The U.S. Senate's Agriculture Committee is holding its first markup hearing on crypto market structure legislation, giving lawmakers a chance to debate and vote on amendments and possibly advance the actual legislation.
The Thursday hearing will see lawmakers offer up amendments on the underlying text, which the committee published last week. While the Senators were working on bipartisan legislation, Committee Chairman John Boozman said in a statement last week that "fundamental differences in policy" remained and the members of the committee had not come to an agreement on the text that was published.
Senator Cory Booker, the Democrat leading negotiations on the bill, said in opening remarks that lawmakers were close to an agreement on key issues, pointing to U.S. President Donald Trump and his family's crypto ties as one outstanding area of concern, as well as the lack of a firm agreement on quorum at federal agencies.
"In football parlance, we moved from our own goal line all the way down 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 punch through the end zone," Booker said.
Boozman, in his own opening remarks, said lawmakers had made "really significant progress" in putting the bill together.
"Advancing this bill is the first step, and there are many steps to come in achieving those goals," he said. "I also encourage that the administration and Senate leadership to coordinate and ensure that the CFTC is fully constituted and adequately funded."
