[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 133 (Thursday, November 18, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11486-S11487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             LIFTING HOLD ON NOMINATION OF DEBORAH MAJORAS

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, last May, I announced my intention to 
object to any unanimous consent request for the Senate to take up the 
nomination of Deborah Majoras to be the Chair of the Federal Trade 
Commission, FTC. I did so because despite several requests, I had 
received no assurance from Ms. Majoras that under her leadership, the 
FTC would take any steps to address anticompetitive practices that 
drive up gasoline prices nationwide and particularly in the Pacific 
Northwest. Oregon consumers typically pay some of the highest gasoline 
prices in the Nation.
  Today, I received a letter from Ms. Majoras describing how she is 
moving forward on certain commitments she made to me concerning the 
FTC's policies for the oil and gasoline industry.

[[Page S11487]]

In particular, she committed to consult with outside experts to get to 
the bottom of the differences between the Government Accountability 
Office, GAO, and the FTC on the impacts of the FTC oil merger policies 
on gasoline prices. Ms. Majoras' letter states that she is working to 
do this by conducting a public review of the GAO report on the Effects 
of Mergers and Market Concentration in the U.S. Petroleum Industry. 
Following that review, Ms. Majoras also promises to share her views 
with me on the GAO report.
  Ms. Majoras' letter indicates she is making a good-faith effort to 
take a fresh look at the issues raised by the GAO report. In light of 
this and the other actions Ms. Majoras has initiated to get to the 
bottom of the reasons why consumers in my part of the country are 
paying such high gasoline prices, I will no longer object to any 
unanimous consent request for the Senate to take up Ms. Majoras' 
nomination. I will, however, continue to closely monitor the FTC 
actions under Ms. Majoras' leadership to ensure gasoline consumers are 
not overpaying at the pump.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of this statement along with Ms. 
Majoras' letter be printed in the Congressional Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                     Federal Trade Commission,

                                Washington, DC, November 18, 2004.
     Hon. Ron Wyden,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Wyden, In response to your recent inquiries, I 
     want to assure you that I am working to implement the actions 
     that I laid out in my letter of June 10, 2004. For example, 
     we are working on the public review by outside economic 
     experts of the findings in the GAO Report, Energy Markets: 
     Effects of Mergers and Market Concentration in the U.S. 
     Petroleum Industry and the criticisms of that report. As you 
     know, it is common for economists to submit their work for 
     peer review and discussion, and I believe that such an 
     assessment would be useful. Given your interest in the 
     report, I plan to share my views with you about the findings 
     and conclusions of this public discussion once we have 
     completed that process.
       Here at the FTC, we are working at full throttle to protect 
     American consumers; I look forward to working cooperatively 
     with the Congress in the coming session on these efforts.
           Sincerely,
     Deborah Platt Majoras.

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