Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2668. I agree with my Democratic colleagues that the FTC should be reasonably equipped with tools to protect consumers. Today, the FTC has been able to return $25 million to Hoosiers that have fallen victim to fraudulent schemes. However, as currently written the bill before the House today goes beyond the FTC's previous use of 13(b). The bill lacks sufficient guardrails that would provide checks and balances to the Commission's expanded authority. Meanwhile, we haven't had the opportunity to discuss this legislation with the full Commission in an open and transparent hearing. During the markup process we offered several commonsense amendments in a good faith effort to improve the bill. These amendments would have created thresholds of FTC authority and clarifying definitions to ensure provisions in this bill could not be abused. Unfortunately, these reforms were not supported by the majority. I am concerned that rushing this legislation through the House may lead to higher costs for small businesses without improving protections for the consumers, which is what we all want to do. I urge my colleagues to oppose the underlying bill.”