[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1121 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1121

   To amend the Clayton Act to enhance the authority of the Attorney 
    General to prevent certain mergers and acquisitions that would 
                    unreasonably limit competition.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 1999

   Mr. Leahy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Clayton Act to enhance the authority of the Attorney 
    General to prevent certain mergers and acquisitions that would 
                    unreasonably limit competition.

    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 ``Antitrust Improvements Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to enhance the authority of the Attorney 
General to prevent certain mergers and acquisitions that would 
unreasonably limit competition in the telecommunications industry in 
any case in which certain Federal requirements that would enhance 
competition are not met.

SEC. 3. RESTRAINT OF TRADE.

    The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 27 (as designated by section 2 
        of Public Law 96-493) as section 29; and
            (2) by inserting after section 27 (as added by the Curt 
        Flood Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-297)) the following new 
        section:
    ``Sec. 28. (a) In this section, the term `large local telephone 
company' means a local telephone company that, as of the date of a 
proposed merger or acquisition covered by this section, serves more 
than 5 percent of the telephone access lines in the United States.
    ``(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a large local 
telephone company, including any affiliate of such a company, shall not 
merge with or acquire a controlling interest in another large local 
telephone company unless--
            ``(1) the Attorney General finds that the proposed merger 
        or acquisition will promote competition for telephone exchange 
        services and exchange access services; and
            ``(2) the Federal Communications Commission finds that each 
        large local telephone company that is a party to the proposed 
        merger or acquisition, with respect to at least \1/2\ of the 
        access lines in each State served by that company, of which at 
        least \1/2\ are residential access lines, has fully implemented 
        the requirements of sections 251 and 252 of the Communications 
        Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251, 252), including the regulations of 
        the Commission and of the States that implement those 
        requirements.
    ``(c) Not later than 10 days after the Attorney General makes a 
finding described in subsection (b)(1), the Attorney General shall 
submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report on 
the finding, including an analysis of the effect of the merger or 
acquisition on competition in the United States telecommunications 
industry.
    ``(d)(1) Each large local telephone company or affiliate of a large 
local telephone company proposing to merge with or acquire a 
controlling interest in another large local telephone company shall 
file an application under this section with respect to the merger or 
acquisition with both the Attorney General and the Federal 
Communications Commission on the same day.
    ``(2) The Attorney General and the Federal Communications 
Commission shall issue a decision regarding the application within the 
time period applicable to review of mergers under section 7A.
    ``(e)(1) The district courts of the United States are vested with 
jurisdiction to prevent and restrain any mergers or acquisitions 
described in subsection (d) that are inconsistent with a finding under 
paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b).
    ``(2) The Attorney General may institute proceedings in any 
district court of the United States in the district in which the 
defendant resides or is found or has an agent and that court shall 
order such injunctive, and other relief, as may be appropriate if--
            ``(A) the Attorney General makes a finding that a proposed 
        merger or acquisition covered by an application under 
        subsection (d) does not meet the condition specified in 
        subsection (b)(1); or
            ``(B) the Federal Communications Commission makes a finding 
        that 1 or more of the parties to the proposed merger or 
        acquisition do not meet the requirements specified in 
        subsection (b)(2).''.

SEC. 4. PRESERVATION OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.

    (a) In General.--Nothing in this Act or the amendment made by 
section 3(2) shall be construed to modify, impair, or supersede the 
applicability of the antitrust laws, or any authority of the Federal 
Communications Commission under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 151 et seq.), with respect to mergers, acquisitions, and 
affiliations of large local exchange carriers.
    (b) Antitrust Laws Defined.--In this section, the term ``antitrust 
laws'' has the meaning given that term in the first section of the 
Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12).

SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.

    This Act and the amendment made by section 3(2) shall apply to a 
merger or acquisition of a controlling interest of a large local 
telephone company (as that term is defined in section 27 of the Clayton 
Act, as added by such section 3(2)), occurring on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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