[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 72 (Friday, June 5, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GOVERNMENT PICKING WINNERS AND LOSERS

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I am compelled to rise today to comment 
once again on what I consider to be the troubling path that the Federal 
Government has taken with respect to this nation's high-tech industry. 
It has come to my attention that on Monday, the Federal Trade 
Commission will vote on whether to bring an antitrust action against 
Intel Corp.
  In November of last year I warned the Senate Judiciary Committee 
during a hearing on the Department of Justice's investigation of 
Microsoft of the slippery slope of more government regulation of, and 
intrustion into, America's high-technology sector. Monday's proposed 
vote makes clear to me that we are well into our slide. We are now 
witnessing a revolution in antitrust action in which it appears the 
federal government seeks to influence the very terms on which 
intellectual property is shared within an industry. We already have an 
entire field of laws that deal with this Mr. President. They are called 
``patents,'' and to the extent that there are deficiencies in patent 
law, this Congress is attempting to address those concerns through 
legislation.
  We do not need the Federal Trade Commission's help in this endeavor. 
Let me make clear, I do believe in appropriate antitrust enforcement. 
In this industry, however, overzealous pursuit of alleged antitrust 
violations sends a chilling signal to one of this nation's most prized 
industries: Success is illegal, violators will be punished.
  It is extremely important to keep in mind that our antitrust 
regulation is intended to protect consumers. I believe our central 
concern in looking at antitrust as it relates to the high-tech industry 
should be to ensure that consumers continue to see prices go down as 
the quality and variety of products go up.
  American consumers are presented with a vast number of choices in the 
high-tech marketplace. One need only walk into one of the thousands of 
computer and software stores in America to find an enormous, even 
bewildering selection of hardware for every imaginable need. The 
overwhelming evidence indicates that competitiveness is alive and well 
in the high-tech industry--indeed, virtually the only monopolies that 
exist today are those that have been created by government.
  Mr. President, it is time for Washington to get out of the business 
of picking winners and losers in the free market, and I am deeply 
concerned about the FTC's actions to this effect. I intend to closely 
monitor this matter, and I encourage my colleagues to join with me in 
expressing their concerns about the increasing amount of government 
intrusion into this sector of the economy.

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