Union Calendar No. 76

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2243

[Report No. 103–138]

A BILL

To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to

such Act, and for other purposes.extend the authorization of appropriations in

JUNE 17, 1993

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed
IB

Union Calendar No. 76

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2243

[Report No. 103–138]

To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to extend the authorization

of appropriations in such Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 24, 1993

Mr. SWIFT (for himself and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

JUNE 17, 1993

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to extend

the authorization of appropriations in such Act, 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, REFERENCE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Federal Trade Commission Act Amendments of 1993’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend2 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

3 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

4 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi5 sion of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

6 SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE OF ORDERS.

7 Section 5(g) (15 U.S.C. 45(g)) is amended to read

8 as follows:

9 ‘‘(g) An order of the Commission to cease and desist

10 shall become final as follows:

11 ‘‘(1) Upon the expiration of the time allowed

12 for filing a petition under subsection (c) for review

13 if no such petition has been duly filed within such

14 time, except that the Commission may after the

15 order becomes final modify or set it aside to the ex16 tent provided in the last sentence of subsection (b).

17 ‘‘(2) Except as to any order provision subject to

18 paragraph (4), upon the 60th day after such order

19 is served if a petition under subsection (c) for review

20 has been duly filed, except that any such order may

21 be stayed, in whole or in part and subject to such

22 conditions as may be appropriate, by—

23 ‘‘(A) the Commission,

24 ‘‘(B) an appropriate court of appeals of

25 the United States if (i) a petition for review of
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1 such order is pending in such court, and (ii) an

2 application for such a stay was previously sub3 mitted to the Commission and the Commission,

4 within the 30-day period beginning on the date

5 the application was received by the Commission,

6 either denied the application or did not grant or

7 deny the application, or

8 ‘‘(C) the Supreme Court if an applicable

9 petition for a writ of certiorari is pending.

10 ‘‘(3) For purposes of subsection (m)(1)(B) and

11 section 19(a)(2)—

12 ‘‘(A) if a petition under subsection (c) for

13 review of the order of the Commission has been

14 filed and if the order of the Commission has

15 been affirmed or the petition for review has

16 been dismissed by a court of appeals of the

17 United States and no petition for certiorari has

18 been duly filed, upon the expiration of the time

19 allowed for filing a petition to the Supreme

20 Court for a writ of certiorari,

21 ‘‘(B) if a petition under subsection (c) for

22 review of the order of the Commission has been

23 filed and if the order of the Commission has

24 been affirmed or the petition for review has

25 been dismissed by a court of appeals of the
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1 United States, upon the denial of a petition for

2 a writ of certiorari, or

3 ‘‘(C) if a petition under subsection (c) for

4 review of the order of the Commission has been

5 filed, upon the expiration of 30 days from the

6 date of issuance of a mandate of the Supreme

7 Court directing that the order of the Commis8 sion be affirmed or the petition for review be

9 dismissed.

10 ‘‘(4) In the case of an order provision requiring

11 a person, partnership, or corporation to divest itself

12 of stock, other share capital, or assets—

13 ‘‘(A) if a petition under subsection (c) for

14 review of such order of the Commission has

15 been filed and if the order of the Commission

16 has been affirmed or the petition for review has

17 been dismissed by a court of appeals of the

18 United States and no petition for certiorari has

19 been duly filed, upon the expiration of the time

20 allowed for filing a petition to the Supreme

21 Court for a writ of certiorari,

22 ‘‘(B) if a petition under subsection (c) for

23 review of such order of the Commission has

24 been filed and if the order of the Commission

25 has been affirmed or the petition for review has
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1 been dismissed by a court of appeals of the

2 United States upon the denial of a petition for

3 a writ of certiorari, or

4 ‘‘(C) if a petition under subsection (c) for

5 review of such order of the Commission has

6 been filed, upon the expiration of 30 days from

7 the date of issuance of a mandate of the Su8 preme Court directing that the order of the

9 Commission be affirmed or the petition for re10 view be dismissed.’’.

11 SEC. 3. PROCEEDINGS SUBSEQUENT TO VIOLATIONS OF

12 ORDERS.

13 (a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 5(m)(1)(B) (15

14 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, other

15 than a consent order,’’ immediately after ‘‘order’’ the first

16 time it appears.

17 (b) DETERMINATIONS OF LAW.—Section 5(m)(2) (15

18 U.S.C. 45(m)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the

19 following: ‘‘Upon request of any party to such an action

20 against such defendant, the court shall also review the de21 termination of law made by the Commission in the pro22 ceeding under subsection (b) that the act or practice which

23 was the subject of such proceeding constituted an unfair

24 or deceptive act or practice in violation of subsection (a).’’.
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1 SEC. 4. CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMANDS.

2 (a) SECTION 20(a).—Section 20(a) (15 U.S.C. 57b–

3 1(a)) is amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘unfair or de5 ceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce

6 (within the meaning of section 5(a)(1))’’ and insert7 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘act or practice or method of

8 competition declared unlawful by a law administered

9 by the Commission’’;

10 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘unfair or de11 ceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce

12 (within the meaning of section 5(a)(1))’’ and insert13 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘acts or practices or methods of

14 competition declared unlawful by a law administered

15 by the Commission’’; and

16 (3) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘unfair or de17 ceptive act or practice in or affecting commerce

18 (within the meaning of section 5(a)(1))’’ and insert19 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘act or practice or method of

20 competition declared unlawful by a law administered

21 by the Commission’’.

22 (b) SECTION 20(c).—Section 20(c)(1) (15 U.S.C.

23 57b–1(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘unfair or deceptive acts

24 or practices in or affecting commerce (within the meaning

25 of section 5(a)(1))’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘any act
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1 or practice or method of competition declared unlawful by

2 a law administered by the Commission’’.

3 (c) SECTION 20(j).—Section 20(j) (15 U.S.C. 57b–

4 1(j)) is amended by inserting immediately before the semi5 colon the following: ‘‘, any proceeding under section 11(b)

6 of the Clayton Act, or any adjudicative proceeding under

7 any other provision of law’’.

8 SEC. 5. AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES.

9 The Federal Trade Commission Act is amended by

10 redesignating sections 24 and 25 as sections 25 and 26,

11 respectively, and by inserting after section 23 the follow12 ing:

13 ‘‘SEC. 24. (a) The Commission shall not have any au14 thority to conduct any study, investigation, or prosecution

15 of any agricultural cooperative for any conduct which, be16 cause of the provisions of the Act entitled ‘An Act to au17 thorize association of producers of agricultural products’,

18 approved February 18, 1922 (7 U.S.C. 291 et seq., com19 monly known as the Capper-Volstead Act), is not a viola20 tion of any of the antitrust Acts or this Act.

21 ‘‘(b) The Commission shall not have any authority

22 to conduct any study or investigation of any agricultural

23 marketing orders.’’.
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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 Section 25 (15 U.S.C. 57c) (as so redesignated by

3 section 5) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 25. To carry out the functions, powers, and

5 duties of the Commission there are authorized to be appro6 priated $88,000,000 for fiscal year 1993, $92,000,000 for

7 fiscal year 1994, and $99,000,000 for fiscal year 1995.’’.

8 SEC. 7. ACTION OF COMMISSION RESPECTING CERTAIN

9 PROCEEDINGS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commission

11 shall not have any authority to use any funds which are

12 authorized under section 25 to be appropriated to carry

13 out the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et

14 seq.) for fiscal years 1993, 1994, or 1995 for the purpose

15 of submitting statements to, appearing before, or interven16 ing in the proceedings of, any Federal or State agency

17 unless the Commission notifies the Committee on Energy

18 and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the

19 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

20 the Senate of such action as soon as possible.

21 (b) NOTICE.—The notice required by subsection (a)

22 with respect to Federal Trade Commission action shall in23 clude—

24 (1) the name of the agency involved,

25 (2) the date of such action, and
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1 (3) a concise statement regarding the nature

2 and purpose of such action.

3 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections

5 (b) and (c), the amendments made by this Act and this

6 Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

7 (b) SECTION 2.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by

9 section 2 shall apply only with respect to cease and

10 desist orders issued under section 5 of the Federal

11 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) after the date

12 of enactment of this Act.

13 (2) CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment made by

14 section 2 shall not be construed to affect in any

15 manner a cease and desist order which was issued

16 before the date of enactment of this Act. Such

17 amendment shall not be construed to affect in any

18 manner a cease and desist order issued after the

19 date of enactment of this Act, if such order was is20 sued pursuant to remand from a court of appeals or

21 the Supreme Court of an order issued by the Fed22 eral Trade Commission before the date of enactment

23 of this Act.
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1 (c) SECTION 4.—The amendments made by section

2 4 shall apply only with respect to compulsory process is3 sued after the date of enactment of this Act.