[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2444]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Confirmation of Alvaro M. Bedoya

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise tonight to highlight the 
significance of the vote we took earlier today, and that is to confirm 
Alvaro Bedoya to be Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.
  Not only is this a critical moment for us to act and help American 
consumers, Alvaro Bedoya is the right person to get this job.
  The FTC is the first line of defense for consumers. And if a company 
is lying to its customers about their products and what they can do or 
teaming up with competitors to keep prices high, the FTC is the officer 
on the beat to stop bad actors and to protect those consumers.
  Now we need the FTC more than ever. We needed them during the COVID 
pandemic when scammers were looking to capitalize on the pandemic and 
stole $5.9 billion out of the pocketbooks of Americans. That is just 
the amount that was consumer reported. It doesn't include people who 
never knew they were scammed or were too embarrassed to report their 
losses.
  Just as we needed them then, we need them to continue to help us 
during the pandemic to stop scammers from selling fake cures and 
counterfeit masks. We need them to tackle rising prices that threaten 
all of us today.
  Protecting consumers is a bipartisan issue. In the Senate, we worked 
across the aisle to support the FTC, and Congress pumped the FTC's 
power at the end of 2020 when we passed the COVID-19 Consumer 
Protection Act to help root out the promoters of dangerous fake 
treatments and cures. We also gave the FTC $30 million in the American 
Rescue Plan to protect Americans against these scams.
  Today, we will take this important step in helping to protect 
consumers by having Mr. Bedoya fill the last seat on the Federal Trade 
Commission. He has the right experience to tackle some of the most 
complicated and pressing issues that we have, that we are facing 
regarding a variety of issues from privacy to online privacy.
  Being the Founding Director of the Center of Privacy and Technology 
at Georgetown Law where he was a professor, he did amazing work. And 
prior to joining Georgetown, he served as Chief Counsel of the U.S. 
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law.
  Many of my colleagues know Mr. Bedoya; and I am glad his nomination 
finally has passed here in the Senate, and we look forward to working 
with him.