[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4412 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4412

 To amend the Clayton Act to clarify the application of the antitrust 
                laws in the telecommunications industry.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 20, 2004

    Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself and Mr. Conyers) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Clayton Act to clarify the application of the antitrust 
                laws in the telecommunications industry.

    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 ``Clarification of Antitrust Remedies 
in Telecommunications Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT.

    The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 3 the following:
    ``Sec. 3A. (a) It shall be unlawful for an incumbent local exchange 
carrier or an affiliate to create or to preserve (or to attempt to 
create or to preserve) a monopoly in any part of commerce by using its 
network (or by providing a service over its network) to engage in an 
anticompetitive practice (which may include a failure to comply with 
either section 251(c) or 271 of the Communications Act of 1934 or with 
any agreement, rule, or order in effect under such section).
    ``(b) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `affiliate' has the meaning given such term 
        in section 274(i) of the Communications Act of 1934; and
            ``(2) the term `incumbent local exchange carrier' means a 
        Bell operating company as defined in section 274(i) of the 
        Communications Act of 1934.
    ``(c) Whether any agency regulates or is authorized to consider, 
review, or redress the conduct proscribed by this section shall not 
affect the applicability of this section, except that conduct required 
by an agency regulation or rule shall not be construed to create 
liability under this section.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.

    (a) Effective Date.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act 
and the amendment made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Application of Amendment.--Subsection (a) of section 3A of the 
Clayton Act, as added by this Act, shall not apply with respect to a 
person's conduct occurring before the effective date of this Act.
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