Political Quotes

“it was just last week that I came to the floor of the Senate to share a legal brief outlining the weakness of the Department of Justice's case against Microsoft. But I repeated at that time a thought I have expressed several times on the floor of the Senate that perhaps the most long-lasting effect of this ill-begotten lawsuit would be on the U.S. international competitiveness and our place in the world that is changing so rapidly due to the development of both software and hardware in the computer industry and in the related high-tech fields. Yesterday, the other shoe dropped. The European Union announced an antitrust investigation against Microsoft, something, as I say, that I have been predicting for more than a year. When the Department of Justice was asked about it, it said this action took them by surprise. I don't know why we should be surprised that the European Union is very much interested in restricting access of U.S. goods and services in Europe, whether they are software, airplanes, bananas, or a wide range of other goods and services, or why the Department of Justice should be surprised that the European Union investigates and reflects its own actions in a matter of this sort. In fact, the report of this lawsuit points out that it is easier to bring an antitrust case in Europe than it is in the United States.”