The Air Transport Association has expressed disappointment with congressional failure to act on oil price speculation, and has renewed its commitment to push for legislation.ATA issued the following statement in response to the House of Representatives’ failure to pass the Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act (HR 6604):

“We are disappointed that the House of Representatives was unable to take even this modest first step toward curbing the excessive speculation that has contributed to the massive run-up in oil prices,” said ATA President and CEO James C. May. “Unfortunately, this signals to the speculator community that more profits can still be leveraged at the expense of the American consumer. Just today, we are seeing another example of a self-serving ‘expert prediction’ of $150 per barrel oil, followed by a substantial price spike,” May said.

 

“While we are disappointed with today’s vote, we will continue to urge strong, bipartisan action by Congress on both speculation and energy development. This is too vital an issue to the entire economy for anyone to accept inaction,” May said.

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