[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4913 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4913

    To establish a system for the reimbursement of fines levied and 
 collected due to illegal practices engaged in by participants in the 
    petroleum industry to injured consumers based on the consumers' 
                  distance from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2000

   Mr. Kind introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish a system for the reimbursement of fines levied and 
 collected due to illegal practices engaged in by participants in the 
    petroleum industry to injured consumers based on the consumers' 
                  distance from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

    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 ``Got Gas? Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Gasoline prices increased dramatically from the 
        beginning of June 2000, rising over eighty cents per gallon to 
        July 2000.
            (2) During that time frame gasoline prices in the Upper 
        Midwestern region of the country increased at twice the rate of 
        the national average, making consumers in this region the most 
        adversely affected by high gasoline prices.
            (3) Due to the dramatic and unanticipated rise in gas 
        prices the Federal Trade Commission has undertaken a formal 
        investigation into possible price gouging and other anti-
        competitive behaviors on the part of the petroleum industry.
            (4) If the Federal Trade Commission, during the course of 
        the investigation, uncovers anti-competitive criminal 
        violations, and if fines are levied and collected, the money 
        collected should be returned to the consumers adversely 
        affected, rather than placed in the Federal Treasury.
            (5) Efforts to identify and accurately indemnify those 
        consumers affected by anti-competitive practices are important 
        and should be engaged.
            (6) Being that the individual identification of harmed 
        consumers is extremely difficult in regard to the purchase of 
        gasoline, a national point based commodity reimbursement policy 
        must be developed to adequately reimburse injured consumers.

SEC. 3. REIMBURSING THE PARTIES INJURED DUE TO ILLEGAL PRACTICES 
              ENGAGED IN BY THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY.

    The Department of Justice shall have the authority to develop a 
consumer reimbursement system of fines levied and collected as a result 
of any finding of anti-competitive, collusive, or other illegal 
behavior on the part of participants in the petroleum industry. 
Compensation shall be distributed in a manner based upon injured 
consumers' distance from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Such compensation shall 
decrease proportionally with the injured consumers' distance from Eau 
Claire, Wisconsin.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purpose of this Act:
            (1) the term `petroleum industry' shall include refiners, 
        pipeline owners and operators, terminal owners and operators, 
        blend plant owners and operators, oil companies, and other 
        petroleum market participants.
            (2) the term `fines levied and collected' can include money 
        recovered as a result of settlement of any case.
            (3) the term `injured consumers' means individuals affected 
        by any anti-competitive, collusive, price fixing, price 
        gouging, or other illegal behavior on the part of participants 
        in the petroleum industry.
                                 <all>