CLEAR Act

Bill: 117-hr-2690
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Guthrie, Brett [R-KY-2]
Introduced: 2021-04-20
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Competition and antitrust

Congressional oversight

Consumer affairs

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Government information and archives

Government studies and investigations
Latest action: action_date: 2021-04-21
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.

Summaries:
action_date: 2021-04-20
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Clarifying Legality and Enforcement Action Reasoning Act or the CLEAR Act</strong></p> <p>This bill requires the Federal Trade Commission to annually publish a report with certain information about its investigations of unfair or deceptive practices, including the number and disposition of such investigations.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2690 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 20, 2021 Mr. Guthrie 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 annual reports to Congress regarding the status of investigations of unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Clarifying Legality and Enforcement Action Reasoning Act or the CLEAR Act . 2. Annual reporting on the status of investigations Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 45 ) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (o) Report on investigations (1) In general The Commission shall, on an annual basis, transmit a report to Congress on investigations with respect to unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce (within the meaning of subsection (a)(1)), detailing— (A) the number of such investigations the Commission has commenced; (B) the number of such investigations the Commission has closed with no official agency action; (C) the disposition of such investigations, if such investigations have concluded and resulted in official agency action; and (D) for each such investigation that was closed with no official agency action, a description sufficient to indicate the legal analysis supporting the Commission’s decision not to continue such investigation, and the industry sectors of the entities subject to each such investigation. (2) Privacy protection The description required under paragraph (1)(D) shall not include the identity of the person who is the subject of an investigation or any other information that identifies the person. (3) FTC website posting The Commission shall make the most recent report required under this subsection publicly available on the Commission’s website, and maintain such report on such website until the next report is transmitted to Congress. .