The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee is holding its first hearing on crypto market structure legislation, giving lawmakers a chance to debate and vote on amendments and potentially advance the legislation itself.
Thursday’s hearing will see lawmakers propose amendments to the underlying text, which the committee released last week. As senators worked on bipartisan legislation, committee Chairman John Boozman said in a statement last week that “fundamental policy differences” remained and committee members had not reached agreement on the released text.
Senator Cory Booker, the Democrat leading negotiations on the bill, said in his opening remarks that lawmakers were close to agreement on key issues, highlighting the crypto ties of US President Donald Trump and his family as an outstanding point of concern, as well as the lack of a firm agreement on quorum within federal agencies.
“In football parlance, we’ve strayed from our own goal line by as much as 70 yards. We’re almost in the red zone on this bill, and that frustrates me, because I see a bipartisan glide path to land this plane, to get across the end zone,” Booker said.
Boozman, in his own opening remarks, said lawmakers had made “really significant progress” in crafting the bill.
“Advancing this bill is the first step, and there are many more steps to take to achieve these goals,” he said. “I also encourage the administration and Senate leadership to coordinate and ensure that the CFTC is fully constituted and adequately funded.”
