1 | 1 | | I |
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2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2427 |
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5 | 5 | | To prohibit price gouging as an unfair and deceptive act or practice during |
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6 | 6 | | a major disaster or emergency, and for other purposes. |
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7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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8 | 8 | | MARCH27, 2025 |
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9 | 9 | | Ms. F |
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10 | 10 | | RIEDMAN(for herself and Mr. SHERMAN) introduced the following bill; |
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11 | 11 | | which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce |
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12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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13 | 13 | | To prohibit price gouging as an unfair and deceptive act |
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14 | 14 | | or practice during a major disaster or emergency, and |
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15 | 15 | | for other purposes. |
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16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Disaster Price 4 |
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20 | 20 | | Gouging Act’’. 5 |
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21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PRICE GOUGING. 6 |
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22 | 22 | | (a) P |
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23 | 23 | | ROHIBITION.— 7 |
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24 | 24 | | (1) I |
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25 | 25 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-8 |
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26 | 26 | | graph (2), during the period described below after 9 |
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27 | 27 | | the date on which the President declares a major 10 |
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29 | 29 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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30 | 30 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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31 | 31 | | disaster or emergency under section 401 or 501 of 1 |
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32 | 32 | | the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-2 |
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33 | 33 | | gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170; 5191) and 3 |
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34 | 34 | | within the area in which the disaster or emergency 4 |
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35 | 35 | | is declared a person— 5 |
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36 | 36 | | (A) may not increase the price as of the 6 |
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37 | 37 | | day before such date by more than 10 per-7 |
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38 | 38 | | cent— 8 |
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39 | 39 | | (i) with respect to essential consumer 9 |
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40 | 40 | | goods and services, hotel lodging, and resi-10 |
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41 | 41 | | dential rental properties, for a period of 30 11 |
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42 | 42 | | days; and 12 |
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43 | 43 | | (ii) with respect to repair or recon-13 |
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44 | 44 | | struction services, for a period of 180 days; 14 |
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45 | 45 | | and 15 |
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46 | 46 | | (B) may not charge a price for essential 16 |
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47 | 47 | | consumer goods and services, hotel lodging, res-17 |
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48 | 48 | | idential rental property, or reconstruction serv-18 |
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49 | 49 | | ices that is more than 50 percent greater than 19 |
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50 | 50 | | the cost to the person for 30 days after such 20 |
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51 | 51 | | date if the person did not charge that price be-21 |
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52 | 52 | | fore such date. 22 |
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53 | 53 | | (2) E |
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54 | 54 | | XCEPTION.—The prohibition described in 23 |
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55 | 55 | | paragraph (1) does not apply as follows: 24 |
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56 | 56 | | (A) If the increased price— 25 |
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59 | 59 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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60 | 60 | | (i) is— 1 |
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61 | 61 | | (I) directly attributable to addi-2 |
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62 | 62 | | tional cost paid by the person to a 3 |
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63 | 63 | | supplier of the goods or for labor or 4 |
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64 | 64 | | materials used to provide services; and 5 |
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65 | 65 | | (II) is not more than 10 percent 6 |
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66 | 66 | | greater than the total of the cost to 7 |
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67 | 67 | | the person plus the markup custom-8 |
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68 | 68 | | arily applied by that seller for that 9 |
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69 | 69 | | good or service in the usual course of 10 |
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70 | 70 | | business immediately prior to the 11 |
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71 | 71 | | onset of the major disaster or emer-12 |
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72 | 72 | | gency; or 13 |
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73 | 73 | | (ii) is directly attributable to tariffs or 14 |
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74 | 74 | | national trade policies. 15 |
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75 | 75 | | (B) For a hotel or motel rate, if the in-16 |
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76 | 76 | | creased price is attributable to seasonable ad-17 |
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77 | 77 | | justments that are regularly scheduled. 18 |
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78 | 78 | | (C) For a rental rate, if the increased price 19 |
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79 | 79 | | is directly attributable to additional costs for 20 |
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80 | 80 | | repairs or additions beyond normal maintenance 21 |
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81 | 81 | | that were amortized over the rental term that 22 |
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82 | 82 | | caused the rent to be increased greater than 10 23 |
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83 | 83 | | percent or that an increase was contractually 24 |
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85 | 85 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
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86 | 86 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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87 | 87 | | agreed to by the tenant prior to the disaster or 1 |
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88 | 88 | | emergency. 2 |
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89 | 89 | | (b) E |
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90 | 90 | | NFORCEMENT BY FEDERALTRADECOMMIS-3 |
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91 | 91 | | SION.— 4 |
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92 | 92 | | (1) U |
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93 | 93 | | NFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC -5 |
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94 | 94 | | TICES.—A violation of subsection (a) or a regulation 6 |
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95 | 95 | | promulgated under such subsection shall be treated 7 |
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96 | 96 | | as a violation of a regulation under section 8 |
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97 | 97 | | 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 9 |
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98 | 98 | | (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or decep-10 |
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99 | 99 | | tive acts or practices. 11 |
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100 | 100 | | (2) P |
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101 | 101 | | OWERS OF COMMISSION .—The Federal 12 |
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102 | 102 | | Trade Commission shall enforce subsection (a) and 13 |
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103 | 103 | | any regulation promulgated under such subsection in 14 |
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104 | 104 | | the same manner, by the same means, and with the 15 |
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105 | 105 | | same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 16 |
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106 | 106 | | applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 17 |
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107 | 107 | | Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor-18 |
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108 | 108 | | porated into and made a part of this Act. Any per-19 |
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109 | 109 | | son who violates such subsection or a regulation pro-20 |
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110 | 110 | | mulgated under such subsection shall be subject to 21 |
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111 | 111 | | the penalties described in subsection (e) and entitled 22 |
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112 | 112 | | to the privileges and immunities provided in the 23 |
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113 | 113 | | Federal Trade Commission Act. 24 |
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114 | 114 | | (c) A |
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115 | 115 | | CTIONS BYSTATES.— 25 |
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118 | 118 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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119 | 119 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which the at-1 |
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120 | 120 | | torney general of a State, or an official or agency of 2 |
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121 | 121 | | a State, has reason to believe that an interest of the 3 |
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122 | 122 | | residents of such State has been or is threatened or 4 |
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123 | 123 | | adversely affected by an act or practice in violation 5 |
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124 | 124 | | of subsection (a) or a regulation promulgated under 6 |
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125 | 125 | | such subsection, the State, as parens patriae, may 7 |
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126 | 126 | | bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the 8 |
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127 | 127 | | State in an appropriate State court or an appro-9 |
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128 | 128 | | priate district court of the United States to— 10 |
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129 | 129 | | (A) enjoin such act or practice; 11 |
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130 | 130 | | (B) enforce compliance with such sub-12 |
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131 | 131 | | section or such regulation; 13 |
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132 | 132 | | (C) obtain damages, restitution, or other 14 |
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133 | 133 | | compensation on behalf of residents of the 15 |
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134 | 134 | | State; or 16 |
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135 | 135 | | (D) obtain such other legal and equitable 17 |
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136 | 136 | | relief as the court may consider to be appro-18 |
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137 | 137 | | priate. 19 |
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138 | 138 | | (2) N |
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139 | 139 | | OTICE.—Before filing an action under this 20 |
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140 | 140 | | subsection, the attorney general, official, or agency 21 |
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141 | 141 | | of the State involved shall provide to the Commis-22 |
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142 | 142 | | sion a written notice of such action and a copy of 23 |
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143 | 143 | | the complaint for such action. If the attorney gen-24 |
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144 | 144 | | eral, official, or agency determines that it is not fea-25 |
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147 | 147 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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148 | 148 | | sible to provide the notice described in this para-1 |
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149 | 149 | | graph before the filing of the action, the attorney 2 |
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150 | 150 | | general, official, or agency shall provide written no-3 |
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151 | 151 | | tice of the action and a copy of the complaint to the 4 |
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152 | 152 | | Commission immediately upon the filing of the ac-5 |
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153 | 153 | | tion. 6 |
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154 | 154 | | (3) A |
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155 | 155 | | UTHORITY OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS -7 |
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156 | 156 | | SION.— 8 |
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157 | 157 | | (A) I |
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158 | 158 | | N GENERAL.—On receiving notice 9 |
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159 | 159 | | under paragraph (2) of an action under this 10 |
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160 | 160 | | subsection, the Commission shall have the 11 |
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161 | 161 | | right— 12 |
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162 | 162 | | (i) to intervene in the action; 13 |
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163 | 163 | | (ii) upon so intervening, to be heard 14 |
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164 | 164 | | on all matters arising therein; and 15 |
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165 | 165 | | (iii) to file petitions for appeal. 16 |
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166 | 166 | | (B) L |
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167 | 167 | | IMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE 17 |
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168 | 168 | | FEDERAL ACTION IS PENDING .—If the Commis-18 |
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169 | 169 | | sion or the Attorney General of the United 19 |
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170 | 170 | | States has instituted a civil action for violation 20 |
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171 | 171 | | of subsection (a) or a regulation promulgated 21 |
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172 | 172 | | under such subsection (referred to in this sub-22 |
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173 | 173 | | paragraph as the ‘‘Federal action’’), no State 23 |
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174 | 174 | | attorney general, official, or agency may bring 24 |
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175 | 175 | | an action under this subsection during the 25 |
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178 | 178 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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179 | 179 | | pendency of the Federal action against any de-1 |
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180 | 180 | | fendant named in the complaint in the Federal 2 |
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181 | 181 | | action for any violation of such subsection or 3 |
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182 | 182 | | regulation alleged in such complaint. 4 |
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183 | 183 | | (4) R |
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184 | 184 | | ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—For purposes of 5 |
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185 | 185 | | bringing a civil action under this subsection, nothing 6 |
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186 | 186 | | in this Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney 7 |
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187 | 187 | | general, official, or agency of a State from exercising 8 |
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188 | 188 | | the powers conferred on the attorney general, offi-9 |
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189 | 189 | | cial, or agency by the laws of such State to conduct 10 |
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190 | 190 | | investigations, administer oaths and affirmations, or 11 |
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191 | 191 | | compel the attendance of witnesses or the production 12 |
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192 | 192 | | of documentary and other evidence. 13 |
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193 | 193 | | (d) P |
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194 | 194 | | RIVATERIGHT OFACTION.— 14 |
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195 | 195 | | (1) I |
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196 | 196 | | N GENERAL.—A person injured by an act 15 |
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197 | 197 | | or practice in violation of subsection (a) or a regula-16 |
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198 | 198 | | tion promulgated under such subsection may bring 17 |
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199 | 199 | | in an appropriate State court or an appropriate dis-18 |
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200 | 200 | | trict court of the United States— 19 |
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201 | 201 | | (A) an action to enjoin the violation; 20 |
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202 | 202 | | (B) an action to recover damages for ac-21 |
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203 | 203 | | tual monetary loss from the violation; or 22 |
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204 | 204 | | (C) both such actions. 23 |
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205 | 205 | | (2) W |
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206 | 206 | | ILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—If the court finds 24 |
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207 | 207 | | that the defendant acted willfully in committing a 25 |
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210 | 210 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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211 | 211 | | violation described in paragraph (1), the court may, 1 |
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212 | 212 | | in its discretion, increase the amount of the award 2 |
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213 | 213 | | to an amount equal to not more than 3 times the 3 |
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214 | 214 | | amount available under paragraph (1)(B). 4 |
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215 | 215 | | (3) C |
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216 | 216 | | OSTS AND ATTORNEY ’S FEES.—The court 5 |
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217 | 217 | | shall award to a prevailing plaintiff in an action 6 |
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218 | 218 | | under this subsection the costs of such action and 7 |
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219 | 219 | | reasonable attorney’s fees, as determined by the 8 |
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220 | 220 | | court. 9 |
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221 | 221 | | (4) L |
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222 | 222 | | IMITATION.—An action may be com-10 |
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223 | 223 | | menced under this subsection not later than 2 years 11 |
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224 | 224 | | after the date on which the person first discovered 12 |
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225 | 225 | | or had a reasonable opportunity to discover the vio-13 |
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226 | 226 | | lation. 14 |
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227 | 227 | | (5) N |
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228 | 228 | | ONEXCLUSIVE REMEDY .—The remedy pro-15 |
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229 | 229 | | vided by this subsection shall be in addition to any 16 |
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230 | 230 | | other remedies available to the person. 17 |
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231 | 231 | | (e) A |
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232 | 232 | | MOUNT OFCIVILPENALTIES.— 18 |
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233 | 233 | | (1) I |
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234 | 234 | | N GENERAL.—For purposes of the pen-19 |
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235 | 235 | | alties described in subsection (b), the amount deter-20 |
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236 | 236 | | mined under this paragraph is the amount cal-21 |
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237 | 237 | | culated by multiplying the number of violations of 22 |
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238 | 238 | | subsection (a) by an amount not greater than 23 |
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239 | 239 | | $25,000. Each violation shall be treated as a sepa-24 |
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240 | 240 | | rate violation. 25 |
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243 | 243 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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244 | 244 | | (2) MAXIMUM TOTAL LIABILITY .—Notwith-1 |
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245 | 245 | | standing the number of actions which may be 2 |
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246 | 246 | | brought against a person under subsection (b), the 3 |
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247 | 247 | | total amount of civil penalties assessed against such 4 |
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248 | 248 | | person for all violations of subsection (a) and the 5 |
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249 | 249 | | regulations promulgated under such subsection re-6 |
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250 | 250 | | sulting from the same or related acts or practices 7 |
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251 | 251 | | may not exceed $25,000. 8 |
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252 | 252 | | (3) A |
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253 | 253 | | DJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION .—Beginning 9 |
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254 | 254 | | on the date that the Consumer Price Index is first 10 |
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255 | 255 | | published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that is 11 |
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256 | 256 | | at least 1 year after the date of the enactment of 12 |
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257 | 257 | | this Act, and each year thereafter, the amount speci-13 |
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258 | 258 | | fied in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be increased by 14 |
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259 | 259 | | the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer 15 |
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260 | 260 | | Price Index published on such date from the Con-16 |
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261 | 261 | | sumer Price Index published the previous year. 17 |
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262 | 262 | | (4) F |
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263 | 263 | | UNDING FOR DISASTER ZONES .—Any 18 |
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264 | 264 | | amount recovered under subsection (b) shall be de-19 |
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265 | 265 | | posited into a fund to assist communities located in 20 |
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266 | 266 | | an area affected by a major disaster or emergency 21 |
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267 | 267 | | declared by the President under section 401 or 501 22 |
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268 | 268 | | of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-23 |
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269 | 269 | | gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170; 5191). 24 |
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270 | 270 | | (f) D |
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271 | 271 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 |
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274 | 274 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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275 | 275 | | (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 1 |
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276 | 276 | | means the Federal Trade Commission. 2 |
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277 | 277 | | (2) E |
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278 | 278 | | SSENTIAL CONSUMER GOODS AND SERV -3 |
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279 | 279 | | ICES.—The term ‘‘essential consumer goods and 4 |
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280 | 280 | | services’’ means goods and services that are nec-5 |
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281 | 281 | | essary for survival and recovery during and after a 6 |
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282 | 282 | | major disaster or emergency and include any of the 7 |
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283 | 283 | | following: 8 |
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284 | 284 | | (A) Food and drink, including food and 9 |
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285 | 285 | | drink for animals. 10 |
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286 | 286 | | (B) Emergency supplies such as water, 11 |
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287 | 287 | | generators, flashlights, radios, batteries, can-12 |
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288 | 288 | | dles, blankets, soap, diapers, temporary shel-13 |
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289 | 289 | | ters, tape, toiletries, plywood, nails, and ham-14 |
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290 | 290 | | mers. 15 |
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291 | 291 | | (C) Medical supplies such as prescription 16 |
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292 | 292 | | and non prescription medications, bandages, 17 |
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293 | 293 | | gauze, isopropyl alcohol, and antibacterial prod-18 |
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294 | 294 | | ucts. 19 |
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295 | 295 | | (D) Home heating oil. 20 |
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296 | 296 | | (E) Building and construction materials 21 |
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297 | 297 | | such as lumber, construction tools, and win-22 |
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298 | 298 | | dows. 23 |
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299 | 299 | | (F) Transportation. 24 |
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300 | 300 | | (G) Freight. 25 |
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303 | 303 | | •HR 2427 IH |
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304 | 304 | | (H) Storage services. 1 |
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305 | 305 | | (I) Gasoline and other motor fuels. 2 |
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306 | 306 | | (g) R |
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307 | 307 | | ELATION TOSTATELAW.—Nothing in this Act 3 |
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308 | 308 | | may be construed to preempt any provision of State law 4 |
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309 | 309 | | that does not conflict with this Act. 5 |
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310 | 310 | | Æ |
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