Washington – House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan held a Federal Trade Commission oversight hearing Thursday aimed at getting answers on mismanagement at the FTC and revelations that ethics recommendations were ignored in the agency. The hearing also examined the FTC’s record of enforcement actions, losses in court, and politicized rulemakings.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for sound competition regulation rooted in consumer protection principles for more than 50 years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“We appreciate Congress using its oversight role to ask questions about recent attempts to expand antitrust regulation beyond existing law and beyond Congress’s direction when it created the FTC and charged it with protecting consumers. The balanced approach the U.S. has historically taken on antitrust law that shields consumers – not businesses from competition – is what has made the U.S. digital industry the envy of the world and a leading export. We have the most to lose by abdicating our digital leadership position in favor of regulatory models of countries that do not have a thriving innovation economy.
“It is troubling to see regulators ignore ethics advice and proceed with weak legal cases against companies they advocated against prior to taking office. Congress is right to investigate ideological attacks on a few U.S. companies that could significantly impact the U.S. economy.”