I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2533
To amend the Clayton Act and the Administrative Procedures Act.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 15, 1999
Mr. HYDE (for himself, Mr. GEKAS, and Mr. GOODLATTE) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and
in addition to the Committee on Commerce, for a period to be subse-
quently 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 Clayton Act and the Administrative
Procedures Act.
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 ‘‘Fairness in Tele-
communications License Transfers Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. REPEAL OF CLAYTON ACT PROVISION.
Section 11(a) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 21(a))
is amended by striking ‘‘in the Federal Communications
Commission where applicable to common carriers engaged
in wire or radio communication or radio transmission of
energy;’’.
SEC. 3. PROCEDURAL DEADLINES FOR INDEPENDENT REG-
ULATORY COMMISSIONS.
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 558 of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘(d)(1) Each independent regulatory commission
shall promulgate rules of administrative practice and pro-
cedure for consideration in a reasonable time, as required
by subsection (c), of all applications for the transfer of
licenses, or the acquisition and operation of lines for which
the commission grants authority. Such rules shall
specify—
‘‘(A) procedures for submitting to the party or
parties covered by the application requests for docu-
ments and information necessary for consideration
of the transfer of licenses or acquisition and oper-
ation of lines, addressed in the application;
‘‘(B) the period of time following an application
for transfer of licenses or acquisition and operation
of lines during which the commission may submit
such requests;
‘‘(C) the period of time following an application
for transfer of licenses or acquisition and operation
(2), the application shall be deemed approved, without
conditions, by such commission.
‘‘(4) If an independent regulatory commission has not
promulgated rules as required by paragraph (2), or has
not followed such rules, any person that has applied for
transfer of licenses or acquisition and operation of lines
affected by such failure may bring an action in the United
States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking
a declaration that the application is deemed approved,
without conditions, by the commission.
‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘inde-
pendent regulatory commission’ means an ‘agency’ within
the meaning of section 552b of this title, but unless other-
wise expressly provided by amendment to this subsection
includes only the Federal Communications Commission.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) shall be effective upon enactment, except
that the actions authorized by paragraph (4) of section
558(d) of title 5, United States Code, as added by such
amendment, may not be brought with respect to any fail-
ure by an independent regulatory commission to prescribe
rules as required by such section unless such failure con-
tinues after one year after the date of enactment of this
Act.
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