[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2120 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2120

  To ensure the application of the antitrust laws to local telephone 
                  monopolies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2001

    Mr. Cannon (for himself, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Issa, and Mr. Nadler) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 
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 ensure the application of the antitrust laws to local telephone 
                  monopolies, 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 ``Broadband Antitrust Restoration and 
Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE CLAYTON ACT.

    The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 28. COMPETITION IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.

    ``(a) Application Prerequisite To Providing High Speed Data Service 
or Internet Backbone Service; Attorney General Reinstatement of Pro-
Competitive Regulations.--
            ``(1) Requirement to file application with attorney general 
        of the united states.--A Bell operating company or an affiliate 
        of a Bell operating company may not provide any interLATA 
        service in any of its in-region States under the authority of 
        any amendment to section 271 of the Communications Act of 1934 
        (47 U.S.C. 271) enacted after June 13, 2001--
                    ``(A) unless it files with the Attorney General of 
                the United States an application to provide such 
                service; and
                    ``(B) until the Attorney General--
                            ``(i) approves such application before the 
                        expiration of the 90-day period beginning on 
                        the date such application is filed; or
                            ``(ii) fails to approve or to disapprove 
                        such application during such 90-day period.
            ``(2) Authority of attorney general.--The Attorney General 
        of the United States--
                    ``(A) may issue rules to establish requirements 
                applicable to the form and contents of applications 
                filed under paragraph (1);
                    ``(B) may make recommendations to an applicant 
                regarding--
                            ``(i) withdrawal of an application filed 
                        under paragraph (1); or
                            ``(ii) filing of an application under 
                        paragraph (1), with or without modifications, 
                        subsequent to the withdrawal of an application 
                        filed under such paragraph; and
                    ``(C) may not approve an application filed in 
                compliance with this subsection if the Attorney General 
                determines that the applicant--
                            ``(i) has monopoly power in the local 
                        exchange market; and
                            ``(ii) is using or is likely to use its 
                        monopoly power in order to engage in 
                        exclusionary or other anticompetitive conduct.
            ``(3) Withdrawal of application.--An application filed 
        under paragraph (1) may be withdrawn by the applicant at any 
        time before the Attorney General approves or disapproves such 
        application, but may not be modified after being filed.
            ``(4) Reinstatement of regulation.--If the Attorney 
        General, sua sponte, determines that the conditions specified 
        in paragraph (2)(C) have been met with respect to a Bell 
        operating company or an affiliate of a Bell operating company, 
        then the Attorney General may reinstate, as to such company or 
        such affiliate, any Federal regulation in effect as of June 13, 
        2001, which the Attorney General determines was designed to 
        protect against exclusionary conduct or other abusive monopoly 
        power.
            ``(5) Exclusion.--Nothing in this subsection shall apply to 
        two-percent carriers.
    ``(b) Continuing Operation of the Antitrust Laws.--The rights, 
obligations, powers, and remedies provided under the antitrust laws are 
in addition to, and are--
            ``(1) not preempted by;
            ``(2) not inconsistent with; and
            ``(3) not incompatible with;
any of the rights, obligations, powers, and remedies provided under the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), under the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104; 110 Stat. 56), or 
under any law amended by either such Act, regardless of the progress of 
competition in any market.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Affiliate.--The term `affiliate' means a person that 
        (directly or indirectly) owns or controls, is owned or 
        controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, 
        another person. For purposes of this paragraph, the term `own' 
        means to own an equity interest (or equivalent thereof) of more 
        than 10 percent.
            ``(2) Bell operating company.--The term `Bell operating 
        company' has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the 
        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).
            ``(3) In-region state.--The term `in-region State' has the 
        meaning given to such term in section 271(i) of the 
        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 271(i)).
            ``(4) InterLATA service.--The term `interLATA service' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Communications 
        Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).
            ``(5) Two-percent carrier.--The term `two-percent carrier' 
        means an incumbent local exchange carrier within the meaning of 
        section 251(h) of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 254(h)) 
        whose access lines, when aggregated with the access lines of 
        any local exchange carrier that such incumbent local exchange 
        carrier directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or 
        is under common control with, are fewer than two percent of the 
        Nation's subscriber lines installed in the aggregate 
        nationwide.''.
                                 <all>