Congressional Testimony

Hearing on Regulating the Regulators - Reducing Burdens on Small Business

Rena I. Steinzor — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:29:50 PDT

Hearing on The American Energy Initiative Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act of 2011

Rena I. Steinzor — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:44:19 PDT

EPA's IRIS Program: Evaluating the Science and Process behind Chemical Risk Assessment

Rena I. Steinzor — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:21:52 PDT

Taiwan Communiqué and Separation of Powers

Hungdah Chiu — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:41:46 PDT

Hearings Before the United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Separation of Powers. 97^th Congress, 2^nd Session (September, 1982).

Normalization of Relations with the People’s Republic of China: Practical Implications

Hungdah Chiu — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:41:45 PDT

Hearings Before the United States House of Representatives, Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs. 95^th Congress, 1^st Session (September/October, 1977).

Implementing Dodd-Frank: A Review of the CFTC‟s Rulemaking Process: Testimony

Michael Greenberger — Tue, 03 May 2011 10:56:04 PDT

The Relationship of Unregulated OTC Derivatives to the Meltdown. It is now accepted wisdom that it was the non-transparent, poorly capitalized, and almost wholly unregulated over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives market that lit the fuse that exploded the highly vulnerable worldwide economy in the fall of 2008. Because tens of trillions of dollars of these financial products were pegged to the economic performance of an overheated and highly inflated housing market, the sudden collapse of that market triggered under-capitalized or non-capitalized OTC derivative guarantees of the subprime housing investments. Moreover, the many undercapitalized insurers of that collapsing market had other multi-trillion dollar OTC derivatives obligations with thousands of financial counterparties (through unregulated interest rate, currency, foreign exchange, and energy derivatives). If a financial institution failed because it could not pay off some of these obligations, trillions of dollars of interconnected transactions would have also failed, causing a cascade of collapsing banks throughout the world. It was this potential of systemic failure that required the United States taxpayer to plug the huge capital hole that a daisy chain of nonpayments by the world’s largest financial institutions would have caused, thereby heading off the cratering of the world’s economy…

Implementation of Title VII of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Hearing before the United States Senate, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry - 112th Cong., 1st Sess.

Michael Greenberger — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:53:52 PST

The Relationship of Unregulated OTC Derivatives to the Meltdown. It is now accepted wisdom that it was the non-transparent, poorly capitalized, and almost wholly unregulated over-the-counter (―OTC‖) derivatives market that lit the fuse that exploded the highly vulnerable worldwide economy in the fall of 2008. Because tens of trillions of dollars of these financial products were pegged to the economic performance of an overheated and highly inflated housing market, the sudden collapse of that market triggered under-capitalized or non-capitalized OTC derivative guarantees of the subprime housing investments. Moreover, the many undercapitalized insurers of that collapsing market had other multi-trillion dollar OTC derivatives obligations with thousands of financial counterparties (through unregulated interest rate, currency, foreign exchange, and energy derivatives). If a financial institution failed because it could not pay off some of these obligations, trillions of dollars of interconnected transactions would have also failed, causing a cascade of collapsing banks throughout the world. It was this potential of systemic failure that required the United States taxpayer to plug the huge capital hole that a daisy chain of nonpayments by the world‘s largest financial institutions would have caused, thereby heading off the cratering of the world‘s economy. …. As will be shown below, Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, thanks to the major contribution of this Committee, would make it very difficult to repeat the kind of undercapitalized, non-transparent, and economy-busting ―betting‖ mentioned above. [Introduction].

Testimony of Rena Steinzor…before the U.S. House of Representatives, Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Environment and Economics. 112th Congress, 1st Session (2011).

Rena I. Steinzor — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:48:25 PST

Environmental regulations have saved millions of lives, preventing chronic respiratory illness and heart attacks in cities across the country. These rules protect children from irreversible neurological damage, save billions of dollars in cleanup costs, and preserve water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams. If anything, our regulatory system is dangerously weak, and Congress should focus on reviving it rather than eroding public protections….

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture - “Potential Excessive Speculation in Commodity Markets: The Impact of Proposed Legislation"

Michael Greenberger — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:14:18 PST

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture. 110th Congress, 2nd Session (July 10-11, 2008).

The Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2010: Hearing before the United States House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law. 111th Congress, 2nd Session

Michael P. Van Alstine — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:14:16 PST

The testimony explores the essential legal issue of the extent to which executive agreements related to H.R. 4596 have any force as law in the United States. The agreements made it clear that they did not, by themselves, “provide an independent legal basis for dismissal” of claims of Holocaust victims filed in any courts of the United States. Instead, the executive branch simply agreed to file a “statement of interest” in such lawsuits to the effect “that U.S. policy interests favor dismissal on any valid legal ground.” Some lower courts have nonetheless given the statements of interest preemptive effect as federal law. The testimony criticizes these court opinions to provide a legal context for HR 4596.

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development. Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, regarding the “Commodity Futures Trading Commission”

Michael Greenberger — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:46:55 PST

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development. Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies on the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s regulatory efforts Pertaining to excessive speculation within U.S. energy futures markets in general, and futures based on U.S. delivered crude oil contracts.

The Role of Derivatives in the Financial Crisis – Testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, June 30, 2010

Michael Greenberger — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:20:58 PDT

It is now almost universally accepted that the unregulated multi-trillion dollar OTC CDS market helped foment a mortgage crisis, then a credit crisis, and finally a ―once-in-a-century systemic financial crisis that, but for huge U.S. taxpayer interventions, would have in the fall of 2008 led the world economy into a devastating Depression. Before explaining below the manner in which credit default swaps fomented this crisis, it worth citing in the margin those many economists, regulators, market observers, and financial columnists who have described the central role unregulated CDS played in the crisis.

Even those once skeptical of arguments about the dangers of OTC derivatives have joined this chorus. In warning Congress about badly-needed financial regulatory reform efforts when it considered the TARP legislation in Senate hearings before the Senate Banking Committee in September, 2008, then-SEC Chairman Christopher Cox called the CDS market a ―”regulatory blackhole” in need of ―immediate legislative action. Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt and even former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan—both of whom supported the CFMA in 2000—have acknowledged that the deregulation of the CDS market contributed to the fall 2008 economic downfall. [page 11-12]

Testimony of Michael Greenberger before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on “Excessive Speculation: Position Limits and Exemptions.”

Michael Greenberger — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:13:50 PDT

Testimony before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (August 5, 2009).

Testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture on the “Discussion Draft: The Derivatives Market Transparency and Accountability Act of 2009.”

Michael Greenberger — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:10:12 PDT

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture. 111th Congress, 1st Session (2009).

Strengthening Security and Oversight at Biological Research Laboratories

Michael Greenberger — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:22:14 PDT

With the advent of the Anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001, this Nation has been confronted with a serious policy conundrum. On the one hand, we have strengthened programs that encourage the use of our best scientific resources to develop countermeasures to the weaponization of highly dangerous biopathogens. On the other hand, research on those countermeasures requires the use of the very biopathogens we seek to defeat. There have been many mishaps in the handling of those pathogens, which raises the frightening prospect that the research may be as (or more) dangerous than the potential bioterrorist acts themselves. Indeed, the very Anthrax attack that motivated increased research now seems likely to have been the caused by research being conducted in the United States on Anthrax. Leaving aside which researcher evaded security measures of the United States Army at its Ft. Detrick laboratory facility, the forensic evidence appears very strong that an insider accessed Anthrax at that facility to perpetrate the 2001 attacks.

It is the thesis of this testimony, that the Nation can upgrade security measures at those biosafety level (BSL) laboratories that handle the most dangerous pathogens (BSL-3 and BSL-4 labs), so that federal government can develop countermeasures to potential terror attacks without having that research in and of itself pose a threat to national security….

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. 111th Congress, 1st Session (2009).

Rena I. Steinzor — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:48:51 PDT

Oil and Asian Rivals: Sino-Soviet Conflict; Japan and the Oil Crisis

Hungdah Chiu — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:28:44 PDT

Hearings before the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives. 93rd Congress, 1st and 2nd Sessions. 1974.

United States-China Relations 11 Years After the Shanghai Communique

Hungdah Chiu — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:24:49 PDT

Hearing before the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations, House of Representatives, 98th Congress, 1st Session, 1983.

Political Developments and Human Rights in the People's Republic of China

Hungdah Chiu — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:14:19 PDT

Hearings before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations and the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives. 99th Congress, 1st Session, 1985.

Energy Speculation: Is Greater Regulation Necessary to Stop Price Manipulation? Part II.

Michael Greenberger — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:13:05 PDT