Biden Policies Have Adverse Effect on Small Businesses

Floor Speech

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Mr. FITZGERALD. Madam Speaker, I wanted to shine some light on a topic that many Wisconsinites and Americans may not really be tracking very closely. After over a year under President Biden and his administration, it is clear that the policies are having an adverse effect on small business. It is raising the price of goods, which people can see right now when they go to market, when they purchase gas, and it is slowing the economy.

While my colleagues across the aisle have been really, I think, unable to enact an agenda that would combat this, the Biden administration's unaccountable and unelected bureaucrats are trying their hardest to expand and enact these reckless policies. That is what I wanted to touch on today.

President Biden's executive orders, of which he signed many right after being sworn in as President, have had an adverse effect on competition. They consolidate sweeping government power over things like agriculture, which is near and dear to my own State of Wisconsin; the airlines; the banking industry; broadband; health and healthcare products; meat packers, which we are all well aware of; and the technology industry.

It is a broad scope of items that are affected. However, robust enforcement of the antitrust laws could provide substantial benefit to consumers because that would help ensure that the markets are competitive, particularly from predatory actions as we have seen specific to Big Tech.

However, it is clear that the administration's actions are not narrowly targeted at Big Tech where it may be considered appropriate. But they are part of an effort to expand government. And this is kind of a dirty little secret right now. Control over the vast sectors I just mentioned are all being done under the guise of Big Tech. Giving these agencies broader authority is not really going to do anything to enhance competition, so what we see is the heavy hand of government, which is right now crushing small business with the one-size-fits-all mandates, also allowing these agencies more authority over the economy.

This will make government ultimately less accountable. Rather than promoting competition, the Federal Trade Commission is now imposing more costs on businesses. They are driving up prices on consumers, and this ultimately will force inflation even higher. There is just too much cash in the economy right now with very few supplies and services available. That is what inflation is.

The FTC and the DOJ recently announced that they will be revising merger guidelines out of nowhere, out of the blue, and seem to assume that mergers harm competition and fail to realize efficiencies. Companies are also facing the FTC inquiries related to unionization and environmental and social issues, which are well outside of the agency's mission and also is not related to their responsibilities in and around upholding competition.

The FTC has also required prior approval for future deals from businesses with a previous violation; again, all of a sudden, out of the blue, effectively making them guilty without the presumption of innocence.

Even more bizarre than we could ever imagine, many of the actions have been done using so-called ``zombie votes'' from a commissioner who is no longer there; not even in the system. The clear intent of these actions is to discourage businesses to engage in the legal conduct of mergers.

Even former President Obama's Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers, numerous times has stated that these policies will reduce supply, which will increase prices while discouraging investment. If the FTC and the unaccountable bureaucrats at the other agencies, such as the FDIC, continue to stray from the rule of law, Americans will face higher prices.

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