[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 2, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S6340]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ENACTMENT OF THE STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION ADVANCEMENT ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that the House of 
Representatives has now passed the Standards Development Organization 
Advancement Act, an important piece of legislation on which both 
parties and both Chambers have been able to reach accord. It is now on 
its way to the President's desk, and I am confident that he will sign 
it into law.
  In April of this year, Senator Hatch, Senator Kohl, Senator DeWine, 
and I worked to craft a bipartisan, fair version of this bill that will 
promote the development of technical standards while preserving 
antitrust laws that enhance competition. It has been rare during this 
Congress to achieve the type of consensus generated by our bill, and it 
illustrates what we can accomplish when both parties work together. 
This is an example of how Congress should function. I must also express 
my gratitude to Chairman Sensenbrenner for all his efforts in the House 
of Representatives, not only for his critical role in shaping this 
legislation but also for the expeditious way he shepherded the bill 
through the House.
  As I have noted many times, technical standards serve a vital if 
unseen role in allowing for interoperability of products and making 
sure that the goods we buy are safe and effective. Whether for airbags 
or for fire retardant materials, without technical standards, consumers 
would be less likely to make the purchases that fuel the engine of the 
U.S. economy. Even more important, aspects of our lives that we 
consider routine--perhaps even mundane--would take on added dangers 
without standards that allow consumers to feel confident that a given 
product is safe and reliable.
  There is, however, an unavoidable tension between the antitrust laws 
that prohibit businesses from colluding and the development of 
technical standards, which require competitors to reach agreement on 
basic design elements. The Standards Development Organization 
Advancement Act eases this tension, allowing standards development 
organizations to continue their important work while preserving our 
antitrust laws that enhance competition and protect American consumers.
  Without creating an antitrust exemption, the Standards Development 
Organization Advancement Act will allow standards development 
organizations to seek review of their standards by the Department of 
Justice or the Federal Trade Commission prior to implementation. This 
``screening'' phase will not let a standards development organization 
escape penalty for a regulation that a court later rules is in 
violation of antitrust laws, but it will limit the organization's 
liability to single damages rather than the treble damages levied under 
current law.
  Additionally, the bill amends the National Cooperative Research and 
Production Act of 1993, by directing courts to apply a ``rule of 
reason'' standard to standards development organizations and the 
guidelines they produce. Under existing law, standards may be deemed 
anticompetitive by a court even if they have the effect of better 
serving consumers. This legislation gives our courts the needed ability 
to balance the competing interests of safety and efficiency against any 
anticompetitive effect--it is a capability our courts need in order to 
fairly administer justice. Back in the 103rd Congress, I introduced the 
Senate version of the National Cooperative Production Amendments Act of 
1993, and I am glad that we can today build on our earlier successes.
  Title II of the Standards Development Organization Advancement Act 
also addresses several areas of our antitrust laws that merit updating, 
as our experience with the actual practice in the world has shown. Most 
importantly, it will eliminate the disparity between the treatment of 
criminal white collar offenses and antitrust criminal violations--a 
provision Senator Hatch and I had introduced in S. 1080, the Antitrust 
Improvements Act of 2003--and it will update and improve the Justice 
Department's amnesty program in the criminal antitrust context. It will 
also make some practical adjustments to the language of the Tunney Act. 
Finally, it will allow a judge to order publication of the comments 
received in a Tunney Act proceeding by electronic or other means. This 
provision will make these documents more accessible to the public while 
saving taxpayers the costs of paper publication.
  I am glad that we can send to the President this bill that makes so 
many useful, fair, and bipartisan changes.

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