[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 66 (Monday, May 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4938-S4939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        BOOK SELLING IN AMERICA

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I turn for a few minutes this morning to an 
issue that many Senators may not have heard much about but one that has 
great implications for the consumer, for intellectual freedom and the 
quality of life in our communities across the country.
  The issue I intend to focus on specifically is the proposed 
acquisition by Barnes & Noble of the Ingram book company. The price tag 
on this acquisition is $600 million, and it involves the Nation's 
largest bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble, joining forces with the Ingram 
book company, the world's largest book distributor.
  I am concerned that this deal will give Barnes & Noble a competitive 
stranglehold on the bookselling business in America. That is why last 
November I asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate this 
proposed acquisition. Based on information I have learned in the last 
few days, I believe the Federal Trade Commission will soon make a 
decision on this proposed acquisition. I am very hopeful that when the 
Federal Trade Commission comes down with that decision, they will come 
down foursquare for the consumer.
  Right now across this country, thousands and thousands of Americans 
have stopped at small bookstores to sign petitions urging that this 
proposed acquisition be blocked. In fact, there is a special phone line 
at the Federal Trade Commission because there has been such a tidal 
wave of interest on this specific proposal. I will briefly outline this 
morning what I find troubling about this proposed deal.
  For a small bookstore, if this acquisition goes forward, they will 
have to depend on a megastore for the products they sell. The new 
bookstore colossus, with Barnes & Noble coming together with Ingram, 
will essentially have a huge competitive advantage that could work to 
cause great hardship for small bookstores in our country. Because the 
Ingram Company has information about sales and volume and ordering 
habits of small bookstores, is the new megastore going to use that 
information in a fair way? I am very concerned about it, but I can tell 
you that small bookstores across this country are very troubled when it 
comes to getting fair access to the titles they need, when it comes to 
how that information which Ingram has, that will be part of the new 
operation with Barnes & Noble, is used. I can tell you that small 
bookstores across this country believe this issue is literally one of 
life and death for them.

  Second, I am concerned about issues relating to intellectual freedom. 
My concern is that with this deal and the potential that there will be 
just a handful of big bookstores in our country dominating the Nation, 
what they will stock are largely the best sellers.
  I have had some experience with this. My father, who passed away, was 
an author and had a small publishing company. He said there is always 
room at the big stores in titles involving sex and drugs and rock and 
roll.
  But I am concerned about what is going to happen when we have just a 
handful of these megastores, whether we are going to see intellectual 
freedom prosper and those titles that are not always on the best seller 
list accessible the way they are today.

[[Page S4939]]

  Third, I am concerned about the vitality of our communities. These 
small bookstores in so many of our communities do more than just sell 
books. Yes, they sell publications and they make it possible for young 
people in rural America and inner cities and others to have a 
comfortable place to learn, but they are also a huge addition to Main 
Street in so many parts of rural Oregon and, I am sure, in Kansas where 
the Presiding Officer resides. Having been born in Wichita, we have 
talked before about life in rural America.
  I do not want to see those small bookstores becoming part of the Main 
Street of yesteryear in rural America. I am very concerned that if this 
proposed merger goes forward, as it is currently structured, it really 
will put a hardship on a lot of main streets in rural communities and 
will diminish the vitality of many of those towns.

  I admit to growing up a bit skeptical of some of these large 
megastores. As I said, my dad was an author, and I spent a lot of 
Sunday afternoons going through some of those megastores with my dad 
trying to persuade them to put one of his titles that did not fit their 
view of what was popular up close, up close to where the consumers were 
when they stopped to browse in the window. My father was concerned 
about the concentration of economic power in the bookselling business.
  I tell you, I think this deal, if it goes forward as structured, will 
confirm a lot of the worries that my dad and others like him have had 
about our country and where the bookselling business is going.
  Finally, I think we all understand that the bookselling business has 
changed certainly on the Internet. The Presiding Officer has worked 
with me on legislation which has been important to me such as the 
Internet Tax Freedom Act.
  The Internet has changed the bookselling business. There is no 
question about the fact that with Amazon.com and others in the business 
of selling books on line, the business has changed very dramatically. 
But I do not buy the idea that Barnes & Noble had to merge with Ingram 
in order to take on Amazon. I do not buy that idea at all.
  I think there is a role in our country for a variety of ways for 
consumers to order publications. I think there is an important place 
for the small bookstore, especially because of the contributions they 
make to main streets in rural communities and inner cities. I certainly 
do not want to hold back on-line shopping. That is why I was a 
principal sponsor in the Senate of the Internet Tax Freedom Act. So I 
do not take a back seat to anybody in terms of trying to ensure that we 
take advantage of all the technological innovations that are available 
for the consumer.
  What concerns me about this proposal is that a lot of small 
bookstores are not going to be able to survive. A lot of small 
bookstores are going to find it difficult to survive if Barnes & Noble 
has proprietary information about them, about their volume, about their 
sales practices, about the way they do business, and if that 
information is used against small bookstores.
  So I believe the Federal Trade Commission has in front of it an issue 
of extreme importance, one which will dramatically affect intellectual 
freedom, one which has great implications for antitrust policy and the 
consumer, one which will be vital to the well-being of communities and 
main streets across this country. I believe the Federal Trade 
Commission is going to rule soon on this proposed acquisition. I 
believe they are going to act in the interest of the consumer. I 
appreciate the opportunity to bring the Senate up to date on this 
important economic matter.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The distinguished Senator from North Dakota.

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