| 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. 384 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To transfer antitrust enforcement from the Federal Trade Commission to |
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| 6 | 6 | | the Attorney General, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY14, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. C |
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| 10 | 10 | | LINE(for himself, Mr. FITZGERALD, and Ms. HAGEMAN) introduced the |
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| 11 | 11 | | following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To transfer antitrust enforcement from the Federal Trade |
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| 14 | 14 | | Commission to the Attorney General, and for other purposes. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘One Agency Act’’. 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Congress finds the following: 6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) It is the policy of the United States to pro-7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | mote the vigorous, effective, and efficient enforce-8 |
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| 23 | 23 | | ment of the antitrust laws. 9 |
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| 25 | 25 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2) The overlapping antitrust enforcement ju-1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | risdiction of the Department of Justice and the Fed-2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | eral Trade Commission has wasted taxpayer re-3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | sources, hampered enforcement efforts, and caused 4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | uncertainty for businesses and consumers in the 5 |
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| 32 | 32 | | United States. 6 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (3) It is preferable that primary Federal re-7 |
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| 34 | 34 | | sponsibility for enforcing the antitrust laws of the 8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | United States be given to a single entity, and the 9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Department of Justice is best suited to do so. 10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 11 |
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| 38 | 38 | | In this Act: 12 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (1) A |
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| 40 | 40 | | NTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘‘antitrust 13 |
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| 41 | 41 | | laws’’ means— 14 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (A) the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); 15 |
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| 43 | 43 | | and 16 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (B) the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et 17 |
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| 45 | 45 | | seq.). 18 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (2) E |
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| 47 | 47 | | FFECTIVE DATE.—The term ‘‘effective 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | date’’ means the date described in section 6. 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (3) FTC.—The term ‘‘FTC’’ means the Fed-21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | eral Trade Commission. 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (4) FTC |
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| 52 | 52 | | ANTITRUST ACTION.—The term ‘‘FTC 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | antitrust action’’ means any investigation, litigation, 24 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 56 | 56 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 57 | 57 | | administrative proceeding, or other action at the 1 |
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| 58 | 58 | | FTC that— 2 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (A) is supervised by an FTC antitrust 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | unit; or 4 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (B) relates to the antitrust laws or unfair 5 |
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| 62 | 62 | | methods of competition under section 5 of the 6 |
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| 63 | 63 | | Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45), 7 |
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| 64 | 64 | | as in effect on the day before the effective date. 8 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (5) FTC |
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| 66 | 66 | | ANTITRUST ASSETS.—The term ‘‘FTC 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | antitrust assets’’— 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (A) means all electronic or tangible records 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | and files relating to matters supervised, as well 12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | as any physical assets or equipment owned and 13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | used or retained, by an FTC antitrust unit; and 14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (B) does not include any office space or 15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | leased facilities or equipment. 16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (6) FTC |
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| 75 | 75 | | ANTITRUST EMPLOYEE .—The term 17 |
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| 76 | 76 | | ‘‘FTC antitrust employee’’ means an individual who 18 |
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| 77 | 77 | | on the day before the effective date is employed by 19 |
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| 78 | 78 | | the FTC and assigned to an FTC antitrust unit. 20 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (7) FTC |
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| 80 | 80 | | ANTITRUST FUNDING .—The term 21 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ‘‘FTC antitrust funding’’ means all amounts appro-22 |
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| 82 | 82 | | priated before the effective date by an Act of Con-23 |
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| 83 | 83 | | gress to the FTC that are designated, by Congress 24 |
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| 84 | 84 | | or the FTC for an FTC antitrust unit. 25 |
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| 86 | 86 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 87 | 87 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 88 | 88 | | (8) FTC ANTITRUST UNIT.—The term ‘‘FTC 1 |
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| 89 | 89 | | antitrust unit’’ means— 2 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (A) the Bureau of Competition of the 3 |
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| 91 | 91 | | FTC; and 4 |
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| 92 | 92 | | (B) each division of the Bureau of Eco-5 |
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| 93 | 93 | | nomics of the FTC that is designated to work 6 |
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| 94 | 94 | | on FTC antitrust actions. 7 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (9) T |
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| 96 | 96 | | RANSITION PERIOD.—The term ‘‘transi-8 |
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| 97 | 97 | | tion period’’ means the period beginning on the ef-9 |
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| 98 | 98 | | fective date and ending on the later of— 10 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (A) the date that is 1 year after the effec-11 |
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| 100 | 100 | | tive date; or 12 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (B) the date that is 180 days after the 13 |
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| 102 | 102 | | date described in subparagraph (A), which may 14 |
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| 103 | 103 | | be extended by the Attorney General once for 15 |
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| 104 | 104 | | an additional 180 days, if the Attorney General 16 |
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| 105 | 105 | | determines that a period longer than the period 17 |
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| 106 | 106 | | described in subparagraph (A) is necessary to 18 |
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| 107 | 107 | | avoid harm to the interests of the United States 19 |
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| 108 | 108 | | or the effective enforcement of the antitrust 20 |
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| 109 | 109 | | laws. 21 |
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| 110 | 110 | | SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT FUNC-22 |
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| 111 | 111 | | TIONS FROM THE FTC TO THE ATTORNEY 23 |
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| 112 | 112 | | GENERAL. 24 |
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| 113 | 113 | | (a) T |
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| 114 | 114 | | RANSFER OFACTIONS.— 25 |
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| 116 | 116 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 117 | 117 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 118 | 118 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be transferred to 1 |
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| 119 | 119 | | the Attorney General all FTC antitrust actions, 2 |
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| 120 | 120 | | FTC antitrust employees, FTC antitrust assets, and 3 |
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| 121 | 121 | | FTC antitrust funding on the earlier of— 4 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (A) the date determined by the Attorney 5 |
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| 123 | 123 | | General under paragraph (2)(B); or 6 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (B) the end of the transition period. 7 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (2) R |
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| 126 | 126 | | EQUIREMENT.—The Attorney General, 8 |
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| 127 | 127 | | taking care to minimize disruption to ongoing en-9 |
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| 128 | 128 | | forcement matters and in consultation as necessary 10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | with the Office of Personnel Management, the Gen-11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | eral Services Administration, and the Chairman of 12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | the FTC, shall— 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (A) take all necessary actions to complete 14 |
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| 133 | 133 | | implementation of this Act before the end of the 15 |
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| 134 | 134 | | transition period; and 16 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (B) determine the dates certain, which 17 |
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| 136 | 136 | | may not be earlier than the effective date or 18 |
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| 137 | 137 | | later than the end of the transition period, on 19 |
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| 138 | 138 | | which the transfers under paragraph (1) shall 20 |
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| 139 | 139 | | occur. 21 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (3) P |
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| 141 | 141 | | ERSONNEL.— 22 |
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| 142 | 142 | | (A) A |
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| 143 | 143 | | SSIGNMENT.—An FTC antitrust em-23 |
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| 144 | 144 | | ployee transferred to the Attorney General 24 |
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| 146 | 146 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 |
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| 147 | 147 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 148 | 148 | | under this Act shall be assigned to the Anti-1 |
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| 149 | 149 | | trust Division of the Department of Justice. 2 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (B) O |
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| 151 | 151 | | FFICE SPACE.—On the request of the 3 |
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| 152 | 152 | | Attorney General, and in consultation as nec-4 |
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| 153 | 153 | | essary with the General Services Administra-5 |
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| 154 | 154 | | tion, the FTC shall allow the Attorney General 6 |
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| 155 | 155 | | to use any office space or leased facilities pre-7 |
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| 156 | 156 | | viously used by FTC antitrust employees until 8 |
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| 157 | 157 | | such time as the Attorney General may provide 9 |
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| 158 | 158 | | office space or facilities. After the transfer of 10 |
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| 159 | 159 | | FTC antitrust funding to the Attorney General, 11 |
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| 160 | 160 | | the Attorney General shall compensate the FTC 12 |
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| 161 | 161 | | for the costs of the use of such office space or 13 |
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| 162 | 162 | | leased facilities. 14 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (C) R |
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| 164 | 164 | | ESTRUCTURING.—Notwithstanding 15 |
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| 165 | 165 | | any other provision of law, the Attorney Gen-16 |
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| 166 | 166 | | eral is authorized to restructure the Antitrust 17 |
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| 167 | 167 | | Division of the Department of Justice before 18 |
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| 168 | 168 | | the expiration of the transition period, as the 19 |
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| 169 | 169 | | Attorney General determines is appropriate, to 20 |
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| 170 | 170 | | carry out the purposes of this Act and accom-21 |
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| 171 | 171 | | plish the efficient enforcement of the antitrust 22 |
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| 172 | 172 | | laws. 23 |
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| 173 | 173 | | (4) A |
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| 174 | 174 | | NTITRUST ACTIONS.— 24 |
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| 177 | 177 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 178 | 178 | | (A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as is reason-1 |
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| 179 | 179 | | ably practicable during the transition period, all 2 |
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| 180 | 180 | | open investigations, studies, litigations, matters, 3 |
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| 181 | 181 | | or other proceedings being supervised by an 4 |
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| 182 | 182 | | FTC antitrust unit and relating to the antitrust 5 |
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| 183 | 183 | | laws or unfair methods of competition under 6 |
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| 184 | 184 | | section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act 7 |
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| 185 | 185 | | (15 U.S.C. 45), as in effect on the day before 8 |
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| 186 | 186 | | the effective date, shall be transferred to and 9 |
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| 187 | 187 | | assumed by the Attorney General. 10 |
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| 188 | 188 | | (B) H |
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| 189 | 189 | | ANDLING OF ADMINISTRATIVE AC -11 |
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| 190 | 190 | | TIONS.—FTC antitrust actions that were initi-12 |
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| 191 | 191 | | ated by the FTC and were unresolved as of the 13 |
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| 192 | 192 | | first day of the transition period, shall be— 14 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (i) continued as the Attorney General 15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | determines is appropriate; and 16 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (ii) the FTC shall have the power to 17 |
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| 196 | 196 | | deputize former FTC antitrust employees, 18 |
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| 197 | 197 | | with the consent of the Attorney General, 19 |
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| 198 | 198 | | to continue any FTC antitrust actions as 20 |
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| 199 | 199 | | described in clause (i). 21 |
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| 200 | 200 | | (C) I |
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| 201 | 201 | | NTERVENTION.—Any FTC antitrust 22 |
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| 202 | 202 | | actions before a court of the United States as 23 |
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| 203 | 203 | | of the first day of the transition period, that 24 |
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| 204 | 204 | | were initiated by the FTC and were unresolved 25 |
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| 207 | 207 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 208 | 208 | | as of the first day of the transition period, shall 1 |
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| 209 | 209 | | be— 2 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (i) continued as the Attorney General 3 |
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| 211 | 211 | | determines is appropriate; and 4 |
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| 212 | 212 | | (ii) that the FTC shall have the power 5 |
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| 213 | 213 | | to deputize former FTC antitrust employ-6 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ees, with the consent of the Attorney Gen-7 |
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| 215 | 215 | | eral, to continue any FTC antitrust actions 8 |
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| 216 | 216 | | as described in clause (i). 9 |
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| 217 | 217 | | (D) C |
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| 218 | 218 | | ONSENT DECREES.— 10 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (i) I |
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| 220 | 220 | | N GENERAL.—At the end of the 11 |
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| 221 | 221 | | transition period, the Attorney General 12 |
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| 222 | 222 | | shall have sole authority to receive all re-13 |
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| 223 | 223 | | ports as required under, enforce violations 14 |
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| 224 | 224 | | of, approve modifications to, or rescind any 15 |
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| 225 | 225 | | consent decree entered into by the FTC 16 |
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| 226 | 226 | | before the effective date that concerns con-17 |
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| 227 | 227 | | duct alleged to violate the antitrust laws or 18 |
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| 228 | 228 | | unfair methods of competition under sec-19 |
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| 229 | 229 | | tion 5 of the Federal Trade Commission 20 |
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| 230 | 230 | | Act (15 U.S.C. 45), as in effect on the day 21 |
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| 231 | 231 | | before the effective date. 22 |
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| 232 | 232 | | (ii) A |
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| 233 | 233 | | DMINISTRATIVE ENFORCE -23 |
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| 234 | 234 | | MENT.—If deemed necessary by the FTC 24 |
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| 235 | 235 | | and the Attorney General, the FTC shall 25 |
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| 237 | 237 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 |
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| 238 | 238 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 239 | 239 | | have the power to deputize former FTC 1 |
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| 240 | 240 | | antitrust employees, with the consent of 2 |
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| 241 | 241 | | the Attorney General, to enforce and nego-3 |
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| 242 | 242 | | tiate modifications of FTC consent decrees 4 |
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| 243 | 243 | | in effect on the day before the effective 5 |
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| 244 | 244 | | date in the FTC’s administrative process. 6 |
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| 245 | 245 | | (5) A |
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| 246 | 246 | | UTHORITY TO CONDUCT INVESTIGATIVE 7 |
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| 247 | 247 | | STUDIES.— 8 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (A) R |
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| 249 | 249 | | EPORTS OF PERSONS , PARTNER-9 |
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| 250 | 250 | | SHIPS, AND CORPORATIONS.— 10 |
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| 251 | 251 | | (i) I |
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| 252 | 252 | | N GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen-11 |
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| 253 | 253 | | eral may require, by general or special or-12 |
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| 254 | 254 | | ders, persons, partnerships, and corpora-13 |
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| 255 | 255 | | tions, engaged in or whose business affects 14 |
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| 256 | 256 | | commerce to file with the Attorney General 15 |
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| 257 | 257 | | in such form as the Attorney General may 16 |
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| 258 | 258 | | prescribe annual or special reports or an-17 |
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| 259 | 259 | | swers in writing to specific questions, fur-18 |
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| 260 | 260 | | nishing to the Attorney General such infor-19 |
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| 261 | 261 | | mation as the Attorney General may re-20 |
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| 262 | 262 | | quire as to the organization, business, con-21 |
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| 263 | 263 | | duct, practices, management, and relation 22 |
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| 264 | 264 | | to other corporations, partnerships, and in-23 |
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| 265 | 265 | | dividuals of the respective persons, part-24 |
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| 268 | 268 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 269 | 269 | | nerships, and corporations filing such re-1 |
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| 270 | 270 | | ports or answers in writing. 2 |
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| 271 | 271 | | (ii) O |
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| 272 | 272 | | ATH.—Reports and answers re-3 |
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| 273 | 273 | | quired under clause (i) shall— 4 |
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| 274 | 274 | | (I) be made under oath or other-5 |
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| 275 | 275 | | wise as the Attorney General may pre-6 |
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| 276 | 276 | | scribe; 7 |
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| 277 | 277 | | (II) pertain solely to competition 8 |
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| 278 | 278 | | or the application of the antitrust 9 |
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| 279 | 279 | | laws; and 10 |
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| 280 | 280 | | (III) be filed with the Attorney 11 |
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| 281 | 281 | | General within such reasonable period 12 |
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| 282 | 282 | | as the Attorney General may pre-13 |
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| 283 | 283 | | scribe, unless additional time be 14 |
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| 284 | 284 | | granted in any case by the Attorney 15 |
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| 285 | 285 | | General. 16 |
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| 286 | 286 | | (B) P |
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| 287 | 287 | | UBLICATION OF INFORMATION OR 17 |
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| 288 | 288 | | REPORTS.— 18 |
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| 289 | 289 | | (i) I |
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| 290 | 290 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided 19 |
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| 291 | 291 | | in clause (ii), the Attorney General— 20 |
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| 292 | 292 | | (I) shall make public from time 21 |
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| 293 | 293 | | to time such portions of the informa-22 |
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| 294 | 294 | | tion obtained by the Attorney General 23 |
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| 295 | 295 | | under this paragraph as are in the 24 |
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| 296 | 296 | | public interest; 25 |
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| 299 | 299 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 300 | 300 | | (II) may make annual and spe-1 |
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| 301 | 301 | | cial reports to Congress that include 2 |
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| 302 | 302 | | recommendations for additional legis-3 |
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| 303 | 303 | | lation; and 4 |
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| 304 | 304 | | (III) shall provide for the publi-5 |
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| 305 | 305 | | cation of reports and decisions of the 6 |
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| 306 | 306 | | Attorney General in such form and 7 |
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| 307 | 307 | | manner as may be best adapted for 8 |
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| 308 | 308 | | public information and use. 9 |
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| 309 | 309 | | (ii) P |
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| 310 | 310 | | ROHIBITION AGAINST PUBLICA -10 |
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| 311 | 311 | | TION OF PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL 11 |
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| 312 | 312 | | INFORMATION.— 12 |
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| 313 | 313 | | (I) I |
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| 314 | 314 | | N GENERAL.—Except as pro-13 |
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| 315 | 315 | | vided in subclause (II), the Attorney 14 |
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| 316 | 316 | | General shall not make public any 15 |
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| 317 | 317 | | trade secret or any commercial or fi-16 |
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| 318 | 318 | | nancial information that is obtained 17 |
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| 319 | 319 | | from any person and that is privileged 18 |
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| 320 | 320 | | or confidential. 19 |
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| 321 | 321 | | (II) E |
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| 322 | 322 | | XCEPTION.—The Attorney 20 |
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| 323 | 323 | | General may disclose information de-21 |
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| 324 | 324 | | scribed in subclause (I) to— 22 |
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| 325 | 325 | | (aa) officers and employees 23 |
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| 326 | 326 | | of appropriate Federal law en-24 |
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| 327 | 327 | | forcement agencies or to any offi-25 |
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| 329 | 329 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 12 |
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| 330 | 330 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 331 | 331 | | cer or employee of any State law 1 |
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| 332 | 332 | | enforcement agency on the prior 2 |
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| 333 | 333 | | certification of an officer of any 3 |
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| 334 | 334 | | such Federal or State law en-4 |
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| 335 | 335 | | forcement agency that such infor-5 |
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| 336 | 336 | | mation will be maintained in con-6 |
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| 337 | 337 | | fidence and will be used only for 7 |
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| 338 | 338 | | official law enforcement purposes; 8 |
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| 339 | 339 | | or 9 |
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| 340 | 340 | | (bb) any officer or employee 10 |
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| 341 | 341 | | of any foreign law enforcement 11 |
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| 342 | 342 | | agency under the same cir-12 |
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| 343 | 343 | | cumstances that making material 13 |
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| 344 | 344 | | available to foreign law enforce-14 |
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| 345 | 345 | | ment agencies is permitted under 15 |
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| 346 | 346 | | section 21(b) of the Federal 16 |
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| 347 | 347 | | Trade Commission Act (15 17 |
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| 348 | 348 | | U.S.C. 57b–2(b)). 18 |
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| 349 | 349 | | (6) B |
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| 350 | 350 | | ENEFIT OF ANTITRUST DIVISION .—All 19 |
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| 351 | 351 | | FTC antitrust assets and FTC antitrust funding 20 |
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| 352 | 352 | | transferred under this subsection shall be for the ex-21 |
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| 353 | 353 | | clusive use and benefit of the Antitrust Division of 22 |
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| 354 | 354 | | the Department of Justice, except to the extent the 23 |
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| 355 | 355 | | FTC deputizes former FTC antitrust employees, 24 |
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| 356 | 356 | | with the consent of the Attorney General, to con-25 |
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| 359 | 359 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 360 | 360 | | tinue any FTC antitrust actions that are ongoing 1 |
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| 361 | 361 | | and unresolved before the effective date. 2 |
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| 362 | 362 | | (b) T |
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| 363 | 363 | | RANSITIONPERIOD.— 3 |
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| 364 | 364 | | (1) I |
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| 365 | 365 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-4 |
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| 366 | 366 | | graph (2), beginning on the effective date, the FTC 5 |
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| 367 | 367 | | may not— 6 |
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| 368 | 368 | | (A) hire or assign an employee to an FTC 7 |
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| 369 | 369 | | antitrust unit; 8 |
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| 370 | 370 | | (B) open a new investigation or matter 9 |
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| 371 | 371 | | within an FTC antitrust unit or relating to the 10 |
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| 372 | 372 | | antitrust laws or unfair methods of competition 11 |
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| 373 | 373 | | under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commis-12 |
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| 374 | 374 | | sion Act; 13 |
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| 375 | 375 | | (C) without the approval of the Attorney 14 |
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| 376 | 376 | | General, enter into a consent decree, enter into 15 |
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| 377 | 377 | | a settlement agreement, or otherwise resolve an 16 |
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| 378 | 378 | | FTC antitrust action; or 17 |
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| 379 | 379 | | (D) initiate a new FTC antitrust action. 18 |
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| 380 | 380 | | (2) E |
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| 381 | 381 | | NFORCEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE ATTOR -19 |
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| 382 | 382 | | NEY GENERAL .—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), 20 |
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| 383 | 383 | | during the transition period, the Attorney General 21 |
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| 384 | 384 | | may deputize an FTC antitrust employee to inves-22 |
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| 385 | 385 | | tigate or prosecute an alleged violation of the anti-23 |
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| 386 | 386 | | trust laws on behalf of the Attorney General before 24 |
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| 389 | 389 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 390 | 390 | | the completion of the transfer of personnel under 1 |
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| 391 | 391 | | subsection (a). 2 |
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| 392 | 392 | | (3) S |
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| 393 | 393 | | AME RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS .— 3 |
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| 394 | 394 | | (A) I |
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| 395 | 395 | | N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 4 |
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| 396 | 396 | | other provision of law, during the transition pe-5 |
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| 397 | 397 | | riod all Department of Justice employees under 6 |
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| 398 | 398 | | the supervision of the Attorney General shall 7 |
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| 399 | 399 | | have the same rights and obligations with re-8 |
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| 400 | 400 | | spect to confidential information submitted to 9 |
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| 401 | 401 | | the FTC as FTC antitrust employees on the 10 |
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| 402 | 402 | | day before the effective date. 11 |
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| 403 | 403 | | (B) R |
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| 404 | 404 | | ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in 12 |
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| 405 | 405 | | this paragraph may be construed as implying 13 |
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| 406 | 406 | | any change to the rights and obligations de-14 |
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| 407 | 407 | | scribed in subparagraph (A) as a result of this 15 |
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| 408 | 408 | | Act. 16 |
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| 409 | 409 | | (c) A |
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| 410 | 410 | | GREEMENTS.—The Attorney General, in con-17 |
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| 411 | 411 | | sultation with the Chairman of the FTC, shall— 18 |
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| 412 | 412 | | (1) review any agreements between the FTC 19 |
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| 413 | 413 | | and any other Federal agency or any foreign law en-20 |
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| 414 | 414 | | forcement agency; and 21 |
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| 415 | 415 | | (2) before the end of the transition period, seek 22 |
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| 416 | 416 | | to amend, transfer, or rescind such agreements as 23 |
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| 417 | 417 | | necessary and appropriate to carry out this Act, en-24 |
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| 420 | 420 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 421 | 421 | | deavoring to complete such amendment, transfer, or 1 |
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| 422 | 422 | | rescindment with all due haste. 2 |
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| 423 | 423 | | (d) R |
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| 424 | 424 | | ULES.—The Attorney General shall, pursuant 3 |
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| 425 | 425 | | to section 7A of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a) and in 4 |
|---|
| 426 | 426 | | accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 5 |
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| 427 | 427 | | prescribe or amend any rules as necessary to carry out 6 |
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| 428 | 428 | | the Clayton Act. 7 |
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| 429 | 429 | | SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 8 |
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| 430 | 430 | | (a) R |
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| 431 | 431 | | EQUIREMENTS TOCONSULTWITH ORSEEK 9 |
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| 432 | 432 | | THECONCURRENCE.—For any provision of law requiring 10 |
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| 433 | 433 | | an executive branch agency or independent agency to con-11 |
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| 434 | 434 | | sult with or seek the concurrence of the FTC or the Chair-12 |
|---|
| 435 | 435 | | man of the FTC, where such requirement relates to the 13 |
|---|
| 436 | 436 | | antitrust laws or unfair methods of competition under sec-14 |
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| 437 | 437 | | tion 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 15 |
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| 438 | 438 | | 45), as in effect on the day before the effective date, that 16 |
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| 439 | 439 | | requirement shall be transferred from the FTC or the 17 |
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| 440 | 440 | | Chairman of the FTC to the Attorney General. 18 |
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| 441 | 441 | | (b) P |
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| 442 | 442 | | REMERGERNOTIFICATIONFILINGS.— 19 |
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| 443 | 443 | | (1) FTC |
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| 444 | 444 | | PREMERGER NOTIFICATION FIL -20 |
|---|
| 445 | 445 | | INGS.—For any provision of law requiring notifica-21 |
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| 446 | 446 | | tion to the FTC, where such requirement relates to 22 |
|---|
| 447 | 447 | | the antitrust laws or unfair methods of competition 23 |
|---|
| 448 | 448 | | under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission 24 |
|---|
| 449 | 449 | | Act (15 U.S.C. 45), as in effect on the day before 25 |
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| 452 | 452 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 453 | 453 | | the effective date, that requirement for notification 1 |
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| 454 | 454 | | to the FTC shall be waived. 2 |
|---|
| 455 | 455 | | (2) D |
|---|
| 456 | 456 | | EPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PREMERGER NO -3 |
|---|
| 457 | 457 | | TIFICATION FILINGS.—Nothing in paragraph (b) 4 |
|---|
| 458 | 458 | | may be construed as implying any change to the re-5 |
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| 459 | 459 | | quirement for any required notification to the Attor-6 |
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| 460 | 460 | | ney General. 7 |
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| 461 | 461 | | (c) E |
|---|
| 462 | 462 | | XISTINGLITIGATION ORAPPEALS.—Notwith-8 |
|---|
| 463 | 463 | | standing any other provision of law, the Attorney General 9 |
|---|
| 464 | 464 | | shall not deny resources to the FTC or otherwise disrupt 10 |
|---|
| 465 | 465 | | existing litigation or appeals that are ongoing on the day 11 |
|---|
| 466 | 466 | | before the effective date. 12 |
|---|
| 467 | 467 | | (d) F |
|---|
| 468 | 468 | | UTUREACTIONS OFATTORNEYGENERAL.— 13 |
|---|
| 469 | 469 | | Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in 14 |
|---|
| 470 | 470 | | this Act may be construed to limit the powers of the Attor-15 |
|---|
| 471 | 471 | | ney General to enforce the antitrust laws. 16 |
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| 472 | 472 | | (e) F |
|---|
| 473 | 473 | | UTUREACTIONS OF THE FTC.—Notwith-17 |
|---|
| 474 | 474 | | standing any other provision of law, the FTC shall not 18 |
|---|
| 475 | 475 | | open new investigations or begin enforcement actions that 19 |
|---|
| 476 | 476 | | relates to the antitrust laws or unfair methods of competi-20 |
|---|
| 477 | 477 | | tion under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act 21 |
|---|
| 478 | 478 | | (15 U.S.C. 45), except as explicitly allowed in this Act 22 |
|---|
| 479 | 479 | | with the approval of the Attorney General and relating 23 |
|---|
| 480 | 480 | | to an investigation, litigation, appeal, or consent decree 24 |
|---|
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| 483 | 483 | | •HR 384 IH |
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| 484 | 484 | | that was ongoing or in place on the day before the effective 1 |
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| 485 | 485 | | date. 2 |
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| 486 | 486 | | SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3 |
|---|
| 487 | 487 | | Except as provided otherwise, this Act shall take ef-4 |
|---|
| 488 | 488 | | fect on the start of the first fiscal year that is at least 5 |
|---|
| 489 | 489 | | 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 6 |
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| 490 | 490 | | Æ |
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