Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB130 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 130
5	5	To reform the antitrust laws to better protect competition in the American
6	6	economy, to amend the Clayton Act to modify the standard for an
7	7	unlawful acquisition, to deter anticompetitive exclusionary conduct that
8	8	harms competition and consumers, to enhance the ability of the Depart-
9	9	ment of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the anti-
10	10	trust laws, and for other purposes.
11	11	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
12	12	JANUARY16, 2025
13	13	Ms. K
14	14	LOBUCHAR(for herself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr.
15	15	B
16	16	OOKER, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. WELCH, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.
17	17	M
18	18	URPHY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. WARNER, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr.
19	19	B
20	20	ENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
21	21	to the Committee on the Judiciary
22	22	A BILL
23	23	To reform the antitrust laws to better protect competition
24	24	in the American economy, to amend the Clayton Act
25	25	to modify the standard for an unlawful acquisition, to
26	26	deter anticompetitive exclusionary conduct that harms
27	27	competition and consumers, to enhance the ability of
28	28	the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Com-
29	29	mission to enforce the antitrust laws, and for other pur-
30	30	poses.
31	31	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
32	32	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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36	36	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
37	37	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Competition and Anti-2
38	38	trust Law Enforcement Reform Act of 2025’’. 3
39	39	SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 4
40	40	(a) F
41	41	INDINGS.—Congress finds that— 5
42	42	(1) competitive markets, in which multiple 6
43	43	firms compete to buy and sell products and services, 7
44	44	are critical to ensuring economic opportunity for all 8
45	45	people in the United States and providing resilience 9
46	46	to the economy during unpredictable times; 10
47	47	(2) when companies compete, businesses offer 11
48	48	the highest quality and choice of goods and services 12
49	49	for the lowest possible prices to consumers and other 13
50	50	businesses; 14
51	51	(3) competition fosters small business growth, 15
52	52	reduces economic inequality, and spurs innovation 16
53	53	and job creation; 17
54	54	(4) competitive markets are crucial for the 18
55	55	United States global economic competitiveness and 19
56	56	national security; 20
57	57	(5) in the United States economy today, the 21
58	58	presence and exercise of market power is substantial 22
59	59	and growing; 23
60	60	(6) the presence and exercise of market power 24
61	61	makes it more difficult for people in the United 25
62	62	States to start their own businesses, depresses 26
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66	66	wages, and increases economic inequality, with par-1
67	67	ticularly damaging effects on historically disadvan-2
68	68	taged communities; 3
69	69	(7) market power and undue market concentra-4
70	70	tion contribute to the consolidation of political 5
71	71	power, undermining the health of democracy in the 6
72	72	United States; 7
73	73	(8) the anticompetitive effects of monopoly 8
74	74	power or buyer market power include higher prices, 9
75	75	lower quality, lessened choice, reduced innovation, 10
76	76	foreclosure of competitors, and increased entry bar-11
77	77	riers; 12
78	78	(9) monopsony power or seller market power al-13
79	79	lows a firm to force suppliers of goods or services to 14
80	80	accept below market prices or to force workers to ac-15
81	81	cept below market wages, resulting in lower quality 16
82	82	products and services, reduced opportunities for sup-17
83	83	pliers and workers, reduced availability of products 18
84	84	and services for consumers, reduced innovation, fore-19
85	85	closure of competitors, and increased entry barriers; 20
86	86	(10) horizontal consolidation, vertical consolida-21
87	87	tion, and conglomerate mergers all have the poten-22
88	88	tial to increase market power and cause anticompeti-23
89	89	tive harm; 24
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93	93	(11) extensive consolidation is reducing com-1
94	94	petition and threatens to place the American dream 2
95	95	further out of reach for many consumers in the 3
96	96	United States; 4
97	97	(12) since 2008, firms in the United States 5
98	98	have engaged in over $10,000,000,000,000 in merg-6
99	99	ers and acquisitions; 7
100	100	(13) the acquisition of nascent or potential ri-8
101	101	vals by dominant firms can present significant long- 9
102	102	term threats to competition and innovation and 10
103	103	harm the global economic competitiveness of the 11
104	104	United States; 12
105	105	(14) the acquisition, by one of its competitors, 13
106	106	of a maverick firm that plays a disruptive role in the 14
107	107	market, by using an innovative business model or 15
108	108	technology, offering lower prices or new, different 16
109	109	products or services, or by other means that benefit 17
110	110	consumers, often presents a threat to competition; 18
111	111	(15) section 7 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 19
112	112	18) is the primary line of defense against anti-20
113	113	competitive mergers; 21
114	114	(16) in recent years, some court decisions and 22
115	115	enforcement policies have limited the vitality of the 23
116	116	Clayton Act to prevent harmful consolidation by— 24
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120	120	(A) discounting previously accepted pre-1
121	121	sumptions that certain acquisitions are anti-2
122	122	competitive; 3
123	123	(B) focusing inordinately on the effect of 4
124	124	an acquisition on price in the short term, to the 5
125	125	exclusion of other potential anticompetitive ef-6
126	126	fects; 7
127	127	(C) underestimating the dangers that hori-8
128	128	zontal, vertical, and conglomerate mergers will 9
129	129	lower quality, reduce choice, impede innovation, 10
130	130	exclude competitors, increase entry barriers, or 11
131	131	create buyer power, including monopsony 12
132	132	power; 13
133	133	(D) failing to properly account for direct 14
134	134	evidence of competitive harm, including intent 15
135	135	evidence; and 16
136	136	(E) requiring the government to prove 17
137	137	harmful effects of a proposed merger to a near 18
138	138	certainty; 19
139	139	(17) anticompetitive exclusionary conduct con-20
140	140	stitutes a particularly harmful exercise of market 21
141	141	power and a substantial threat to the United States 22
142	142	economy; 23
143	143	(18) when dominant sellers exercise market 24
144	144	power, they harm buyers by overcharging them, re-25
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148	148	ducing product or service quality, limiting their 1
149	149	choices, and impairing innovation; 2
150	150	(19) when dominant buyers exercise market 3
151	151	power, they harm suppliers by underpaying them, 4
152	152	limiting their business opportunities, and impairing 5
153	153	innovation; 6
154	154	(20) when dominant employers exercise market 7
155	155	power, they harm workers by paying them low 8
156	156	wages, reducing their benefits, and limiting their fu-9
157	157	ture employment opportunities; 10
158	158	(21) nascent or potential rivals, even those that 11
159	159	are unprofitable or inefficient, are an important 12
160	160	source of competitive discipline for dominant firms; 13
161	161	(22) antitrust enforcement against anticompeti-14
162	162	tive exclusionary conduct has been impeded when 15
163	163	courts have declined to rigorously examine the facts 16
164	164	in favor of relying on inaccurate economic assump-17
165	165	tions that are inconsistent with contemporary eco-18
166	166	nomic learning, such as presuming that market 19
167	167	power is not durable and can be expected to self-cor-20
168	168	rect, that monopolies can drive as much or more in-21
169	169	novation than a competitive market, that above-cost 22
170	170	pricing cannot harm competition, and other flawed 23
171	171	assumptions; 24
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175	175	(23) the courts of the United States have im-1
176	176	properly implied immunity from the antitrust laws 2
177	177	based on Federal regulatory statutes, even limiting 3
178	178	the application of statutory antitrust savings clauses 4
179	179	passed by Congress; 5
180	180	(24) the civil remedies currently available to 6
181	181	cure violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act, includ-7
182	182	ing injunctions, equitable monetary relief, and pri-8
183	183	vate damages, have not proven sufficient, on their 9
184	184	own, to deter anticompetitive conduct; 10
185	185	(25) in some cases, effective deterrence requires 11
186	186	the imposition of civil penalties, alone or in combina-12
187	187	tion with existing remedies, including structural re-13
188	188	lief, behavioral relief, private damages, and equitable 14
189	189	monetary relief, including disgorgement and restitu-15
190	190	tion; and 16
191	191	(26) Federal antitrust enforcement budgets 17
192	192	have failed to keep pace with the growth of the econ-18
193	193	omy and increasing demands on agency resources, 19
194	194	significantly undermining the ability of the Federal 20
195	195	antitrust agencies to fulfill their law enforcement 21
196	196	missions and contributing to the rise of market 22
197	197	power in the American economy. 23
198	198	(b) P
199	199	URPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 24
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203	203	(1) enhance competition throughout the Amer-1
204	204	ican economy by strengthening antitrust enforce-2
205	205	ment by the Department of Justice, the Federal 3
206	206	Trade Commission, the State enforcement agencies, 4
207	207	and private parties; 5
208	208	(2) revise the legal standard under section 7 of 6
209	209	the Clayton Act to better enable enforcers to arrest 7
210	210	the likely anticompetitive effects of harmful mergers 8
211	211	in their incipiency, as Congress intended, by clari-9
212	212	fying that the potential effects that may justify pro-10
213	213	hibiting a merger under the Clayton Act include 11
214	214	lower quality, reduced choice, reduced innovation, 12
215	215	the exclusion of competitors, or increased entry bar-13
216	216	riers, in addition to increased price to buyers or re-14
217	217	duced price to sellers; 15
218	218	(3) amend the Clayton Act to clarify that an 16
219	219	acquisition that tends to create a monopsony violates 17
220	220	the Clayton Act; 18
221	221	(4) establish simple, cost-effective decision rules 19
222	222	that require the parties to certain acquisitions that 20
223	223	either significantly increase concentration or are ex-21
224	224	tremely large bear the burden of establishing that 22
225	225	the acquisition will not materially harm competition; 23
226	226	(5) prohibit and deter exclusionary conduct that 24
227	227	harms competition, particularly by dominant firms; 25
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231	231	(6) enable the Department of Justice and the 1
232	232	Federal Trade Commission to seek civil monetary 2
233	233	penalties, in addition to existing remedies, for viola-3
234	234	tions of the Sherman Act; 4
235	235	(7) give the Department of Justice and the 5
236	236	Federal Trade Commission additional financial re-6
237	237	sources and enforcement tools to craft remedies for 7
238	238	individual violations that are effective to deter future 8
239	239	unlawful conduct and proportionate to the gravity of 9
240	240	the violation; 10
241	241	(8) provide further protections for those who 11
242	242	provide evidence of anticompetitive conduct to gov-12
243	243	ernment enforcers and potential financial rewards 13
244	244	for whistleblowers who provide information to the 14
245	245	government that leads to a criminal fine; and 15
246	246	(9) grant successful antitrust plaintiffs the 16
247	247	right to obtain prejudgment interest on damages 17
248	248	awards to further deter anticompetitive conduct and 18
249	249	increase compensation to injured parties. 19
250	250	SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 20
251	251	In this Act the term ‘‘antitrust laws’’— 21
252	252	(1) has the meaning given the term in the first 22
253	253	section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12); and 23
254	254	(2) includes— 24
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258	258	(A) section 5 of the Federal Trade Com-1
259	259	mission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that 2
260	260	such section applies to unfair methods of com-3
261	261	petition; and 4
262	262	(B) this Act and the amendments made by 5
263	263	this Act. 6
264	264	SEC. 4. UNLAWFUL ACQUISITIONS. 7
265	265	(a) M
266	266	ARKETPOWER.—Subsection (a) of the first sec-8
267	267	tion of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12) is amended by add-9
268	268	ing at the end the following: 10
269	269	‘‘The term ‘market power’ in this Act means the abil-11
270	270	ity of a person, or a group of persons acting in concert, 12
271	271	to profitably impose terms or conditions on counterparties, 13
272	272	including terms regarding price, quantity, product or serv-14
273	273	ice quality, or other terms affecting the value of consider-15
274	274	ation exchanged in the transaction, that are more favor-16
275	275	able to the person or group of persons imposing them than 17
276	276	what the person or group of persons could obtain in a com-18
277	277	petitive market.’’. 19
278	278	(b) U
279	279	NLAWFULACQUISITIONS.—Section 7 of the 20
280	280	Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18) is amended— 21
281	281	(1) in the first and second undesignated para-22
282	282	graphs, by striking ‘‘substantially to lessen’’ each 23
283	283	place that term appears and inserting ‘‘to create an 24
284	284	appreciable risk of materially lessening’’; 25
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288	288	(2) by inserting ‘‘or a monopsony’’ after ‘‘mo-1
289	289	nopoly’’ each place that term appears; and 2
290	290	(3) by adding at the end the following: 3
291	291	‘‘In a case brought by the United States, the Federal 4
292	292	Trade Commission, or a State attorney general, a court 5
293	293	shall determine that the effect of an acquisition described 6
294	294	in this section may be to create an appreciable risk of ma-7
295	295	terially lessening competition or to tend to create a monop-8
296	296	oly or a monopsony, in or affecting commerce, if— 9
297	297	‘‘(1) the acquisition would lead to a significant 10
298	298	increase in market concentration in any relevant 11
299	299	market; 12
300	300	‘‘(2) the acquisition would increase the ability 13
301	301	and incentive to engage in exclusionary conduct, as 14
302	302	defined in section 26A of the Clayton Act. 15
303	303	‘‘(3)(A) the acquiring person has a market 16
304	304	share of greater than 50 percent or otherwise has 17
305	305	significant market power, as a seller or a buyer, in 18
306	306	any relevant market, and as a result of the acquisi-19
307	307	tion, the acquiring person would obtain control over 20
308	308	entities or assets that compete or have a reasonable 21
309	309	probability of competing with the acquiring person 22
310	310	in the same relevant market; or 23
311	311	‘‘(B) as a result of the acquisition, the acquir-24
312	312	ing person would obtain control over entities or as-25
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316	316	sets that have a market share of greater than 50 1
317	317	percent or otherwise have significant market power, 2
318	318	as a seller or a buyer, in any relevant market, and 3
319	319	the acquiring person competes or has a reasonable 4
320	320	probability of competing with the entities or assets 5
321	321	over which it would obtain control, as a result of the 6
322	322	acquisition, in the same relevant market; 7
323	323	‘‘(4) the acquisition would lead to the combina-8
324	324	tion of entities or assets that compete or have a rea-9
325	325	sonable probability of competing in a relevant mar-10
326	326	ket, and either the acquiring person or the entities 11
327	327	or assets over which it would obtain control pre-12
328	328	vents, limits, or disrupts coordinated interaction 13
329	329	among competitors in a relevant market or has a 14
330	330	reasonable probability of doing so; 15
331	331	‘‘(5) the acquisition— 16
332	332	‘‘(A) would likely enable the acquiring per-17
333	333	son to unilaterally and profitably exercise mar-18
334	334	ket power or materially increase its ability to do 19
335	335	so; or 20
336	336	‘‘(B) would materially increase the prob-21
337	337	ability of coordinated interaction among com-22
338	338	petitors in any relevant market; or 23
339	339	‘‘(6)(A) the acquisition is not a transaction that 24
340	340	is described in section 7A(c); and 25
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344	344	‘‘(B)(i) as a result of such acquisition, the ac-1
345	345	quiring person would hold an aggregate total 2
346	346	amount of the voting securities and assets of the ac-3
347	347	quired person in excess of $5,000,000,000 (as ad-4
348	348	justed and published for each fiscal year beginning 5
349	349	after September 30, 2025, in the same manner as 6
350	350	provided in section 8(a)(5) to reflect the percentage 7
351	351	change in the gross national product for such fiscal 8
352	352	year compared to the gross national product for the 9
353	353	year ending September 30, 2024; or 10
354	354	‘‘(ii)(I) the person acquiring or the person being 11
355	355	acquired has assets, net annual sales, or a market 12
356	356	capitalization greater than $100,000,000,000 (as so 13
357	357	adjusted and published); and 14
358	358	‘‘(II) as a result of such acquisition, the acquir-15
359	359	ing person would hold an aggregate total amount of 16
360	360	the voting securities and assets of the acquired per-17
361	361	son in excess of $50,000,000 (as so adjusted and 18
362	362	published), 19
363	363	unless the acquiring or acquired person establishes, 20
364	364	by a preponderance of the evidence, that the effect 21
365	365	of the acquisition will not be to create an appreciable 22
366	366	risk of materially lessening competition or will not 23
367	367	tend to create a monopoly or a monopsony. In this 24
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371	371	paragraph, the term ‘materially’ means more than a 1
372	372	de minimis amount’’. 2
373	373	SEC. 5. POST-PROCEEDING DATA. 3
374	374	Section 7A of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a) is 4
375	375	amended by adding at the end the following: 5
376	376	‘‘(l)(1) Each person who resolves a proceeding 6
377	377	brought under the antitrust laws by the Federal Trade 7
378	378	Commission or United States by entering into an agree-8
379	379	ment or by the final judgment in a Federal or administra-9
380	380	tive court regarding an acquisition with respect to which 10
381	381	notification is required under this section shall, on an an-11
382	382	nual basis during the 5-year period beginning on the date 12
383	383	on which the agreement is entered into, file with the Fed-13
384	384	eral Trade Commission or the Assistant Attorney General, 14
385	385	as applicable, and the Competition Advocate, information 15
386	386	sufficient for the Federal Trade Commission or the United 16
387	387	States, as applicable, to assess the competitive impact of 17
388	388	the acquisition, including— 18
389	389	‘‘(A) the pricing, availability, and quality of any 19
390	390	product or service, or inputs thereto, in any market, 20
391	391	that was covered by the agreement; 21
392	392	‘‘(B) the source, and the resulting magnitude 22
393	393	and extent, of any cost-saving efficiencies or any 23
394	394	benefits to consumers or trading partners that were 24
395	395	claimed as a benefit of the acquisition and the extent 25
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399	399	to which any cost savings were passed on to con-1
400	400	sumers or trading partners; and 2
401	401	‘‘(C) the effectiveness of any divestitures or any 3
402	402	conditions placed on the acquisition in fully restoring 4
403	403	competition. 5
404	404	‘‘(2) The requirement to provide the information de-6
405	405	scribed in paragraph (1) shall be included in an agreement 7
406	406	described in that paragraph. 8
407	407	‘‘(3) The Federal Trade Commission, with the con-9
408	408	currence of the Assistant Attorney General, by rule in ac-10
409	409	cordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 11
410	410	and consistent with the purposes of this section— 12
411	411	‘‘(A) shall require that the information de-13
412	412	scribed in paragraph (1) be in such form and con-14
413	413	tain such documentary material and information rel-15
414	414	evant to an acquisition as is necessary and appro-16
415	415	priate to enable the Federal Trade Commission and 17
416	416	the Assistant Attorney General to assess the com-18
417	417	petitive impact of the acquisition under paragraph 19
418	418	(1); and 20
419	419	‘‘(B) may— 21
420	420	‘‘(i) define the terms used in this sub-22
421	421	section; 23
422	422	‘‘(ii) exempt, from the requirements of this 24
423	423	section, information not relevant in assessing 25
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427	427	the competitive impact of the acquisition under 1
428	428	paragraph (1); and 2
429	429	‘‘(iii) prescribe such other rules as may be 3
430	430	necessary and appropriate to carry out the pur-4
431	431	poses of this section.’’. 5
432	432	‘‘(4) The chief executive officer, chief financial offi-6
433	433	cer, general counsel, or a corporate officer of similar au-7
434	434	thority shall certify, under penalty of perjury, the accuracy 8
435	435	of a report under this subsection.’’. 9
436	436	SEC. 6. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION STUDY. 10
437	437	(a) I
438	438	NGENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 11
439	439	date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commis-12
440	440	sion, in consultation with the Securities and Exchange 13
441	441	Commission, shall conduct and publish a study, pursuant 14
442	442	to section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, rely-15
443	443	ing on public data and information if available and suffi-16
444	444	cient, and incorporating public comment on— 17
445	445	(1) the extent to which an institutional investor 18
446	446	or related institutional investors have ownership or 19
447	447	control interests in competitors in moderately con-20
448	448	centrated or concentrated markets; 21
449	449	(2) the impacts of such overlapping ownership 22
450	450	or control on competition; and 23
451	451	(3) the mechanisms by which an institutional 24
452	452	investor could affect competition among the compa-25
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456	456	nies in which it invests and whether such mecha-1
457	457	nisms are prevalent. 2
458	458	(b) E
459	459	XEMPTIONFROMPAPERWORK REDUCTION 3
460	460	A
461	461	CT.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, shall 4
462	462	not apply to the collection of information under subsection 5
463	463	(a). 6
464	464	SEC. 7. GAO STUDIES. 7
465	465	(a) I
466	466	NGENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 8
467	467	the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 9
468	468	of the United States shall— 10
469	469	(1) conduct and publish a study to assess the 11
470	470	success of merger remedies required by the Depart-12
471	471	ment of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission in 13
472	472	consent decrees entered into during the 8-year pe-14
473	473	riod ending on the date on which the study is con-15
474	474	ducted, including the impact on maintaining com-16
475	475	petition, a comparison of structural and conduct 17
476	476	remedies, and the viability of divested assets; and 18
477	477	(2) conduct a study on the impact of mergers 19
478	478	and acquisitions on wages, employment, innovation, 20
479	479	and new business formation. 21
480	480	(b) U
481	481	PDATE.—The Comptroller General of the 22
482	482	United States shall— 23
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486	486	(1) update the study under subsection (a)(1) 1
487	487	every 4 years after the date of enactment of this 2
488	488	Act, as added by section 5 of this Act; and 3
489	489	(2) identify specific remedies or alleged merger 4
490	490	benefits that require additional information or re-5
491	491	search. 6
492	492	SEC. 8. OFFICE OF COMPETITION ADVOCATE. 7
493	493	(a) D
494	494	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 8
495	495	(1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 9
496	496	the term in section 551 of title 5, United States 10
497	497	Code; 11
498	498	(2) the term ‘‘Chair’’ means the Chair of the 12
499	499	Commission; 13
500	500	(3) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 14
501	501	Trade Commission; 15
502	502	(4) the term ‘‘covered company’’ means any 16
503	503	company that has, at any time, been required to 17
504	504	make a filing under section 7A of the Clayton Act 18
505	505	(15 U.S.C. 18a); and 19
506	506	(5) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of the 20
507	507	Competition Advocate established under subsection 21
508	508	(b). 22
509	509	(b) E
510	510	STABLISHMENT.—There is established within 23
511	511	the Federal Trade Commission the Office of the Competi-24
512	512	tion Advocate. 25
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515	515	•S 130 IS
516	516	(c) COMPETITIONADVOCATE.— 1
517	517	(1) I
518	518	N GENERAL.—The head of the Office shall 2
519	519	be the Competition Advocate, who shall— 3
520	520	(A) report directly to, and be under the su-4
521	521	pervision of, the Chair, but the Chair shall not 5
522	522	prevent or prohibit the Competition Advocate 6
523	523	from initiating, carrying out, or completing any 7
524	524	of its duties under this section; 8
525	525	(B) be appointed by the Chair with the ap-9
526	526	proval of the Commission, including at least 1 10
527	527	Commissioner who is not a member of the same 11
528	528	political party as the Chair, from among indi-12
529	529	viduals having experience in advocating for the 13
530	530	promotion of competition; and 14
531	531	(C) serve a term of 7 years and shall not 15
532	532	be removable except upon a unanimous vote of 16
533	533	the Commission. 17
534	534	(2) C
535	535	OMPENSATION.—The annual rate of pay 18
536	536	for the Competition Advocate shall be equal to the 19
537	537	highest rate of annual pay for other senior execu-20
538	538	tives who report to the Chair of the Commission. 21
539	539	(3) L
540	540	IMITATION ON SERVICE .—An individual 22
541	541	who serves as the Competition Advocate may not be 23
542	542	employed by the Commission— 24
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546	546	(A) during the 2-year period ending on the 1
547	547	date of appointment as Competition Advocate; 2
548	548	and 3
549	549	(B) during the 5-year period beginning on 4
550	550	the date on which the person ceases to serve as 5
551	551	the Competition Advocate. 6
552	552	(d) S
553	553	TAFF OFOFFICE.—The Commission shall allo-7
554	554	cate funds from the Commission budget to the Office of 8
555	555	the Competition Advocate sufficient for the Competition 9
556	556	Advocate to retain or employ such counsel, research staff, 10
557	557	and service staff necessary to carry out the functions, pow-11
558	558	ers, and duties of the Office. 12
559	559	(e) D
560	560	UTIES ANDPOWERS.—The Competition Advo-13
561	561	cate shall— 14
562	562	(1) recommend processes or procedures that 15
563	563	will allow the Federal Trade Commission and the 16
564	564	Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice to 17
565	565	improve the ability of each agency to solicit reports 18
566	566	from consumers, small businesses, and workers 19
567	567	about possible anticompetitive practices or adverse 20
568	568	effects of concentration; 21
569	569	(2) provide recommendations to other agencies 22
570	570	about agency actions that may have anticompetitive 23
571	571	effects and the potential harm to competition; 24
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575	575	(3) provide recommendations to other agencies 1
576	576	about agency actions that may have procompetitive 2
577	577	effects and the potential benefit to competition; 3
578	578	(4) publish periodic reports on— 4
579	579	(A) the effects of remedies required by the 5
580	580	Department of Justice or the Federal Trade 6
581	581	Commission in consent decrees; 7
582	582	(B) the effects of law enforcement actions, 8
583	583	whether successful or not, including settle-9
584	584	ments, preliminary injunctions, court-mandated 10
585	585	remedies, or any other remedy imposed by a 11
586	586	court or agreed to by the Department of Justice 12
587	587	or Federal Trade Commission; 13
588	588	(C) the effects of a decision by the Depart-14
589	589	ment of Justice or the Federal Trade Commis-15
590	590	sion to allow any merger or transaction to move 16
591	591	forward without a consent decree or bringing a 17
592	592	law enforcement action; 18
593	593	(D) the effects of decisions and opinions 19
594	594	issues by State and Federal courts related to 20
595	595	the antitrust laws on competition and the fu-21
596	596	ture enforcement of the antitrust laws; and 22
597	597	(E) the effects of other agency actions, in-23
598	598	cluding rulemakings, on competition; 24
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602	602	(5) provide recommendations to the Federal 1
603	603	Trade Commission and Department of Justice about 2
604	604	the effectiveness of policy statements, guidelines, or 3
605	605	practices to improve the enforcement of the antitrust 4
606	606	laws; 5
607	607	(6) report any evidence the Competition Advo-6
608	608	cate obtains that any person, partnership, or cor-7
609	609	poration has engaged in transactions or conduct that 8
610	610	may constitute of a violation of the antitrust laws, 9
611	611	or any settlement, agreement, or consent decree re-10
612	612	lated to a potential violation of the antitrust laws, to 11
613	613	the Commission, which may institute further inves-12
614	614	tigation, initiate enforcement proceedings, or refer 13
615	615	such evidence to the Attorney General; 14
616	616	(7) request such information or assistance as 15
617	617	may be necessary for carrying out the duties and 16
618	618	powers described in this subsection from any agency 17
619	619	or unit thereof, including the Commission. The head 18
620	620	of any agency shall, insofar as is practicable and not 19
621	621	in contravention of any existing statutory restriction 20
622	622	or regulation of the agency from which the informa-21
623	623	tion is requested, furnish to the Competition Advo-22
624	624	cate such information or assistance; 23
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627	627	•S 130 IS
628	628	(8) have discretion to decide whether to release 1
629	629	the recommendations of the Competition Advocate 2
630	630	publicly; 3
631	631	(9) have access to all information and data col-4
632	632	lected and retained by the Office of Market Analysis 5
633	633	and Data; and 6
634	634	(10) submit all recommendations or reports to 7
635	635	the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 8
636	636	the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 9
637	637	Representatives. 10
638	638	(f) S
639	639	UBPOENAAUTHORITY.— 11
640	640	(1) I
641	641	N GENERAL.—The Competition Advocate 12
642	642	may either accept voluntary submissions of periodic 13
643	643	and other reports from any covered company, or 14
644	644	compel the production of such a report by subpoena 15
645	645	for the purpose of carrying out its duties and powers 16
646	646	in subsection (e). 17
647	647	(2) I
648	648	NDEPENDENT SUBPOENA AUTHORITY .— 18
649	649	Upon a finding that a covered company will not sub-19
650	650	mit, or has not submitted, a sufficient report volun-20
651	651	tarily, the Competition Advocate may, under its own 21
652	652	independent authority, and notwithstanding any ju-22
653	653	risdictional limitations in the Federal Trade Com-23
654	654	mission Act applicable to the Commission’s inves-24
655	655	tigative authority, compel the submission of a peri-25
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658	658	•S 130 IS
659	659	odic or other reports from any covered company by 1
660	660	issuing a subpoena. 2
661	661	(3) E
662	662	NFORCEMENT.—The Competition Advo-3
663	663	cate shall have independent authority to bring an ac-4
664	664	tion in any appropriate Federal court to enforce any 5
665	665	subpoena issued under this subsection. 6
666	666	(4) W
667	667	RITTEN FINDING.—Before issuing a sub-7
668	668	poena to collect the information described in para-8
669	669	graph (1), the Competition Advocate shall make a 9
670	670	written finding that— 10
671	671	(A) the data is required to carry out the 11
672	672	functions of the Competition Advocate; and 12
673	673	(B) the information is not available from a 13
674	674	public source, from the covered company on a 14
675	675	voluntary basis, or another agency. 15
676	676	(5) M
677	677	ITIGATION OF REPORT BURDEN .—Before 16
678	678	requiring the submission of a report from any cov-17
679	679	ered company, the Competition Advocate shall— 18
680	680	(A) coordinate with other agencies or au-19
681	681	thority; and 20
682	682	(B) whenever possible, rely on information 21
683	683	available from such agencies or authority. 22
684	684	(6) C
685	685	ONFIDENTIALITY.—Information reported 23
686	686	to or otherwise obtained by the Competition Advo-24
687	687	cate shall be subject to the same confidentiality re-25
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690	690	•S 130 IS
691	691	quirements and protection applicable to information 1
692	692	reported to or otherwise obtained by the Commis-2
693	693	sion. 3
694	694	SEC. 9. OFFICE OF MARKET ANALYSIS AND DATA. 4
695	695	(a) E
696	696	STABLISHMENT.—There is established, within 5
697	697	the Federal Trade Commission, an Office of Market Anal-6
698	698	ysis and Data. 7
699	699	(b) D
700	700	UTIES.—The Office of Market Analysis and 8
701	701	Data shall, in consultation with the Bureau of Economics, 9
702	702	assist the Federal Trade Commission in— 10
703	703	(1) collecting, validating, and maintaining data 11
704	704	obtained from agencies, as defined in section 551 of 12
705	705	title 5, United States Code, commercial data pro-13
706	706	viders, publicly available data sources, any covered 14
707	707	company, and any data obtained by the Commission 15
708	708	pursuant to its authority under section 6(b) of the 16
709	709	Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46(b)), 17
710	710	for the purpose of carrying out the functions in 18
711	711	paragraphs (2) through (6); 19
712	712	(2) preparing and publishing, in a manner that 20
713	713	is easily accessible to the public— 21
714	714	(A) a concentration database; 22
715	715	(B) a merger enforcement database; and 23
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719	719	(C) any other database that the Commis-1
720	720	sion determines is necessary to carry out the 2
721	721	duties of the Office; 3
722	722	(3) collecting and publishing data regarding 4
723	723	concentration levels across industries and the impact 5
724	724	and degree of antitrust enforcement; 6
725	725	(4) standardizing the types and formats of data 7
726	726	reported and collected, including standards for re-8
727	727	porting financial transaction and position data; 9
728	728	(5) publishing reports regarding competitive 10
729	729	conditions and dynamics affecting markets or indus-11
730	730	try sectors, in the United States, local geographic 12
731	731	markets, different demographic and socioeconomic 13
732	732	groups (including the effects that market concentra-14
733	733	tion, mergers and acquisitions, certain types of 15
734	734	agreements, and other forms of business conduct 16
735	735	have on competition), consumers, workers, innova-17
736	736	tion, the economic competitiveness of the United 18
737	737	States, economic resilience, and national security; 19
738	738	and 20
739	739	(6) publishing reports concerning the competi-21
740	740	tive effects of acquisitions, which shall include rec-22
741	741	ommendations concerning appropriate enforcement 23
742	742	action to remedy any anticompetitive effects discov-24
743	743	ered, and may include assessments of— 25
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746	746	•S 130 IS
747	747	(A) the conditions of the relevant markets 1
748	748	affected by the acquisition, over the period since 2
749	749	the acquisition was consummated, including, 3
750	750	but not limited to, the potential impact that the 4
751	751	acquisition has had on— 5
752	752	(i) the prices of goods or services, in-6
753	753	cluding wages in any affected labor mar-7
754	754	kets; 8
755	755	(ii) the output and quality of goods 9
756	756	and services; 10
757	757	(iii) the entry or exit of competitors; 11
758	758	(iv) innovation; 12
759	759	(v) consumer choice and product vari-13
760	760	ety; 14
761	761	(vi) the opportunity of suppliers and 15
762	762	vendors to sell their products or services; 16
763	763	(vii) coordinated interaction between 17
764	764	competitors; and 18
765	765	(viii) subsequent mergers and acquisi-19
766	766	tions activity; 20
767	767	(B) whether the acquiring person or its 21
768	768	successors in interest— 22
769	769	(i) complied with all obligations under 23
770	770	any agreement with the Federal Trade 24
771	771	Commission, the United States, or State 25
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774	774	•S 130 IS
775	775	law enforcement authorities to resolve a 1
776	776	proceeding brought under the antitrust 2
777	777	laws; and 3
778	778	(ii) achieved measurable, transaction- 4
779	779	specific efficiencies, which did not arise 5
780	780	from anticompetitive reductions of output, 6
781	781	as a result of the acquisition; and 7
782	782	(C) whether any agreements with the Fed-8
783	783	eral Trade Commission or the United States or 9
784	784	remedies imposed by a Federal court to resolve 10
785	785	a proceeding brought under the antitrust laws 11
786	786	regarding the acquisition was effective in miti-12
787	787	gating the anticompetitive effects from the ac-13
788	788	quisition. 14
789	789	(c) I
790	790	NFORMATIONSECURITY.—The Commission shall 15
791	791	ensure that data collected and maintained by the Office 16
792	792	of Market Analysis and Data is kept secure and protected 17
793	793	against unauthorized disclosure. 18
794	794	(d) R
795	795	EGULATIONS.—The Commission may, under 19
796	796	section 553 of title 5, United States Code, promulgate reg-20
797	797	ulations relating to the collection and standardizing of 21
798	798	data under subsection (b). 22
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802	802	SEC. 10. EXCLUSIONARY CONDUCT. 1
803	803	(a) I
804	804	NGENERAL.—The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 2
805	805	et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 26 (15 3
806	806	U.S.C. 26a) the following: 4
807	807	‘‘SEC. 26A. EXCLUSIONARY CONDUCT. 5
808	808	‘‘(a) D
809	809	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 6
810	810	‘‘(1) E
811	811	XCLUSIONARY CONDUCT .— 7
812	812	‘‘(A) I
813	813	N GENERAL.—The term ‘exclu-8
814	814	sionary conduct’ means conduct that— 9
815	815	‘‘(i) materially disadvantages 1 or 10
816	816	more actual or potential competitors; or 11
817	817	‘‘(ii) tends to foreclose or limit the 12
818	818	ability or incentive of 1 or more actual or 13
819	819	potential competitors to compete. 14
820	820	‘‘(B) L
821	821	IMITATIONS.— 15
822	822	‘‘(i) I
823	823	N GENERAL.—Applying for or 16
824	824	enforcing a patent, trademark, or copy-17
825	825	right, unless such applications or enforce-18
826	826	ment actions are baseless or made in bad 19
827	827	faith or in violation of a legal obligation, 20
828	828	shall not alone constitute exclusionary con-21
829	829	duct, but such actions may be considered 22
830	830	as part of a course of conduct that con-23
831	831	stitutes exclusionary conduct. 24
832	832	‘‘(ii) C
833	833	ONDUCT.—Conduct that is nec-25
834	834	essary to comply with Federal or State law 26
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838	838	shall not alone constitute exclusionary con-1
839	839	duct, but such actions may be considered 2
840	840	as part of a course of conduct that con-3
841	841	stitutes exclusionary conduct. 4
842	842	‘‘(2) M
843	843	ARKET POWER .—The term ‘market 5
844	844	power’ means the ability of a person, or a group of 6
845	845	persons acting in concert, to profitably impose terms 7
846	846	or conditions on counterparties, including terms re-8
847	847	garding price, quantity, product or service quality, 9
848	848	or other terms affecting the value of consideration 10
849	849	exchanged in the transaction, that are more favor-11
850	850	able to the person or group of persons imposing 12
851	851	them than what the person or group of persons 13
852	852	could obtain in a competitive market. 14
853	853	‘‘(b) V
854	854	IOLATION.— 15
855	855	‘‘(1) I
856	856	N GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 16
857	857	person, acting alone or in concert with other per-17
858	858	sons, to engage in exclusionary conduct that pre-18
859	859	sents an appreciable risk of harming competition. 19
860	860	‘‘(2) U
861	861	NFAIR METHOD OF COMPETITION .—A 20
862	862	violation of paragraph (1) shall also constitute an 21
863	863	unfair method of competition under section 5 of the 22
864	864	Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45). 23
865	865	‘‘(c) P
866	866	RESUMPTION.— 24
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870	870	‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-1
871	871	graph (2), exclusionary conduct shall be presumed to 2
872	872	present an appreciable risk of harming competition 3
873	873	and shall be a violation of subsection (b)(1) if the 4
874	874	exclusionary conduct is undertaken, with respect to 5
875	875	a relevant market, by a person or by a group of 6
876	876	more than 1 person acting in concert that— 7
877	877	‘‘(A) has a market share of greater than 8
878	878	50 percent as a seller or a buyer in the relevant 9
879	879	market; or 10
880	880	‘‘(B) otherwise has significant market 11
881	881	power in the relevant market. 12
882	882	‘‘(2) E
883	883	XCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 13
884	884	apply if the defendant establishes, by a preponder-14
885	885	ance of the evidence, that— 15
886	886	‘‘(A) distinct procompetitive benefits of the 16
887	887	exclusionary conduct in the relevant market 17
888	888	eliminate the risk of harming competition pre-18
889	889	sented by the exclusionary conduct; 19
890	890	‘‘(B) 1 or more persons, not including any 20
891	891	person participating in or facilitating the exclu-21
892	892	sionary conduct, have entered or expanded their 22
893	893	presence in the market with the effect of elimi-23
894	894	nating the risk of harming competition posed by 24
895	895	the exclusionary conduct; or 25
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899	899	‘‘(C) the exclusionary conduct does not 1
900	900	present an appreciable risk of harming competi-2
901	901	tion. 3
902	902	‘‘(d) C
903	903	ONSIDERATIONS.—If the presumption in sub-4
904	904	section (c) does not apply, the determination of whether 5
905	905	exclusionary conduct presents an appreciable risk of harm-6
906	906	ing competition shall be based on the totality of the cir-7
907	907	cumstances, which may include consideration of— 8
908	908	‘‘(1) the extent to which any distinct procom-9
909	909	petitive benefits of the exclusionary conduct substan-10
910	910	tially eliminate the risk of harming competition pre-11
911	911	sented by the exclusionary conduct; and 12
912	912	‘‘(2) whether 1 or more persons, not including 13
913	913	any person participating in or facilitating the exclu-14
914	914	sionary conduct, have entered or expanded their 15
915	915	presence in the market, substantially eliminating the 16
916	916	risk of harming competition presented by the exclu-17
917	917	sionary conduct. 18
918	918	‘‘(e) L
919	919	IMITATIONS.—Although the following cir-19
920	920	cumstances may constitute evidence of a violation of sub-20
921	921	section (b)(1), such violation does not require finding— 21
922	922	‘‘(1) that the unilateral conduct of the defend-22
923	923	ant altered or terminated a prior course of dealing 23
924	924	between the defendant and a person subject to the 24
925	925	exclusionary conduct; 25
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929	929	‘‘(2) that the defendant treated persons subject 1
930	930	to the exclusionary conduct differently than the de-2
931	931	fendant treated other persons; 3
932	932	‘‘(3) that any price of the defendant for a prod-4
933	933	uct or service was below any measure of the costs 5
934	934	to the defendant of providing the product or service; 6
935	935	‘‘(4) that a defendant with significant market 7
936	936	power in a relevant market has recouped or is likely 8
937	937	to recoup the losses it incurred or incurs from below- 9
938	938	cost pricing for products or services in the relevant 10
939	939	market; 11
940	940	‘‘(5) that the conduct of the defendant makes 12
941	941	no economic sense apart from its tendency to harm 13
942	942	competition; 14
943	943	‘‘(6) that the risk of harming competition pre-15
944	944	sented by the conduct of the defendant or any re-16
945	945	sulting actual harm to competition have been quan-17
946	946	tified or proven with quantitative evidence; or 18
947	947	‘‘(7) that when a defendant operates a multi- 19
948	948	sided platform business, the conduct of the defend-20
949	949	ant presents an appreciable risk of harming competi-21
950	950	tion on more than 1 side of the multi-sided platform. 22
951	951	‘‘(f) C
952	952	IVILPENALTIES.—Any person who violates 23
953	953	subsection (b)(1) shall be liable to the United States for 24
954	954	a civil penalty, which may be recovered in a civil action 25
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957	957	•S 130 IS
958	958	brought by the Attorney General of the United States, of 1
959	959	not more than the greater of— 2
960	960	‘‘(1) 15 percent of the total United States reve-3
961	961	nues of the person for the previous calendar year; or 4
962	962	‘‘(2) 30 percent of the United States revenues 5
963	963	of the person in any line of commerce affected or 6
964	964	targeted by the unlawful conduct during the period 7
965	965	of the unlawful conduct.’’. 8
966	966	(b) F
967	967	EDERALTRADECOMMISSIONAUTHORITY.— 9
968	968	(1) I
969	969	N GENERAL.—The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 10
970	970	12 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 11
971	971	26A, as added by subsection (a), the following: 12
972	972	‘‘SEC. 26B. CIVIL PENALTIES. 13
973	973	‘‘(a) C
974	974	IVILPENALTY FORVIOLATION OFSECTION 14
975	975	26A
976	976	OF THECLAYTONACT.—The Commission may com-15
977	977	mence a civil action in a district court of the United States 16
978	978	against any person, partnership, or corporation who vio-17
979	979	lates section 26A(b)(1) to recover a civil penalty, which 18
980	980	shall accrue to the United States, in an amount not more 19
981	981	than the greater of— 20
982	982	‘‘(1) 15 percent of the total United States reve-21
983	983	nues of the person, partnership, or corporation for 22
984	984	the previous calendar year; or 23
985	985	‘‘(2) 30 percent of the United States revenues 24
986	986	of the person, partnership, or corporation in any line 25
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989	989	•S 130 IS
990	990	of commerce affected or targeted by the unlawful 1
991	991	conduct during the period of the unlawful conduct. 2
992	992	‘‘(b) C
993	993	OMMISSIONLITIGATIONAUTHORITY.—Except 3
994	994	as otherwise provided in section 16(a)(3) of the Federal 4
995	995	Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 56(a)(3)), the Commis-5
996	996	sion shall have exclusive authority to commence or defend, 6
997	997	and supervise the litigation of, any civil action authorized 7
998	998	under section 26A and any appeal of such action in its 8
999	999	own name by any of its attorneys designated by it for such 9
1000	1000	purpose, unless the Commission authorizes the Attorney 10
1001	1001	General to do so. The Commission shall inform the Attor-11
1002	1002	ney General of the exercise of such authority, and such 12
1003	1003	exercise shall not preclude the Attorney General from in-13
1004	1004	tervening on behalf of the United States in such action 14
1005	1005	and any appeal of such action as may be otherwise pro-15
1006	1006	vided by law.’’. 16
1007	1007	(c) E
1008	1008	NFORCEMENTGUIDELINES.— 17
1009	1009	(1) I
1010	1010	N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 18
1011	1011	the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen-19
1012	1012	eral and the Federal Trade Commission shall issue 20
1013	1013	joint guidelines outlining policies, practices, and ana-21
1014	1014	lytical techniques relating to agency enforcement 22
1015	1015	under section 26A of the Clayton Act, as added by 23
1016	1016	subsection (a) of this section, with the goal of pro-24
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1019	1019	•S 130 IS
1020	1020	moting transparency and deterring violations of such 1
1021	1021	section 26A. 2
1022	1022	(2) U
1023	1023	PDATES.—The Attorney General and the 3
1024	1024	Federal Trade Commission shall update the joint 4
1025	1025	guidelines issued under subsection (a), as needed to 5
1026	1026	reflect current agency policies and practices, but not 6
1027	1027	less frequently than once every 5 years beginning on 7
1028	1028	the date of enactment of this Act. 8
1029	1029	(3) P
1030	1030	UBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT .— 9
1031	1031	(A) G
1032	1032	UIDELINES.—Before issuing guide-10
1033	1033	lines under paragraph (1) or (2), the Attorney 11
1034	1034	General and the Federal Trade Commission 12
1035	1035	shall publish proposed guidelines in draft form 13
1036	1036	and provide public notice and opportunity for 14
1037	1037	comment for not less than 60 days after the 15
1038	1038	date on which the guidelines are published. 16
1039	1039	(B) I
1040	1040	NAPPLICABILITY OF RULEMAKING 17
1041	1041	PROVISIONS.—The provisions of section 553 of 18
1042	1042	title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to 19
1043	1043	the guidelines issued under this section. 20
1044	1044	SEC. 11. PENALTIES FOR SHERMAN ACT VIOLATIONS. 21
1045	1045	(a) C
1046	1046	IVILPENALTYAMENDMENTS.— 22
1047	1047	(1) S
1048	1048	ECTION 1 OF THE SHERMAN ACT .—Section 23
1049	1049	1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. 1) is 24
1050	1050	amended— 25
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1053	1053	•S 130 IS
1054	1054	(A) by striking ‘‘Every’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 1
1055	1055	Every’’; and 2
1056	1056	(B) by adding at the end the following: 3
1057	1057	‘‘(b)(1) Every person who violates this section shall 4
1058	1058	be liable to the United States for a civil or criminal penalty 5
1059	1059	of not more than the greater of— 6
1060	1060	‘‘(A) 15 percent of the total United States reve-7
1061	1061	nues of the person for the previous calendar year; or 8
1062	1062	‘‘(B) 30 percent of the United States revenues 9
1063	1063	of the person in any part of the trade or commerce 10
1064	1064	related to or targeted by the unlawful conduct under 11
1065	1065	this section during the period of the unlawful con-12
1066	1066	duct. 13
1067	1067	‘‘(2) A penalty under this section may be recovered 14
1068	1068	in a civil or criminal action brought by the United 15
1069	1069	States.’’. 16
1070	1070	(2) S
1071	1071	ECTION 2 OF THE SHERMAN ACT .—Section 17
1072	1072	2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. 2) is 18
1073	1073	amended— 19
1074	1074	(A) by striking ‘‘Every’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 20
1075	1075	Every’’; and 21
1076	1076	(B) by adding at the end the following 22
1077	1077	‘‘(b)(1) Every person who violates this section shall 23
1078	1078	be liable to the United States for a civil penalty of not 24
1079	1079	more than the greater of— 25
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1082	1082	•S 130 IS
1083	1083	‘‘(A) 15 percent of the total United States reve-1
1084	1084	nues of the person for the previous calendar year; or 2
1085	1085	‘‘(B) 30 percent of the United States revenues 3
1086	1086	of the person in any part of the trade or commerce 4
1087	1087	related to or targeted by the unlawful conduct under 5
1088	1088	this section during the period of the unlawful con-6
1089	1089	duct. 7
1090	1090	‘‘(2) A civil penalty under this section may be recov-8
1091	1091	ered in a civil action brought by the United States.’’. 9
1092	1092	(3) S
1093	1093	ECTION 5 OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COM -10
1094	1094	MISSION ACT.—Section 5 of the Federal Trade Com-11
1095	1095	mission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) is amended by adding at 12
1096	1096	the end the following: 13
1097	1097	‘‘(o)(1) The Commission may commence a civil action 14
1098	1098	in a district court of the United States against any person, 15
1099	1099	partnership, or corporation for a violation of subsection 16
1100	1100	(a)(1) respecting an unfair method of competition that 17
1101	1101	constitutes a violation of sections 1 or 2 of the Sherman 18
1102	1102	Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 2) and to recover a civil penalty for 19
1103	1103	such violation. 20
1104	1104	‘‘(2) In an action under paragraph (1), any person, 21
1105	1105	partnership, or corporation found to have violated sub-22
1106	1106	section (a)(1) respecting an unfair method of competition 23
1107	1107	that constitutes a violation of section 1 or 2 of the Sher-24
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1110	1110	•S 130 IS
1111	1111	man Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 2) shall be liable for a civil penalty 1
1112	1112	of not more than the greater of— 2
1113	1113	‘‘(A) 15 percent of the total United States reve-3
1114	1114	nues of the person, partnership, or corporation for 4
1115	1115	the previous calendar year; or 5
1116	1116	‘‘(B) 30 percent of the United States revenues 6
1117	1117	of the person, partnership, or corporation in any line 7
1118	1118	of commerce related to or targeted by the unlawful 8
1119	1119	conduct described in paragraph (1) during the pe-9
1120	1120	riod of the unlawful conduct.’’. 10
1121	1121	(4) S
1122	1122	ECTION 16 OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COM -11
1123	1123	MISSION ACT.—Section 16(a)(2) of the Federal 12
1124	1124	Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 56(a)(2)) is 13
1125	1125	amended— 14
1126	1126	(A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’ 15
1127	1127	at the end; 16
1128	1128	(B) in subparagraph (E)— 17
1129	1129	(i) by moving the margins 2 ems to 18
1130	1130	the left; and 19
1131	1131	(ii) by striking the semicolon and in-20
1132	1132	serting ‘‘; or’’; and 21
1133	1133	(C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 22
1134	1134	the following: 23
1135	1135	‘‘(F) to recover civil penalties under section 24
1136	1136	5(o);’’. 25
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1139	1139	•S 130 IS
1140	1140	(b) RULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—The civil penalties 1
1141	1141	provided in subsection (b) of section 1 of the Sherman 2
1142	1142	Act (15 U.S.C. 1), subsection (b) of section 2 of the Sher-3
1143	1143	man Act (15 U.S.C. 2), and subsection (o) of section 5 4
1144	1144	of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45), as 5
1145	1145	added by subsection (a) of this section, are in addition 6
1146	1146	to, and not in lieu of, any other remedy provided by Fed-7
1147	1147	eral law, including under— 8
1148	1148	(1) section 4 or 16 of the Clayton Act (15 9
1149	1149	U.S.C. 15, 26); or 10
1150	1150	(2) section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commis-11
1151	1151	sion Act (15 U.S.C. 53(b)). 12
1152	1152	SEC. 12. JOINT CIVIL PENALTY GUIDELINES. 13
1153	1153	(a) I
1154	1154	NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 14
1155	1155	date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General and 15
1156	1156	the Federal Trade Commission shall issue joint guidelines 16
1157	1157	reflecting agency policies for determining the appropriate 17
1158	1158	amount of a civil penalty to be sought under sections 1(b) 18
1159	1159	and 2(b) of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 2), section 19
1160	1160	26A(f) of the Clayton Act, as added by section 10(a) of 20
1161	1161	this Act, and section 5(o) of the Federal Trade Commis-21
1162	1162	sion Act (15 U.S.C. 45), as added by section 11(a) of this 22
1163	1163	Act, with the goal of promoting transparency and seeking 23
1164	1164	remedies for individual violations that are effective in de-24
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1167	1167	•S 130 IS
1168	1168	terring future unlawful conduct and proportionate to the 1
1169	1169	gravity of the violation. 2
1170	1170	(b) C
1171	1171	ONSIDERATIONS.—In determining civil penalty 3
1172	1172	amounts under sections 1(b) and 2(b) of the Sherman Act 4
1173	1173	(15 U.S.C. 1, 2), section 26A(f) of the Clayton Act, as 5
1174	1174	added by section 10(a) of this Act, and section 5(o) of 6
1175	1175	the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45), as 7
1176	1176	added by section 11(a) of this Act, a district court of the 8
1177	1177	United States shall consider— 9
1178	1178	(1) the volume of commerce affected; 10
1179	1179	(2) the duration and severity of the unlawful 11
1180	1180	conduct; 12
1181	1181	(3) the intent of the person undertaking the un-13
1182	1182	lawful conduct; 14
1183	1183	(4) the extent to which the unlawful conduct 15
1184	1184	was egregious or a clear violation of the law; 16
1185	1185	(5) whether the civil penalty is to be applied in 17
1186	1186	combination with other remedies, including— 18
1187	1187	(A) structural remedies, behavioral condi-19
1188	1188	tions, or equitable disgorgement; or 20
1189	1189	(B) other remedies available under section 21
1190	1190	4, 4A, 15, or 16 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 22
1191	1191	15, 15a, 25, 26) or section 13(b) of the Federal 23
1192	1192	Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 53(b)); 24
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1195	1195	•S 130 IS
1196	1196	(6) whether the person has previously engaged 1
1197	1197	in the same or similar anticompetitive conduct; 2
1198	1198	(7) the extent to which the penalty will act to 3
1199	1199	deter future violations of the antitrust laws; and 4
1200	1200	(8) whether the person undertook the conduct 5
1201	1201	in violation of a preexisting consent decree or court 6
1202	1202	order. 7
1203	1203	(c) U
1204	1204	PDATES.—The Attorney General and the Fed-8
1205	1205	eral Trade Commission shall update the joint guidelines 9
1206	1206	issued under subsection (a), as needed to reflect current 10
1207	1207	agency policies and practices, but not less frequently than 11
1208	1208	once every 5 years beginning on the date of enactment 12
1209	1209	of this Act. 13
1210	1210	(d) P
1211	1211	UBLICNOTICE ANDCOMMENT.— 14
1212	1212	(1) G
1213	1213	UIDELINES.—Before issuing guidelines 15
1214	1214	under subsection (a) or subsection (c), the Attorney 16
1215	1215	General and the Federal Trade Commission shall 17
1216	1216	publish proposed guidelines in draft form and pro-18
1217	1217	vide public notice and opportunity for comment for 19
1218	1218	not less than 60 days after the date on which the 20
1219	1219	guidelines are published. 21
1220	1220	(2) I
1221	1221	NAPPLICABILITY OF RULEMAKING PROVI -22
1222	1222	SIONS.—The provisions of section 553 of title 5, 23
1223	1223	United States Code, shall not apply to the guidelines 24
1224	1224	issued under this section. 25
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1228	1228	SEC. 13. MARKET DEFINITION. 1
1229	1229	(a) I
1230	1230	NGENERAL.—Establishing liability under the 2
1231	1231	antitrust laws does not require the definition of a relevant 3
1232	1232	market, except when the definition of a relevant market 4
1233	1233	is required, to establish a presumption or to resolve a 5
1234	1234	claim, under a statutory provision that explicitly ref-6
1235	1235	erences the terms ‘‘relevant market’’, ‘‘market concentra-7
1236	1236	tion’’, or ‘‘market share’’. Statutory references to the term 8
1237	1237	‘‘line of commerce’’ shall not constitute an exception to 9
1238	1238	the foregoing rule that establishing liability under the 10
1239	1239	antitrust laws does not require the definition of a relevant 11
1240	1240	market. 12
1241	1241	(b) D
1242	1242	IRECTEVIDENCE.—If direct evidence in the 13
1243	1243	record is sufficient to prove actual or likely harm to com-14
1244	1244	petition, an appreciable risk to competition sufficient to 15
1245	1245	satisfy the applicable statutory standard, or that the effect 16
1246	1246	of an acquisition subject to section 7 of the Clayton Act 17
1247	1247	(15 U.S.C. 18) may be to create an appreciable risk of 18
1248	1248	materially lessening competition or to tend to create a mo-19
1249	1249	nopoly or a monopsony, neither a court nor the Federal 20
1250	1250	Trade Commission shall require definition of a relevant 21
1251	1251	market in order to evaluate the evidence, to find liability, 22
1252	1252	or to find that a claim has been stated under the antitrust 23
1253	1253	laws. 24
1254	1254	(c) R
1255	1255	ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-25
1256	1256	tion may be construed to prevent a court or the Federal 26
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1259	1259	•S 130 IS
1260	1260	Trade Commission from considering evidence relating to 1
1261	1261	the definition of proposed relevant markets to evaluate the 2
1262	1262	merits of a claim under the antitrust laws. 3
1263	1263	SEC. 14. LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED IMMUNITY FROM THE 4
1264	1264	ANTITRUST LAWS. 5
1265	1265	(a) I
1266	1266	NGENERAL.—In any action or proceeding to en-6
1267	1267	force the antitrust laws with respect to conduct that is 7
1268	1268	regulated under Federal statute, no court or adjudicatory 8
1269	1269	body may find that the Federal statute, or any rule or 9
1270	1270	regulation promulgated in accordance with the Federal 10
1271	1271	statute, implicitly precludes application of the antitrust 11
1272	1272	laws to the conduct unless— 12
1273	1273	(1) a Federal agency or department actively 13
1274	1274	regulates the conduct under the Federal statute; 14
1275	1275	(2) the Federal statute does not include any 15
1276	1276	provision preserving the rights, claims, or remedies 16
1277	1277	under the applicable antitrust laws or under any 17
1278	1278	area of law that includes the antitrust laws; and 18
1279	1279	(3) Federal agency or department rules or regu-19
1280	1280	lations, adopted by rulemaking or adjudication, ex-20
1281	1281	plicitly require or authorize the defendant to under-21
1282	1282	take the conduct. 22
1283	1283	(b) E
1284	1284	XISTINGFEDERALREGULATION.—In any ac-23
1285	1285	tion or proceeding described in subsection (a), the anti-24
1286	1286	trust laws shall be applied fully and without qualification 25
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1289	1289	•S 130 IS
1290	1290	or limitation, and the scope of the antitrust laws shall not 1
1291	1291	be defined more narrowly on account of the existence of 2
1292	1292	Federal rules, regulations, or regulatory agencies or de-3
1293	1293	partments, unless application of the antitrust laws is pre-4
1294	1294	cluded or limited by— 5
1295	1295	(1) an explicit exemption from the antitrust 6
1296	1296	laws under a Federal statute; or 7
1297	1297	(2) an implied immunity that satisfies the re-8
1298	1298	quirements under subsection (a). 9
1299	1299	SEC. 15. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS. 10
1300	1300	(a) P
1301	1301	ROTECTIONS FOR CIVILWHISTLEBLOWERS.— 11
1302	1302	The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.) is amended by 12
1303	1303	inserting after section 27 (15 U.S.C. 26b) the following: 13
1304	1304	‘‘SEC. 27A. ANTI-RETALIATION PROTECTION FOR CIVIL 14
1305	1305	WHISTLEBLOWERS. 15
1306	1306	‘‘(a) W
1307	1307	HISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR EMPLOY-16
1308	1308	EES, CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS, ANDAGENTS.— 17
1309	1309	‘‘(1) I
1310	1310	N GENERAL.—No employer may dis-18
1311	1311	charge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any 19
1312	1312	other manner discriminate against a covered indi-20
1313	1313	vidual in the terms and conditions of employment of 21
1314	1314	the covered individual because of any lawful act done 22
1315	1315	by the covered individual— 23
1316	1316	‘‘(A) to provide or cause to be provided to 24
1317	1317	the Federal Government or a person with su-25
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1320	1320	•S 130 IS
1321	1321	pervisory authority over the covered individual 1
1322	1322	(or such other person working for the employer 2
1323	1323	who has the authority to investigate, discover, 3
1324	1324	or terminate misconduct) information relating 4
1325	1325	to any violation of, or any act or omission the 5
1326	1326	covered individual reasonably believes to be a 6
1327	1327	violation of, the applicable antitrust laws; or 7
1328	1328	‘‘(B) to cause to be filed, testify in, partici-8
1329	1329	pate in, or otherwise assist a Federal Govern-9
1330	1330	ment investigation or a Federal Government 10
1331	1331	proceeding filed or about to be filed (with any 11
1332	1332	knowledge of the employer) relating to any vio-12
1333	1333	lation of, or any act or omission the covered in-13
1334	1334	dividual reasonably believes to be a violation of, 14
1335	1335	the applicable antitrust laws. 15
1336	1336	‘‘(2) L
1337	1337	IMITATION ON PROTECTIONS .—Para-16
1338	1338	graph (1) shall not apply to any covered individual 17
1339	1339	if— 18
1340	1340	‘‘(A) the covered individual planned and 19
1341	1341	initiated a violation or attempted violation of 20
1342	1342	the applicable antitrust laws; 21
1343	1343	‘‘(B) the covered individual planned and 22
1344	1344	initiated a violation or attempted violation of a 23
1345	1345	criminal law in conjunction with a violation or 24
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1347	1347	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 47
1348	1348	•S 130 IS
1349	1349	attempted violation of the applicable antitrust 1
1350	1350	laws; or 2
1351	1351	‘‘(C) the covered individual planned and 3
1352	1352	initiated an obstruction or attempted obstruc-4
1353	1353	tion of an investigation by the Federal Govern-5
1354	1354	ment of a violation of the applicable antitrust 6
1355	1355	laws. 7
1356	1356	‘‘(3) D
1357	1357	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
1358	1358	‘‘(A) A
1359	1359	PPLICABLE ANTITRUST LAWS .—The 9
1360	1360	term ‘applicable antitrust laws’ means section 10
1361	1361	1, 2, or 3 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 2, 11
1362	1362	and 3) or section 5 of the Federal Trade Com-12
1363	1363	mission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that 13
1364	1364	such section applies to unfair methods of com-14
1365	1365	petition. 15
1366	1366	‘‘(B) C
1367	1367	OVERED INDIVIDUAL .—The term 16
1368	1368	‘covered individual’ means an employee, con-17
1369	1369	tractor, subcontractor, or agent of an employer. 18
1370	1370	‘‘(C) E
1371	1371	MPLOYER.—The term ‘employer’ 19
1372	1372	means a person, or any officer, employee, con-20
1373	1373	tractor, subcontractor, or agent of such person. 21
1374	1374	‘‘(D) F
1375	1375	EDERAL GOVERNMENT .—The term 22
1376	1376	‘Federal Government’ means— 23
1377	1377	‘‘(i) a Federal regulatory or law en-24
1378	1378	forcement agency; or 25
1379	1379	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Feb 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S130.IS S130
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1381	1381	•S 130 IS
1382	1382	‘‘(ii) any Member of Congress or com-1
1383	1383	mittee of Congress. 2
1384	1384	‘‘(E) P
1385	1385	ERSON.—The term ‘person’ has the 3
1386	1386	same meaning as in subsection (a) of the first 4
1387	1387	section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)). 5
1388	1388	‘‘(b) E
1389	1389	NFORCEMENTACTION.— 6
1390	1390	‘‘(1) I
1391	1391	N GENERAL.—A covered individual who 7
1392	1392	alleges discharge or other discrimination by any em-8
1393	1393	ployer in violation of subsection (a) may seek relief 9
1394	1394	under subsection (c) by— 10
1395	1395	‘‘(A) filing a complaint with the Secretary 11
1396	1396	of Labor; or 12
1397	1397	‘‘(B) if the Secretary of Labor has not 13
1398	1398	issued a final decision within 180 days of the 14
1399	1399	filing of the complaint and there is no showing 15
1400	1400	that such delay is due to the bad faith of the 16
1401	1401	claimant, bringing an action at law or equity 17
1402	1402	for de novo review in the appropriate district 18
1403	1403	court of the United States, which shall have ju-19
1404	1404	risdiction over such an action without regard to 20
1405	1405	the amount in controversy. 21
1406	1406	‘‘(2) P
1407	1407	ROCEDURE.— 22
1408	1408	‘‘(A) I
1409	1409	N GENERAL.—A complaint filed with 23
1410	1410	the Secretary of Labor under paragraph (1)(A) 24
1411	1411	shall be governed under the rules and proce-25
1412	1412	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Feb 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S130.IS S130
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1414	1414	•S 130 IS
1415	1415	dures set forth in section 42121(b) of title 49, 1
1416	1416	United States Code. 2
1417	1417	‘‘(B) E
1418	1418	XCEPTION.—Notification made 3
1419	1419	under section 42121(b)(1) of title 49, United 4
1420	1420	States Code, shall be made to any individual 5
1421	1421	named in the complaint and to the employer. 6
1422	1422	‘‘(C) B
1423	1423	URDENS OF PROOF .—An action 7
1424	1424	brought under paragraph (1)(B) shall be gov-8
1425	1425	erned by the legal burdens of proof set forth in 9
1426	1426	section 42121(b) of title 49, United States 10
1427	1427	Code. 11
1428	1428	‘‘(D) S
1429	1429	TATUTE OF LIMITATIONS .—A com-12
1430	1430	plaint under paragraph (1)(A) shall be filed 13
1431	1431	with the Secretary of Labor not later than 180 14
1432	1432	days after the date on which the violation of 15
1433	1433	this section occurs. 16
1434	1434	‘‘(E) C
1435	1435	IVIL ACTIONS TO ENFORCE .—If a 17
1436	1436	person fails to comply with an order or prelimi-18
1437	1437	nary order issued by the Secretary of Labor 19
1438	1438	pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 20
1439	1439	42121(b) of title 49, United States Code, the 21
1440	1440	Secretary of Labor or the person on whose be-22
1441	1441	half the order was issued may bring a civil ac-23
1442	1442	tion to enforce the order in the district court of 24
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1445	1445	•S 130 IS
1446	1446	the United States for the judicial district in 1
1447	1447	which the violation occurred. 2
1448	1448	‘‘(c) R
1449	1449	EMEDIES.— 3
1450	1450	‘‘(1) I
1451	1451	N GENERAL.—A covered individual pre-4
1452	1452	vailing in any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be 5
1453	1453	entitled to all relief necessary to make the covered 6
1454	1454	individual whole. 7
1455	1455	‘‘(2) C
1456	1456	OMPENSATORY DAMAGES .—Relief for any 8
1457	1457	action under paragraph (1) shall include— 9
1458	1458	‘‘(A) reinstatement with the same seniority 10
1459	1459	status that the covered individual would have 11
1460	1460	had, but for the discrimination; 12
1461	1461	‘‘(B) the amount of back pay, with inter-13
1462	1462	est; and 14
1463	1463	‘‘(C) compensation for any special damages 15
1464	1464	sustained as a result of the discrimination in-16
1465	1465	cluding litigation costs, expert witness fees, and 17
1466	1466	reasonable attorney’s fees. 18
1467	1467	‘‘(d) R
1468	1468	IGHTSRETAINED BY WHISTLEBLOWERS.— 19
1469	1469	Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the 20
1470	1470	rights, privileges, or remedies of any covered individual 21
1471	1471	under any Federal or State law, or under any collective 22
1472	1472	bargaining agreement.’’. 23
1473	1473	(b) W
1474	1474	HISTLEBLOWER REWARD.—The Antitrust 24
1475	1475	Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 25
1476	1476	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Feb 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S130.IS S130
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1478	1478	•S 130 IS
1479	1479	(15 U.S.C. 1 note) is amended by inserting after section 1
1480	1480	216 (15 U.S.C. 7a–3) the following: 2
1481	1481	‘‘SEC. 217. CRIMINAL ANTITRUST WHISTLEBLOWER INCEN-3
1482	1482	TIVES. 4
1483	1483	‘‘(a) D
1484	1484	EFINITIONS.—In this section the following 5
1485	1485	definitions shall apply: 6
1486	1486	‘‘(1) A
1487	1487	NTITRUST LAWS.—The term ‘antitrust 7
1488	1488	laws’ means section 1 or 3 of the Sherman Act (15 8
1489	1489	U.S.C. 1 and 3). 9
1490	1490	‘‘(2) C
1491	1491	OLLECTED PROCEEDS .—The term ‘col-10
1492	1492	lected proceeds’ means any sanctions, fines, pen-11
1493	1493	alties, or awards obtained in any covered enforce-12
1494	1494	ment action, whether by judgment, settlement, or a 13
1495	1495	deferred prosecution agreement. 14
1496	1496	‘‘(3) C
1497	1497	OVERED ENFORCEMENT ACTION .—The 15
1498	1498	term ‘covered enforcement action’ means any crimi-16
1499	1499	nal action brought by the Attorney General under 17
1500	1500	the antitrust laws that results in collected proceeds 18
1501	1501	exceeding $1,000,000. 19
1502	1502	‘‘(4) O
1503	1503	RIGINAL INFORMATION .—The term 20
1504	1504	‘original information’ means information that— 21
1505	1505	‘‘(A) is derived from the personal knowl-22
1506	1506	edge of a whistleblower; 23
1507	1507	‘‘(B) is not known to the Attorney General 24
1508	1508	or the Department of Justice from any other 25
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1511	1511	•S 130 IS
1512	1512	source, unless the whistleblower is the original 1
1513	1513	source of the information; 2
1514	1514	‘‘(C) is not exclusively derived from an al-3
1515	1515	legation made in a judicial or administrative 4
1516	1516	hearing, in a governmental report, hearing, 5
1517	1517	audit, or investigation, or from the news media, 6
1518	1518	unless the whistleblower is a source of the infor-7
1519	1519	mation; and 8
1520	1520	‘‘(D) is not already required to be disclosed 9
1521	1521	to the Department of Justice or another Fed-10
1522	1522	eral agency. 11
1523	1523	‘‘(5) R
1524	1524	ELATED ACTION.—The term ‘related ac-12
1525	1525	tion’, when used with respect to any covered enforce-13
1526	1526	ment action brought by the Attorney General, means 14
1527	1527	any criminal action brought by another United 15
1528	1528	States entity that is based upon the original infor-16
1529	1529	mation provided by a whistleblower that led to the 17
1530	1530	successful enforcement action by the Attorney Gen-18
1531	1531	eral. 19
1532	1532	‘‘(6) W
1533	1533	HISTLEBLOWER.—The term ‘whistle-20
1534	1534	blower’ means any individual who provides, informa-21
1535	1535	tion relating to a violation of the antitrust laws to 22
1536	1536	the Department of Justice, in a manner established 23
1537	1537	by the Department of Justice. 24
1538	1538	‘‘(b) A
1539	1539	WARDS.— 25
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1542	1542	•S 130 IS
1543	1543	‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In a covered enforcement 1
1544	1544	action, or related action, the Attorney General, sub-2
1545	1545	ject to subsection (c), may pay an award or awards 3
1546	1546	to a whistleblower who voluntarily provided original 4
1547	1547	information to the Department of Justice that led to 5
1548	1548	the successful enforcement of the covered enforce-6
1549	1549	ment action, or related action, in an amount not less 7
1550	1550	than 10 percent and not more than 30 percent, in 8
1551	1551	total, of what has been collected of the criminal fine 9
1552	1552	imposed in the covered enforcement action or related 10
1553	1553	action under the antitrust laws; 11
1554	1554	‘‘(2) P
1555	1555	AYMENT.—Any amount paid under para-12
1556	1556	graph (1) shall be paid from the criminal fine col-13
1557	1557	lected in the covered enforcement action. 14
1558	1558	‘‘(c) D
1559	1559	ETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OFAWARD; DE-15
1560	1560	NIAL OFAWARD.— 16
1561	1561	‘‘(1) D
1562	1562	ETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF 17
1563	1563	AWARD.— 18
1564	1564	‘‘(A) D
1565	1565	ISCRETION.—The determination of 19
1566	1566	the amount of an award made under subsection 20
1567	1567	(b) shall be at the discretion of the Attorney 21
1568	1568	General. 22
1569	1569	‘‘(B) C
1570	1570	RITERIA.—In determining the 23
1571	1571	amount of an award made under subsection (b), 24
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1573	1573	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 54
1574	1574	•S 130 IS
1575	1575	the Attorney General shall take into consider-1
1576	1576	ation— 2
1577	1577	‘‘(i) the significance of the informa-3
1578	1578	tion provided by the whistleblower to the 4
1579	1579	success of the covered enforcement action; 5
1580	1580	‘‘(ii) the degree of assistance and co-6
1581	1581	operation provided by the whistleblower in 7
1582	1582	a covered enforcement action; 8
1583	1583	‘‘(iii) the interest of the Department 9
1584	1584	of Justice in deterring criminal violations 10
1585	1585	of the antitrust laws by making awards to 11
1586	1586	whistleblowers who provide information 12
1587	1587	that lead to the successful covered enforce-13
1588	1588	ment actions; and 14
1589	1589	‘‘(iv) such additional relevant factors 15
1590	1590	as the Attorney General may establish. 16
1591	1591	‘‘(2) D
1592	1592	ENIAL OF AWARD .—No award under 17
1593	1593	subsection (b) shall be made— 18
1594	1594	‘‘(A) to any whistleblower who is, or was at 19
1595	1595	the time the whistleblower acquired the original 20
1596	1596	information submitted to the Commission, a 21
1597	1597	member, officer, or employee of— 22
1598	1598	‘‘(i) any branch, agency, or instru-23
1599	1599	mentality of the Federal Government; or 24
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1601	1601	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 55
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1603	1603	‘‘(ii) any law enforcement organiza-1
1604	1604	tion; 2
1605	1605	‘‘(B) to any whistleblower who is convicted 3
1606	1606	of a criminal violation related to the covered en-4
1607	1607	forcement action for which the whistleblower 5
1608	1608	otherwise could receive an award under this sec-6
1609	1609	tion; 7
1610	1610	‘‘(C) to any whistleblower who was an 8
1611	1611	originator or leader of or who coerced any other 9
1612	1612	party to participate in the activity giving rise to 10
1613	1613	liability under the antitrust laws in the covered 11
1614	1614	enforcement action for which the whistleblower 12
1615	1615	otherwise could receive an award under this sec-13
1616	1616	tion; 14
1617	1617	‘‘(D) to any whistleblower who fails to re-15
1618	1618	spond provide timely, truthful, continuing, and 16
1619	1619	complete cooperation to the Department of Jus-17
1620	1620	tice relating to the original information or in-18
1621	1621	tentionally withholds information relating to the 19
1622	1622	original information; 20
1623	1623	‘‘(E) to any whistleblower who commits, 21
1624	1624	participates in, or attempts to commit or par-22
1625	1625	ticipate in any crimes after disclosing the origi-23
1626	1626	nal information to the Department of Justice; 24
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1629	1629	•S 130 IS
1630	1630	‘‘(F) to any whistleblower who fails to sub-1
1631	1631	mit information to the Department of Justice in 2
1632	1632	such form as the Department may require, or 3
1633	1633	failed to report relevant information to the De-4
1634	1634	partment known to the whistleblower when the 5
1635	1635	whistleblower first reported the information to 6
1636	1636	the Department; 7
1637	1637	‘‘(G) to any whistleblower who fails to sub-8
1638	1638	mit information to the Department of Justice in 9
1639	1639	such form as the Department may require as 10
1640	1640	prescribed by regulation; 11
1641	1641	‘‘(H) to any whistleblower who planned 12
1642	1642	and initiated an obstruction or attempted ob-13
1643	1643	struction of an investigation by the Department 14
1644	1644	of Justice of a violation of the antitrust laws; 15
1645	1645	or 16
1646	1646	‘‘(I) to any whistleblower who engages in 17
1647	1647	conduct that would disqualify the whistleblower 18
1648	1648	if the whistleblower were a leniency applicant 19
1649	1649	under the Leniency Program of the Antitrust 20
1650	1650	Division. 21
1651	1651	‘‘(d) R
1652	1652	EPRESENTATION.—Any whistleblower who 22
1653	1653	makes a claim for an award under subsection (b) may be 23
1654	1654	represented by counsel. 24
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1657	1657	•S 130 IS
1658	1658	‘‘(e) APPEALS.—Any determination made under this 1
1659	1659	section, including whether, to whom, or in what amount 2
1660	1660	to make awards, shall be in the discretion of the Attorney 3
1661	1661	General. Any such determination, except the determina-4
1662	1662	tion of the amount of an award if the award was made 5
1663	1663	in accordance with subsection (b), may be appealed to the 6
1664	1664	appropriate court of appeals of the United States not more 7
1665	1665	than 30 days after the determination is issued by the At-8
1666	1666	torney General. The court shall review the determination 9
1667	1667	made by the Attorney General in accordance with section 10
1668	1668	706 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 11
1669	1669	SEC. 16. PREJUDGMENT INTEREST. 12
1670	1670	Section 4 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 15) is 13
1671	1671	amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the fol-14
1672	1672	lowing: 15
1673	1673	‘‘(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), any person 16
1674	1674	who shall be injured in his business or property by reason 17
1675	1675	of anything forbidden in the antitrust laws may sue there-18
1676	1676	for in any district court of the United States in the district 19
1677	1677	in which the defendant resides or is found or has an agent, 20
1678	1678	without respect to the amount in controversy, and shall 21
1679	1679	recover threefold the damages by him sustained, the cost 22
1680	1680	of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee, and simple 23
1681	1681	interest on threefold the damages by him sustained for 24
1682	1682	the period beginning on the date of service of such per-25
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1685	1685	•S 130 IS
1686	1686	son’s pleading setting forth a claim under the antitrust 1
1687	1687	laws and ending on the date of judgment.’’. 2
1688	1688	SEC. 17. NO FORCED ARBITRATION FOR ANTITRUST DIS-3
1689	1689	PUTES. 4
1690	1690	(a) I
1691	1691	NGENERAL.—Title 9, United States Code, is 5
1692	1692	amended by adding at the end the following: 6
1693	1693	‘‘CHAPTER 5—ARBITRATION ANTITRUST 7
1694	1694	DISPUTES 8
1695	1695	‘‘§ 501. Definitions 9
1696	1696	‘‘In this chapter— 10
1697	1697	‘‘(1) the term ‘antitrust dispute’ means a dis-11
1698	1698	pute— 12
1699	1699	‘‘(A) arising from an alleged violation of 13
1700	1700	the antitrust laws (as defined in subsection (a) 14
1701	1701	of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 15
1702	1702	U.S.C. 12(a)) or State antitrust laws; and 16
1703	1703	‘‘(B) in which the plaintiffs seek certifi-17
1704	1704	cation as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 18
1705	1705	Rules of Civil Procedure or a comparable rule 19
1706	1706	or provision of State law; 20
1707	1707	‘‘(2) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree-21
1708	1708	ment’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 22
1709	1709	that has not yet arisen at the time of the making 23
1710	1710	of the agreement; and 24
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1714	1714	‘‘(3) the term ‘predispute joint-action waiver’ 1
1715	1715	means an agreement, whether or not part of a 2
1716	1716	predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro-3
1717	1717	hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 4
1718	1718	agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec-5
1719	1719	tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 6
1720	1720	other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 7
1721	1721	arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. 8
1722	1722	‘‘§ 502. No validity or enforceability 9
1723	1723	‘‘(a) I
1724	1724	NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-10
1725	1725	vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement or 11
1726	1726	predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable 12
1727	1727	with respect to an antitrust dispute. 13
1728	1728	‘‘(b) A
1729	1729	PPLICABILITY.—An issue as to whether this 14
1730	1730	chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be deter-15
1731	1731	mined under Federal law. The applicability of this chapter 16
1732	1732	to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity and enforce-17
1733	1733	ability of an agreement to which this chapter applies shall 18
1734	1734	be determined by a court, rather than an arbitrator, irre-19
1735	1735	spective of whether the party resisting arbitration chal-20
1736	1736	lenges the arbitration agreement specifically or in conjunc-21
1737	1737	tion with other terms of the contract containing such 22
1738	1738	agreement, and irrespective of whether the agreement pur-23
1739	1739	ports to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator.’’. 24
1740	1740	(b) T
1741	1741	ECHNICAL ANDCONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 25
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1745	1745	(1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 1
1746	1746	Code is amended— 2
1747	1747	(A) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before 3
1748	1748	the period at the end; 4
1749	1749	(B) in section 208, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ be-5
1750	1750	fore the period at the end; and 6
1751	1751	(C) in section 307, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ be-7
1752	1752	fore the period at the end. 8
1753	1753	(2) T
1754	1754	ABLE OF CHAPTERS .—The table of chap-9
1755	1755	ters for title 9, United States Code, is amended by 10
1756	1756	adding at the end the following: 11
1757	1757	‘‘5. Arbitration of antitrust disputes.........................................501’’.
1758	1758	SEC. 18. ADDITIONAL REMEDIES; RULES OF CONSTRUC-
1759	1759	12
1760	1760	TION. 13
1761	1761	(a) A
1762	1762	DDITIONALREMEDIES.—The rights and rem-14
1763	1763	edies provided under this Act are in addition to, not in 15
1764	1764	lieu of, any other rights and remedies provided by Federal 16
1765	1765	law, including under section 4, 4A, 15, or 16 of the Clay-17
1766	1766	ton Act (15 U.S.C. 15, 15a, 25, 26) or section 13(b) of 18
1767	1767	the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 53(b)). 19
1768	1768	(b) R
1769	1769	ULES OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 20
1770	1770	may be construed to— 21
1771	1771	(1) impair or limit the applicability of any of 22
1772	1772	the antitrust laws; and 23
1773	1773	(2) prohibit any other remedy provided by Fed-24
1774	1774	eral law. 25
1775	1775	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Feb 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S130.IS S130
1776	1776	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 61
1777	1777	•S 130 IS
1778	1778	SEC. 19. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1
1779	1779	(a) F
1780	1780	ISCALYEAR2025.—There is authorized to be 2
1781	1781	appropriated for fiscal year 2025— 3
1782	1782	(1) $535,000,000 for the Antitrust Division of 4
1783	1783	the Department of Justice; and 5
1784	1784	(2) $725,000,000 for the Federal Trade Com-6
1785	1785	mission. 7
1786	1786	(b) S
1787	1787	UBSEQUENTYEARS.—Beginning in fiscal year 8
1788	1788	2026, and each fiscal year thereafter, all premerger notifi-9
1789	1789	cation filing fees collected pursuant to section 7A of the 10
1790	1790	Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a) shall— 11
1791	1791	(1) be retained and used for expenses necessary 12
1792	1792	for the enforcement of the antitrust and kindred 13
1793	1793	laws by the Antitrust Division of the Department of 14
1794	1794	Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, to re-15
1795	1795	main available until expended; and 16
1796	1796	(2) shall be treated as direct spending described 17
1797	1797	in section 250(c)(8)(A) of the Balanced Budget and 18
1798	1798	Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 19
1799	1799	900(c)(8)(A)). 20
1800	1800	Æ
1801	1801	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Feb 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S130.IS S130
1802	1802	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS