Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would repeal the subpoena authority of the Treasury's Federal Insurance Office. Additionally, it removes the subpoena authority of the Office of Financial Research.

For over 150 years, State insurance regulators and the law as passed by those State legislatures have regulated insurance companies, and it has worked out very well.

The Federal Insurance Office, FIO, created under Dodd-Frank, has grown increasingly aggressive in collecting data from insurance companies, most recently issuing a proposed data collection to assess ``climate-related financial risk.''

Despite working with State regulators on previous efforts, FIO intentionally chose not to collaborate with State regulators on this climate data call.

Not only has the office been unclear with how they intend to use the data they collect, but the effort would be duplicative in many ways as many States already collect a similar but maybe not exact set of data, as required by the Federal Government.

Mr. Chair, any efforts by Treasury or FIO to sidestep State insurance regulators blatantly undermine congressional intent. That is why I introduced the Insurance Data Protection Act to repeal FIO's subpoena power. The amendment would have the same effect as the bill, and I am pleased many of my colleagues have supported that.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chairman, I once again say that State regulators have done a wonderful job in this area for many years, and I think they should continue to be the focus of any of this data collection.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would prohibit funds being made available to the FTC from being used to issue any rule defining or describing unfair methods of competition for purposes of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

The FTC has issued substantive rules concerning ``unfair methods of competition,'' UMC, as it is referred to in financial services, including a near-blanket ban on noncompete agreements.

Since Chair Khan has taken over, the FTC has become a partisan weapon to enact sweeping antitrust policy that expands agency power and discards decades of precedent. Chair Khan is basing this authority on tenuous legal ground that predates the major questions doctrine.

As the Supreme Court made clear in West Virginia v. EPA, an executive agency needs clear authorization from Congress to issue a regulation that has great ``economic and political significance.''

Unfair competition rulemaking would be a claim of quasi-legislative power that would distract the agency from its core mission of case-by- case expert application of the FTC Act through administrative adjudication. It would also be inconsistent with the explicit grants of rulemaking authority that Congress has given the FTC on consumer protection issues.

This is not what they are looking for on competitive grounds. Allowing this much authority to the FTC, which oversees nearly all aspects of our economy, would open the door to significantly more harmful rules that would empower this administration to coerce companies to bow to what I consider to be a radical agenda.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chair, my short answer would be because this is our job, not the Commission's job. This is our job. That is the point of the amendment, to put the power back in the hands of Congress and not have these rogue agencies.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Womack).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chair, I simply, once again, urge an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would prohibit funds from being made available to the FTC to enforce the suspension of early terminations to merger filings made under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

The FTC is authorized to terminate this waiting period early upon the request of the parties or on their own. After determining that the transaction does not pose significant competitive concerns, the ruling will be made.

In February 2021, the early termination process was ``temporarily'' suspended due to the impact of COVID, and the suspension remains in place nearly 3 years later. Prior to the suspension, early termination was granted in approximately half of all reported transactions.

The world obviously has moved on from COVID, and it is time for the FTC to move on, as well.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chairman, I simply move an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source