[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4731 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4731

 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide that it is not 
 contrary to the foreign policy interest of the United States to bring 
 an antitrust lawsuit asserting the manipulation of energy supplies or 
                    prices, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2000

  Mr. Gilman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide that it is not 
 contrary to the foreign policy interest of the United States to bring 
 an antitrust lawsuit asserting the manipulation of energy supplies or 
                    prices, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Trust Busting Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) it is in the foreign policy interest of the United 
        States for there to be a free market in energy on an 
        international basis;
            (2) a principal reason for high energy prices in the United 
        States is international price fixing that has evaded review 
        under the antitrust laws of the United States because of 
        foreign policy considerations and technical impediments in 
        these laws that prevent the effective enforcement of United 
        States law with respect to international price fixing in the 
        energy market; and
            (3) among these foreign policy and technical impediments is 
        the discretionary federal act of state doctrine which has been 
        used to bar a lawsuit directed at stopping the manipulation of 
        energy supplies and prices because of concern that such 
        litigation might interfere in the foreign policy of the United 
        States.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to establish that the foreign policy interest of the 
        United States would be advanced, rather than impeded or 
        complicated, if foreign entities, including foreign cartels and 
        foreign countries participating in such cartels, were held 
        responsible for energy supply and price manipulation that 
        affects the United States economy; and
            (2) to eliminate barriers to the effective application of 
        United States antitrust laws to foreign entities that have 
        manipulated energy supplies or prices.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961 RELATING TO 
              JURISDICTION OF UNITED STATES COURTS IN CERTAIN ANTITRUST 
              CASES.

    Section 620(e)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2370(e)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(2) Notwithstanding'' and inserting 
        ``(2)(A) Notwithstanding'';
            (2) by striking ``: Provided, That this subparagraph shall 
        not be applicable (1)'' and inserting ``, except that this 
        subparagraph shall not be applicable'';
            (3) by striking ``or other taking, or (2)'' and inserting 
        the following: ``or other taking.
    ``(B)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no court in 
the United States shall decline on the ground of the federal act of 
state doctrine to make a determination on the merits relating to an 
action under any antitrust laws in a case asserting the manipulation of 
energy supplies or prices, except that this subparagraph shall not be 
applicable''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(ii) In this subparagraph, the term `antitrust laws' has the 
meaning given it in subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton 
Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)), except that such term includes section 5 of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such section 
5 applies to unfair methods of competition.''.
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