[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 126 (Friday, September 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10565-S10566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1996

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to consideration of calendar No. 575, H.R. 3553.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3553) to amend the Federal Trade Commission 
     Act to authorize appropriations for the Federal Trade 
     Commission.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the bill?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, H.R. 3553, the Federal Trade Commission 
Reauthorization Act of 1996, would reauthorize the Federal Trade 
Commission [FTC] for the next 2 fiscal years. The bill would authorize 
appropriations of $107 million in fiscal year 1997 and $111 million in 
fiscal year 1998. The expenditures authorized by this bill would be 
sufficient to permit the FTC to maintain existing staffing levels of 
979 full-time equivalent employees.
  H.R. 3553 is identical to S. 1840 which I introduced along with 
Senators Gorton, Hollings, Bryan, and Snowe. Before we introduced S. 
1840 on June 5, 1996, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation held a hearing on May 7, 1996, to review the FTC's 
activities. The Commerce Committee ordered the bill favorably reported 
during executive session on June 6, 1996. Because the House and Senate 
bills are identical, I am asking the Senate to adopt the House passed 
version so that we may send the bill to the President without the need 
for a conference.
  The FTC was created as an independent regulatory agency in 1914 by 
the Federal Trade Commission Act. The agency is charged with the dual 
mission of consumer protection and antitrust enforcement.
  Congress last authorized appropriations for the FTC in 1994. That 
authorization expires at the end of fiscal year 1996. The 1994 
authorization followed a 12-year period in which appropriations to the 
FTC were not authorized. In that authorization act, significant changes 
were made to the FTC's authorizing statutes.
  Mr. President, H.R. 3553, like its identical companion bill S. 1840, 
makes no further changes in the authorizing statutes. It is a simple 
authorization of appropriations and S. 1840 was in no way controversial 
during its committee consideration. I urge the Senate to pass H.R. 3553 
as received from the House.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill 
be deemed read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill 
appear at the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page S10566]]

  The bill (H.R. 3553) was deemed read the third time and passed.

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