[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 41 (Thursday, March 7, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2268-S2269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Antitrust Appropriations

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Klobuchar 
on the floor today. Senator Klobuchar is the chair of the Subcommittee 
on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights of the Senate 
Committee on the Judiciary. I chair the Commerce, Justice, and Science 
Appropriations Subcommittee, and we are here to do a colloquy about the 
work of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division and its funding.
  First of all, I would like to thank my friend from Minnesota for her 
tireless work to strengthen competition policy and protect consumers. 
In particular, I want to commend her for her leadership on the Merger 
Fee Modernization Act, her bipartisan bill that was signed into law at 
the end of 2022. That bill modernized the merger fee filing structure 
for the first time in decades, resulting in more funding for the 
antitrust enforcers at the Justice Department.
  Today, we are considering fiscal year 2024 funding for the CJS bill 
as part of the six-bill minibus that is before the Senate. I can state 
with certainty that as a direct result of Senator Klobuchar's 
leadership, the bipartisan, bicameral appropriations package that the 
Senate is considering provides the highest ever appropriation for the 
Antitrust Division in the Agency's 121-year history.
  The Antitrust Division plays a vital role in promoting competition 
and cracking down on monopolistic practices that hurt U.S. consumers. 
That is why despite the extremely tight fiscal constraints for this 
year's budget, we fought off the House Republicans' attempts to gut 
funding for the Division and to impede its vital work. I am proud that 
we managed to secure increased funding for the Division in extremely 
tough bipartisan negotiations. And I want to thank the staff of the 
Commerce, Science and Justice Appropriations Subcommittee for their 
good work.
  House Republicans wanted to cut antitrust by $32 million or 14 
percent. We ended up providing antitrust with a 3.6 percent increase 
compared to last year. It is one of the only Agencies within the bill 
to receive an increase, and we fought for this increase because the 
Antitrust mission is as critical as ever.
  Decades of consolidation have left Americans with less choice and 
less innovation, and the effects of that consolidation can be felt in 
all facets of American life. So this funding will further the Agency's 
critical mission to promote competition and level the playing field for 
the American people.
  Now, the Antitrust Division is funded primarily through fees that are 
paid by companies seeking to merge. My colleague's legislation 
increases fees that are paid by large corporations and big mergers and 
decreases those on small businesses and smaller mergers. And for the 
first time, it adjusts the filing fee amounts each year based on 
changes in the Consumer Price Index.
  Hopefully, I got that right, Senator Klobuchar.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Thank you, Senator Shaheen. I am pleased to be here 
with my colleague from New Hampshire.
  Mr. President, as I said when I came to the floor earlier this week, 
I appreciate the tough negotiations that my colleagues on the 
Appropriations Committee, including Senator Shaheen with her very 
important subcommittee, had to go through in crafting this bill. There 
are many good things in it; and, crucially, it keeps the Federal 
Government open and working for the American people.
  However, as I noted last week, the technical language released by the 
Appropriations Committee on Sunday restricts the Antitrust Division 
from using funds generated from merger filing fees that exceed the 
appropriated amount collected in fiscal year 2024 to enforce our 
competition laws without a separate act of Congress.
  So the reason this has become a major deal for many of us that are 
simply interested in allowing the Department of Justice to do its work 
on some very important cases, which are well-publicized that are 
pending now, is that it conflicts with the intent of Senator Grassley's 
and my bill that passed last Congress by an 88-to-8 vote. This law 
provides enforcers with the resources necessary to take on the 
anticompetitive practices by the biggest companies the world has ever 
known, an acknowledgment that the world has changed.
  Prior to Sunday, appropriators had, for decades, allowed the 
Antitrust Division to retain and use all merger filing fees it 
collected without limit. This makes sense. If the fees collected are 
high, that means the mergers are rampant; and if mergers are rampant, 
the Antitrust Division needs additional funding to review and 
challenge anticompetitive mergers when they are anticompetitive, while 
simultaneously maintaining its non-fee-generating work of prosecuting 
price-fixing conspiracies and opposing monopolistic behavior.

  Unfortunately, the language in the current appropriations bill could 
divert fees away from the Antitrust Division in fiscal year 2024 if 
those fees exceeded

[[Page S2269]]

$233 million, potentially eroding the intent of the bill that Senator 
Grassley and I passed, along with Senator Lee, with overwhelming 
bipartisan support a little over a year ago.
  Yesterday, Senator Grassley and I, along with a bipartisan group that 
led the bill in the House, made clear that the bill's unambiguous 
intent was to allow the Antitrust Division to retain and use all fees 
generated from the new fee structure.
  Just to clarify with my friend from the great State of New Hampshire, 
I ask her if she shares the understanding that it is the intent of the 
Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act to provide additional resources to 
the Antitrust Division by increasing merger filing fees.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. As someone who voted for that bill and who thinks it 
was a good bill, I certainly do agree with that; and I hope that, in 
fact, going forward, we will see the Antitrust Division produce more 
fees so that we can get over the amount in the future as we look at 
putting together the appropriations bill for 2025.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Well, thank you, Senator Shaheen.
  I also understand that this year's appropriations bill, as I noted, 
was a product of negotiations in especially difficult circumstances. 
Given this situation, I thank you and Senator Murray for successfully 
fighting to secure an increase in funds compared to last year for the 
Antitrust Division.
  But as we have noted, this year's compromise would restrict the 
Antitrust Division's access to merger filing fees in years when those 
filing fees exceed the appropriated amount should not and cannot set a 
precedent for future appropriations bills. This language is limited to 
this bill and this bill only. Moving forward, we must include language 
that allows the Antitrust Division to retain and use the additional 
fees it collects under our bill--the bill that was passed with 88 votes 
in this Chamber, signed into law by the President, and, of course, 
passed by the House, and was consistent with decades of precedent to 
empower the Antitrust Division to enforce our competition laws.
  One last question of the Senator from New Hampshire, and that is: 
Will you commit to prioritizing and doing everything in your power to 
include language that will allow the Antitrust Division to retain and 
use all the fees it collects above the appropriated amount in future 
budgets consistent with the law's intent?
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Absolutely, and I hope in 2025, we are able to convince 
our Republican colleagues in the House that this is something that the 
original legislation that you and Senator Grassley passed intended, and 
that they will support that. And if we start from now, hopefully, we 
can engage Senator Grassley and Senator Lee to help us do that with the 
House Republicans.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much, Senator Shaheen. And as we know, 
there are major, major investigations--some suits already have been 
filed. Actually, from the prior administration going forward into this 
administration, they have been bipartisan in that way, as well as 
ongoing investigations.
  So I do thank you for your commitment and look forward to working 
closely with you and the Democratic and Republican Members of the 
Appropriations Committee on the fiscal year 2025 budget process to 
uphold this commitment.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar. As we know, we are about 
to start the 2025 appropriations process. So we will begin very soon, 
and I look forward to you and your staff working closely with us as we 
try to provide the desired outcome intended by the legislation.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Thank you, Senator Shaheen.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.