I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2677 

To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to require a time limitation 

for consent orders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2021 

Mr. BURGESS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to require 

a time limitation for consent orders, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Technological Innova5 tion through Modernizing Enforcement Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘TIME Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. TIME LIMITATION FOR CONSENT ORDERS. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 5 of the Federal Trade 

9 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) is amended by adding at 

10 the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(o) TERMINATION CLAUSE REQUIRED FOR CON2 SENT ORDERS.—Any consent order entered into by the 

3 Commission shall include a termination clause that the 

4 consent order shall expire not later than 8 years after the 

5 date on which the consent order is entered into, unless 

6 such consent order relates to alleged fraud by the entity 

7 subject to the consent order and requires a time limit 

8 longer than 8 years based on the factors described in this 

9 subsection. In determining the time limit for any termi10 nation clause, the Commission shall consider each of the 

11 following factors: 

12 ‘‘(1) The impact of technological progress on 

13 the continuing relevance of the consent order. 

14 ‘‘(2) Whether there is reason to believe that the 

15 entity would engage in activities that violate this sec16 tion without the consent order 8 years after the con17 sent order is entered into by the Commission. 

18 ‘‘(p) CONSENT ORDER REVIEW.—Any consent order 

19 entered into by the Commission that is unrelated to al20 leged fraud by the entity subject to the consent order and 

21 has a termination date more than 5 years after such con22 sent order is entered into shall include a clause providing 

23 for Commission review of the consent order 5 years after 

24 the date on which the order is entered into. Such clause 

25 shall require the Commission to evaluate whether the conVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2677.IH H2677

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1 sent order continues to serve its initial purposes based on 

2 the factors described in subsection (o). The clause shall 

3 provide that if, based on such evaluation, the Commission 

4 determines that the consent order no longer serves its pur5 poses, the Commission shall terminate the consent order. 

6 ‘‘(q) PETITION FOR REVIEW OF EXISTING CONSENT

7 ORDERS.—Any entity that as of the effective date of this 

8 subsection is subject to a consent order that is unrelated 

9 to alleged fraud and has been effective for a period of at 

10 least five years may petition the Commission to terminate 

11 such consent order. In evaluating a petition to terminate 

12 a consent order under this subsection, the Commission 

13 shall consider whether the consent order continues to serve 

14 its initial purposes based on each of the factors described 

15 in subsection (o). If, based on such evaluation, the Com16 mission determines that the consent order no longer serves 

17 its purposes, the Commission shall terminate the consent 

18 order.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—The amend20 ment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date 

21 of enactment of this Act and with respect to subsections 

22 (o) and (p) of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission 

23 Act (15 U.S.C. 45), as added by subsection (a), shall apply 


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1 with respect to any consent order entered into after such 

2 date. 

Æ 


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