CFTC Advisory Committee Improvement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4770 To revise and improve the advisory committees of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 21, 2019 Mr. BAIRD (for himself and Mr. HARDER of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To revise and improve the advisory committees of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘CFTC Advisory Com- 4 mittee Improvement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHANGES. 6 Section 2(a)(15) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 7 U.S.C. 2(a)(15)) is amended to read as follows: 8 ‘‘(15) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.— 9 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4770.IH H4770 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4770 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 1 shall establish advisory committees to serve 2 as vehicles for discussion and communica- 3 tion on matters related to the regulatory 4 activities of the Commission. 5 ‘‘(ii) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission 6 shall appoint to an advisory committee 7 such members as the Commission finds ap- 8 propriate to promote robust discussion of 9 the subject matter before the advisory 10 committee. In appointing members to an 11 advisory committee, the Commission shall 12 seek to include a wide diversity of opinion 13 and represent a broad cross-section of in- 14 terests, as applicable to the subject matter. 15 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES.—The activities of an ad- 16 visory committee shall include the following: 17 ‘‘(i) To hold public meetings at such 18 intervals as necessary to carry out the 19 functions of the advisory committee. 20 ‘‘(ii) To submit to the Commission 21 such reports and recommendations to the 22 Commission (including minority views, if 23 any) as the advisory committee deems ap- 24 propriate; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4770.IH H4770 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4770 IH ‘‘(iii) To serve as a vehicle for discus- 1 sion and communication on matters of con- 2 cern to exchanges, firms, end-users, and 3 regulators regarding the derivatives mar- 4 kets and their regulation by the Commis- 5 sion. 6 ‘‘(C) REIMBURSEMENT.—The members of 7 each advisory committee shall be entitled to per 8 diem and travel expense reimbursement by the 9 Commission. 10 ‘‘(D) APPLICABILITY OF THE FEDERAL 11 ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—An advisory com- 12 mittee shall be subject to the Federal Advisory 13 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).’’. 14 SEC. 3. TRANSITION RULES. 15 Notwithstanding section 2(a)(15) of the Commodity 16 Exchange Act, the Commodity Futures Trading Commis- 17 sion may permit an advisory committee that, as of the 18 date of the enactment of this Act, had a charter estab- 19 lished by the Commission, or that was established under 20 such section as in effect before such date of enactment, 21 to continue to operate in accordance with the charter or 22 in accordance with such predecessor section, as the case 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4770.IH H4770 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4770 IH may be, until the charter is renewed or the sponsor of the 1 advisory committee is changed, whichever occurs earlier. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4770.IH H4770 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS