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