I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4518
To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide a procedure for
the termination of Federal Trade Commission orders which have been
in effect for at least 10 years.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 26, 1994
Mr. KOPETSKI (for himself, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. LAROCCO, and Mr. KREIDLER)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide
a procedure for the termination of Federal Trade Com-
mission orders which have been in effect for at least
10 years.
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 ‘‘FTC Order Review
Procedure Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF ORDERS.
Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 45) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(n)(1) In January following the date of the enact-
ment of this subsection, and in each January thereafter,
the Commission shall publish in the Federal Register a
list of all final Commission antitrust and consumer protec-
tion orders issued by the Commission that—
‘‘(A) are in effect on the date on which the list
is published in the Federal Register, and
‘‘(B) have been final orders of the Commission
for a period of 10 years or more on the date on
which the list is published in the Federal Register.
‘‘(2)(A) Except for an order described in subpara-
graph (B) or an order which is not required to have a
termination provision under paragraph (3), any order of
the Commission which has been final for more than 10
years shall be set aside in response to a petition of the
Commission for a proceeding under subsection (b) for the
termination of the order unless the Commission deter-
mines, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, that
the continuation of the market conditions giving rise to
the order or the conduct of the person subject to the order
following entry of the order require the order to remain
in effect to achieve the original purpose of the order.
‘‘(B) An order referred to in subparagraph (A) is an
order which—
‘‘(i) enjoins conduct subject to per se con-
demnation under the Sherman Act or is issued to
protect the public from fraudulent conduct, or
‘‘(ii) is based on a Commission finding based on
a preponderance of the evidence that there is a de-
monstrably high probability that the kind of conduct
which resulted in the Commission issuing the order
is likely to recur.
‘‘(3) Any Commission order issued after the date of
enactment of this subsection shall include a provision
which terminates the order 10 years after the date the
order becomes final unless it is an order which—
‘‘(A) enjoins conduct subject to per se con-
demnation under the Sherman Act or is issued to
protect the public from fraudulent conduct, or
‘‘(B) is based on a Commission finding based
on a preponderance of the evidence that there is a
demonstrably high probability that the kind of con-
duct which resulted in the Commission issuing the
order is likely to recur.
‘‘(4) After the date of enactment of this subsection,
any court ruling that enforces, amends, or supplements
a Commission order that has been terminated pursuant
to this subsection shall be vacated upon the filing of a
petition in the relevant court which truthfully asserts that