Herb Kohl: “I come here today to speak about my amendment No. 1591, which is a bipartisan amendment to repeal the freight railroad…”

“I come here today to speak about my amendment No. 1591, which is a bipartisan amendment to repeal the freight railroad industry's undeserved exemptions to the antitrust laws, exemptions that result in higher prices to hundreds of businesses and millions of consumers every day. These outmoded exemptions do damage to numerous industries across our country--industries that are vital to our economy and to the job market. From power companies that rely on coal shipped by rail, to farmers shipping grain, to chemical companies that rely on rail to transport raw materials, to paper companies that ship their finished products via rail, the railroad's antitrust exemption leads to higher prices and renders rail shippers at the mercy of rail monopolies engaged in anticompetitive practices. The railroads enjoy these antitrust immunities despite the industry's very high levels of concentration--with four freight railroads controlling nearly 90 percent of the market as measured by revenue and dividing up the country so that they face very little, if any, rail competition in many areas of our country. This amendment is very simple. Wherever the law provides freight railroads with an antitrust exemption, this amendment repeals it. In this way, the railroads will have to abide by the same rules of free competition as virtually every other industry.…”