Political Quotes

“Thank you, Senator Shaheen. I am pleased to be here with my colleague from New Hampshire. Mr. President, as I said when I came to the floor earlier this week, I appreciate the tough negotiations that my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, including Senator Shaheen with her very important subcommittee, had to go through in crafting this bill. There are many good things in it; and, crucially, it keeps the Federal Government open and working for the American people. However, as I noted last week, the technical language released by the Appropriations Committee on Sunday restricts the Antitrust Division from using funds generated from merger filing fees that exceed the appropriated amount collected in fiscal year 2024 to enforce our competition laws without a separate act of Congress. So the reason this has become a major deal for many of us that are simply interested in allowing the Department of Justice to do its work on some very important cases, which are well-publicized that are pending now, is that it conflicts with the intent of Senator Grassley's and my bill that passed last Congress by an 88-to-8 vote. This law provides enforcers with the resources necessary to take on the anticompetitive practices by the biggest companies the world has ever known, an acknowledgment that the world has changed. Prior to Sunday, appropriators had, for decades, allowed the Antitrust Division to retain and use all merger filing fees it collected without limit. This makes sense.…”