[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3450 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3450

   To prohibit certain restraints of competition adversely affecting 
                          automobile dealers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2009

  Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas (for herself, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. 
  Fudge, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Ms. Clarke, Mr. Hare, Mr. Poe of 
 Texas, Mr. Massa, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Berry, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Tonko, 
Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Reyes, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, and Mr. Rothman 
of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit certain restraints of competition adversely affecting 
                          automobile dealers.

    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 ``Automobile Dealers Fair Competition 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST CERTAIN RESTRAINTS OF TRADE.

    (a) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any new automobile 
manufacturer (as defined in subsection (c)) engaged in commerce, in the 
course of such commerce, directly or indirectly, to unreasonably 
discriminate against, or unreasonably deny a franchise to, an 
automobile dealer (as defined in subsection (d)) in any case in which 
the automobile dealer applies to such manufacturer, within 60 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, for the retention of its 
franchise and presents adequate evidence that it is a going concern.
    (b) Expedited Actions To Protect Franchise Agreements.--In order to 
protect the economic rights of automobile dealers, if at the end of 90 
days following the date of the enactment of this Act, if a new 
automobile manufacturer has not entered into an agreement with an 
automobile dealer to restore its franchise, the automobile dealer, at 
the dealer's option, shall be able to seek enforcement of its rights 
under subsection (a) by filing an action therefor in a United Stated 
district court under a procedure in which a master appointed by the 
court shall hear the matter and make a recommendation to the court 
within 90 days after the filing of the action. The court shall adopt 
the master's recommendation if in accord with the law and facts. The 
provisions of this subsection shall not be in derogation of any rights 
an automobile dealer otherwise has under this section.
    (c) Definition of ``New Automobile Manufacturer''.--As used in 
subsection (a), the term ``new automobile manufacturer'' means an 
automobile manufacturing company established in 2009 that is the 
successor to another automobile manufacturing company and acquires in 
such year the assets of the predecessor automobile manufacturing 
company in a transaction governed by section 363 of title 11 of the 
United States Code.
    (d) Definition of ``Automobile Dealer''.--As used in subsection 
(a), the term ``automobile dealer'' means any automobile dealer in the 
United States that, on January 1, 2009, held a franchise granted by an 
automobile manufacturing company that was the predecessor company to a 
new automobile manufacturer to sell that company's automobiles, but 
that, on the date of the enactment of this Act, has not entered an 
agreement with the new automobile manufacturer that is a successor to 
that company to continue serving as a franchisee.
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