Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 5645, the so-called SMARTER Act, an assault on the Federal Trade Commission's ability to vigorously promote competition through merger enforcement. {time} 1400 Over a century ago, Congress responded to waves of consolidation by creating the Federal Trade Commission to promote, development, and protect competition and the antitrust laws. There is longstanding, bipartisan consensus that the Commission's use of administrative litigation to address anticompetitive mergers and conduct is core to this mission. This includes the former Republican and Democratic chairs of the Commission under George W. Bush and the Obama administrations, who have each raised serious concerns about this legislation, precisely because it eliminates a tool that has been critical in combating anti-competitive mergers and conduct, including mergers that would have raised Americans' cost of healthcare. Top Republican antitrust enforcers have long supported the use of administrative litigation in merger enforcement to promote competition and develop the antitrust laws.…”