[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 8, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H1021-H1022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         BIDEN POLICIES HAVE ADVERSE EFFECT ON SMALL BUSINESSES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Fitzgerald) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FITZGERALD. Madam Speaker, I wanted to shine some light on a 
topic that many Wisconsinites and Americans may not really be tracking 
very closely. After over a year under President Biden and his 
administration, it is clear that the policies are having an adverse 
effect on small business. It is raising the price of goods, which 
people can see right now when they go to market, when they purchase 
gas, and it is slowing the economy.
  While my colleagues across the aisle have been really, I think, 
unable to enact an agenda that would combat this, the Biden 
administration's unaccountable and unelected bureaucrats are trying 
their hardest to expand and enact these reckless policies. That is what 
I wanted to touch on today.
  President Biden's executive orders, of which he signed many right 
after being sworn in as President, have had an adverse effect on 
competition. They consolidate sweeping government power over things 
like agriculture, which is near and dear to my own State of Wisconsin; 
the airlines; the banking industry; broadband; health and healthcare 
products; meat packers, which we are all well aware of; and the 
technology industry.
  It is a broad scope of items that are affected. However, robust 
enforcement of the antitrust laws could provide substantial benefit to 
consumers because that would help ensure that the markets are 
competitive, particularly from predatory actions as we have seen 
specific to Big Tech.
  However, it is clear that the administration's actions are not 
narrowly targeted at Big Tech where it may be considered appropriate. 
But they are part

[[Page H1022]]

of an effort to expand government. And this is kind of a dirty little 
secret right now. Control over the vast sectors I just mentioned are 
all being done under the guise of Big Tech. Giving these agencies 
broader authority is not really going to do anything to enhance 
competition, so what we see is the heavy hand of government, which is 
right now crushing small business with the one-size-fits-all mandates, 
also allowing these agencies more authority over the economy.
  This will make government ultimately less accountable. Rather than 
promoting competition, the Federal Trade Commission is now imposing 
more costs on businesses. They are driving up prices on consumers, and 
this ultimately will force inflation even higher. There is just too 
much cash in the economy right now with very few supplies and services 
available. That is what inflation is.
  The FTC and the DOJ recently announced that they will be revising 
merger guidelines out of nowhere, out of the blue, and seem to assume 
that mergers harm competition and fail to realize efficiencies. 
Companies are also facing the FTC inquiries related to unionization and 
environmental and social issues, which are well outside of the agency's 
mission and also is not related to their responsibilities in and around 
upholding competition.
  The FTC has also required prior approval for future deals from 
businesses with a previous violation; again, all of a sudden, out of 
the blue, effectively making them guilty without the presumption of 
innocence.
  Even more bizarre than we could ever imagine, many of the actions 
have been done using so-called ``zombie votes'' from a commissioner who 
is no longer there; not even in the system. The clear intent of these 
actions is to discourage businesses to engage in the legal conduct of 
mergers.
  Even former President Obama's Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers, 
numerous times has stated that these policies will reduce supply, which 
will increase prices while discouraging investment. If the FTC and the 
unaccountable bureaucrats at the other agencies, such as the FDIC, 
continue to stray from the rule of law, Americans will face higher 
prices.

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