I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4731
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide that it is not
contrary to the foreign policy interest of the United States to bring
an antitrust lawsuit asserting the manipulation of energy supplies or
prices, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 23, 2000
Mr. GILMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Inter-
national Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide
that it is not contrary to the foreign policy interest
of the United States to bring an antitrust lawsuit assert-
ing the manipulation of energy supplies or prices, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Trust Busting
Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) it is in the foreign policy interest of the
United States for there to be a free market in en-
ergy on an international basis;
(2) a principal reason for high energy prices in
the United States is international price fixing that
has evaded review under the antitrust laws of the
United States because of foreign policy consider-
ations and technical impediments in these laws that
prevent the effective enforcement of United States
law with respect to international price fixing in the
energy market; and
(3) among these foreign policy and technical
impediments is the discretionary federal act of state
doctrine which has been used to bar a lawsuit di-
rected at stopping the manipulation of energy sup-
plies and prices because of concern that such litiga-
tion might interfere in the foreign policy of the
United States.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to establish that the foreign policy interest
of the United States would be advanced, rather than
impeded or complicated, if foreign entities, including
foreign cartels and foreign countries participating in
such cartels, were held responsible for energy supply
and price manipulation that affects the United
States economy; and
(2) to eliminate barriers to the effective applica-
tion of United States antitrust laws to foreign enti-
ties that have manipulated energy supplies or prices.
SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961
RELATING TO JURISDICTION OF UNITED
STATES COURTS IN CERTAIN ANTITRUST
CASES.
Section 620(e)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(e)(2)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘: Provided, That this subpara-
graph shall not be applicable (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘,
except that this subparagraph shall not be applica-
ble’’;
(3) by striking ‘‘or other taking, or (2)’’ and in-
serting the following: ‘‘or other taking.
‘‘(B)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
no court in the United States shall decline on the ground
of the federal act of state doctrine to make a determina-
tion on the merits relating to an action under any anti-
trust laws in a case asserting the manipulation of energy
supplies or prices, except that this subparagraph shall not
be applicable’’; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(ii) In this subparagraph, the term ‘antitrust laws’
has the meaning given it in subsection (a) of the first sec-
tion of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)), except that
such term includes section 5 of the Federal Trade Com-
mission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such section 5
applies to unfair methods of competition.’’.
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