On the recordMarch 23, 2016
I appreciate the gentleman from New Jersey's commitment to the free market, because I think we all believe a free and fair market is in the best interest of America and in the best interest of every American consumer, but we have got to take a look at the procedure. This is, primarily, procedural in nature so that those companies that are seeking mergers, whether they go through the FTC or through the Department of Justice, are simply treated the same. If the gentleman is concerned about the fact that there are too many mergers--that we are getting bigger and bigger companies and that it is stifling competition--that is a legitimate conversation for us to have in the context of changing the law with respect to monopolies, mergers, and acquisitions. What we are trying to do here is not change that law, but make that law fairer and applied equally, regardless of whether one is in front of the Department of Justice or whether one is in front of the Federal Trade Commission. If the gentleman takes that argument, then he is saying, right now, the FTC has an advantage in stopping these mergers because it has all of these other procedures in place, as opposed to the Department of Justice. Why should one get stuck with a tougher row to hoe based on which agency one goes in front of? That is just not fair.
