[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5860]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                LEGISLATION TO REINFORCE ANTITRUST LAWS

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                            HON. DAVID MINGE

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 13, 2000

  Mr. MINGE. Mr. Speaker, following is a summary of my legislation.

       A bill to reinforce our antitrust laws by focusing on three 
     main issues:
       (1) Broadening our antitrust laws: Antitrust violators 
     should be liable to all injured persons, whether the damages 
     are direct or indirect. Under current federal law, only 
     direct parties have the right to a remedy for antitrust harm. 
     By broadening the scope of persons who can demand reparations 
     for harm caused by antitrust violators, without relying on 
     government bureaucracies to do it for them, our antitrust 
     laws can be more effective.
       (2) Modernizing antitrust enforcement: This bill increases 
     the maximum fines from $10 million to $100 million to reflect 
     the magnitude of today's economy and potential damages from 
     anti-competitive activity. Moreover, megamergers create heavy 
     workload for the agencies responsible for their approval. The 
     pre-merger notification filing fee structure is changed to 
     reflect that.
       (3) Addressing concentration in agribusiness: Growing 
     concentration in food processing and distribution has been 
     accompanied by low farm income and the loss of thousands of 
     farmers. The weakening bargaining power of farmers and the 
     potential market power of suppliers, processors and other 
     intermediaries has been accompanied by record earnings. 
     Moreover, the benefits of low farm prices are not passed on 
     to American consumers; food prices are not declining. This 
     bill creates a commission to study this troublesome 
     situation. This bill also clarifies the Packers and 
     Stockyards Act to ensure that small producers are not 
     discriminated against and establishes a senior official 
     position for agriculture at the Antitrust Division of the 
     DOJ.

     

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