[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6074 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6074

 To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels 
                    illegal and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 2008

Mr. Kagen (for himself, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Hodes, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, 
Mr. Ellison, Mr. Carson, Mr. Wilson of Ohio, Mr. Walz of Minnesota, Ms. 
Sutton, Mr. Welch of Vermont, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. Arcuri, Mr. Hall 
of New York, and Mr. Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels 
                    illegal 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 ``Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act 
of 2008''.

                   TITLE I--AMENDMENT TO SHERMAN ACT

SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``No Oil Producing and Exporting 
Cartels Act of 2008'' or ``NOPEC''.

SEC. 102. SHERMAN ACT.

    The Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is amended by adding after 
section 7 the following:
    ``Sec. 7A. (a) It shall be illegal and a violation of this Act for 
any foreign state, or any instrumentality or agent of any foreign 
state, to act collectively or in combination with any other foreign 
state, any instrumentality or agent of any other foreign state, or any 
other person, whether by cartel or any other association or form of 
cooperation or joint action--
            ``(1) to limit the production or distribution of oil, 
        natural gas, or any other petroleum product;
            ``(2) to set or maintain the price of oil, natural gas, or 
        any petroleum product; or
            ``(3) to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade 
        for oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product;
when such action, combination, or collective action has a direct, 
substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, 
price, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or other petroleum product 
in the United States.
    ``(b) A foreign state engaged in conduct in violation of subsection 
(a) shall not be immune under the doctrine of sovereign immunity from 
the jurisdiction or judgments of the courts of the United States in any 
action brought to enforce this section.
    ``(c) No court of the United States shall decline, based on the act 
of state doctrine, to make a determination on the merits in an action 
brought under this section.
    ``(d) The Attorney General of the United States may bring an action 
to enforce this section in any district court of the United States as 
provided under the antitrust laws.''.

SEC. 103. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.

    Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6) by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (7) by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) in which the action is brought under section 7A of 
        the Sherman Act.''.

    TITLE II--CREATION OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY 
                          ANTITRUST TASK FORCE

SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY 
              ANTITRUST TASK FORCE.

    (a) Establishment of Task Force.--The Attorney General shall 
establish in the Department of Justice a Petroleum Industry Antitrust 
Task Force (in this title referred to as the ``Task Force'').
    (b) Responsibilities of Task Force.--The Task Force shall have the 
responsibility for--
            (1) developing, coordinating, and facilitating the 
        implementation of the investigative and enforcement policies of 
        the Department of Justice related to petroleum industry 
        antitrust issues under Federal law,
            (2) consulting with, and requesting assistance from, other 
        Federal entities as may be appropriate, and
            (3) preparing and submitting to the Congress an annual 
        report that--
                    (A) describes all investigatory and enforcement 
                efforts of the Department of Justice related to 
                petroleum industry antitrust issues, and
                    (B) addresses the issues described in subsection 
                (c).
    (c) Issues To Be Examined by Task Force.--The Task Force shall 
examine all issues related to the application of Federal antitrust laws 
to the market for petroleum and petroleum products, including the 
following:
            (1) The existence and effects of any price gouging in sales 
        of gasoline.
            (2) The existence and effects of any international oil 
        cartels.
            (3) The existence and effects of any collusive behavior in 
        controlling or restricting petroleum refinery capacity.
            (4) The existence and effects of any anticompetitive price 
        discrimination by petroleum refiners or other wholesalers of 
        gasoline to retail sellers of gasoline.
            (5) The existence and effects of any unilateral actions, by 
        refiners or other wholesalers of petroleum products, in the 
        nature of withholding supply or otherwise refusing to sell 
        petroleum products in order to inflate the price of such 
        products above competitive levels.
            (6) The existence and effects of any anticompetitive 
        manipulation in futures markets or other trading exchanges 
        relating to petroleum or petroleum products.
            (7) The existence and effects of any other anticompetitive 
        market manipulation activities involving petroleum or petroleum 
        products.
            (8) Any other anticompetitive behavior that impacts the 
        price or supply of petroleum or petroleum products.
            (9) The advisability of revising the merger guidelines to 
        appropriately take into account particular aspects of the 
        petroleum and petroleum products marketplace.
            (10) The advisability of amending the antitrust laws in 
        light of any competitive problems in the petroleum and 
        petroleum products marketplace described in paragraphs (1)-(8) 
        that cannot currently be effectively addressed under such laws.
    (d) Director of Task Force.--The Attorney General shall appoint a 
director to head the Task Force.
    (e) Initial Report.--The 1st report required by subsection (b)(2) 
shall be submitted to the Congress not later than December 31, 2008.

        TITLE III--STUDY BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

SEC. 301. STUDY BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.

    (a) Study.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 
a study evaluating the effects of mergers addressed in covered merger 
consent decrees on competition in the markets involved, including the 
effectiveness of divestitures required under those consent decrees in 
preserving competition in those markets.
    (b) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report to 
Congress and the Department of Justice regarding the findings of the 
study conducted under subsection (b).
    (c) Attorney General Consideration.--Upon receipt of the report 
described in subsection (b), the Attorney General shall refer the 
report to the Task Force established under section 201, which shall 
consider whether any further enforcement action is warranted to protect 
or restore competition in any market affected by a transaction to which 
any covered merger consent decree relates.
    (d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``covered merger consent 
decree'' means a consent decree entered in the 10-year period ending on 
the date of the enactment of this Act, in an enforcement action brought 
under section 7 of the Clayton Act against a person engaged in the 
business of exploring for, producing, refining, processing, storing, 
distributing, or marketing petroleum or petroleum products.
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