,i #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #ajida ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,october #bi1 #bjbf,mr4 ,raskin 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,nadler1 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,georgia1 ,ms4 ,balint1 ,ms4 ,ross1 ,mr4 ,garca of ,illinois1 ,ms4 ,kamlager-,dove1 ,ms4 ,jayapal1 ,mr4 ,goldman of ,new ,york1 and ,ms4 ,lee of ,pennsylvania7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,a ,,bill ,to amend section #e of the ,clayton ,act to include proposed voluntary dismissals in the court's consideration of proposed consent judgments and clarify the public interest1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,antitrust ,accountability and ,transparency ,act4 #b4 ,clayton ,act judgment amendments ,section #e of the ,clayton ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #af7 is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7a71 by striking or under section #e of the ,federal ,trade ,commission ,act which could give rise to a claim for relief under the antitrust laws2 7#b7 in subsection 7b7-- 7,a7 in the matter preceding paragraph 7#a7-- 7i7 by inserting or administrative after any civil2 7ii7 by inserting 1 or in the case of an administrative proceeding1 filed in accordance with subsection 7k7 with a district court in which #a or more defendants is incorporated or headquartered1 after the district court before which such proceeding in pending2 7iii7 by striking published by the ,united ,states and inserting published each place it appears2 7iv7 by striking #fj days and inserting #de days2 7v7 by inserting ,a district court to which a complaint and proposal for a consent judgment is submitted by the ,united ,states or ,federal ,trade ,commission under this paragraph shall have jurisdiction under this section4 after prior to the effective date of such judgment42 and 7vi7 by striking sixty-day period and inserting #de-;day period2 7,b7 in paragraph 7#c71 by inserting any commitments made by the parties to the ,united ,states or ,federal ,trade ,commission not memorialized in the proposal related to the proceeding1 how the proposal remedies any material risk that the antitrust laws may be violated1 after thereby12 and 7,c7 in paragraph 7#f71 by inserting or ,federal ,trade ,commission1 including any settlement offers1 divestitures1 or other remedies1 including the process through which these proposals were considered before the period2 7#c7 in subsection 7c7 by striking #fj days and inserting #de days2 7#d7 in subsection 7d7-- 7,a7 by striking during the #fj-;day period and inserting the following3 7#a7 ,during the #de-;day period2 7,b7 by striking his designee and inserting a designee thereof2 7,c7 by striking such #fj-;day time period and inserting such #de-;day time period2 7,d7 by striking ,at the close of and inserting ,not later than #cj days after the close of2 7,e7 by inserting ,parties that submitted comments shall be allowed to submit a reply to the responses published by the ,united ,states or ,federal ,trade ,commission4 before the last sentence2 7,f7 by adding at the end ,compliance with this section by the ,federal ,trade ,commission shall satisfy any other notice-and-comment requirements relating to consent judgments42 and 7,g7 by adding at the end the following3 7#b7 7,a7 ,in a proceeding brought under section #g1 the parties shall continue to hold all assets related to the transaction separate as if they are subject to a waiting period under section #g;,a until the date that is #ae days after the ,united ,states or ,federal ,trade ,commission files with the district court and causes to be published in the ,federal ,register a response to comments under this subsection4 ,the court may extend the period during which the parties are required to hold all assets related to the transaction separate upon a finding that-- 7i7 there is a reasonable likelihood that the court will determine that the consent judgment does not meet the requirements in subsection 7e77#a72 and 7ii7 the balance of the equities favors extending the order4 7,b7 ,in the event that the court extends the period during which the parties are required to hold all assets separate1 the court shall make all reasonable efforts to expedite its determination under subsection 7e77#a74 7#c7 ,a violation of paragraph 7#b7 shall be treated as a violation of section #g;,a and parties may be liable for civil penalties pursuant to subsection 7g7 of that section4 7#d7 ,any order to hold assets separate shall expire upon a finding by the court that the consent judgment satisfies the requirements under subsection 7e77#a74 4 7#e7 in subsection 7e7-- 7,a7 in paragraph 7#a7-- 7i7 in the matter preceding subparagraph 7,a71 by inserting there is a reasonable belief1 based on evidence and reasoned analysis1 that after the court shall determine that2 7ii7 in subparagraph 7,a71 by inserting 1 does not permit any transaction1 merger1 agreement1 business practice1 or other course of conduct that creates a material risk of violating the antitrust laws1 and that the provisions of the consent judgment are reasonably tailored to the violations of the antitrust laws alleged in the complaint after whether the consent judgment is in the public interest2 and 7iii7 by inserting after subparagraph 7,b7 the following3 ,upon consideration of the factors described in this paragraph1 the court shall enter the proposed consent judgment or reject the proposed consent judgment and1 if the case was originally filed with the court1 retain jurisdiction over the proceedings1 or1 if the case was originally an administrative proceeding1 remand the matter4 4 7,b7 in paragraph 7#b71 by striking or to require the court to permit anyone to intervene and inserting 1 but the court shall take into account any written request for a hearing by any ,federal or ,state agency1 including any ,state attorney general1 when determining whether to conduct an evidentiary hearing2 and 7,c7 by adding at the end the following3 7#c7 ,if the court determines that an evidentiary hearing is appropriate1 any ,federal or ,state agency1 including any ,state attorney general that made a written request under paragraph 7#b71 shall be allowed to intervene4 ,nothing shall require the court to permit any other party to intervene4 7#d7 ,a consent judgment filed under this section shall take effect only upon entry by the court4 ,the decision to enter a consent judgment under this section is within the discretion of the court1 which need not defer to the ,united ,states's predictions about the efficacy of its remedies4' 2 7#f7 in subsection 7f7-- 7,a7 by inserting current or former before ,government officials2 7,b7 in paragraph 7#d71 by striking and at the end2 7,c7 by redesignating paragraph 7#e7 as paragraph 7#g72 and 7,d7 by inserting after paragraph 7#d7 the following3 7#e7 order the production of the communications that were disclosed or should have been disclosed pursuant to subsection 7g71 including all related documents and testimony relating to the communications2 7#f7 order the production of information or testimony regarding the provision of1 or offer to provide1 a benefit or concession by any party in the proceeding to the ,government or an employee or officer thereof1 including payments1 donations1 or alterations in policy or business practices that the court finds may have a reasonable connection to the proceeding or decision to enter the proposed judgment2 and 2 7#g7 in subsection 7g7-- 7,a7 by inserting 1 including the ,executive ,office of the ,president1 after any officer or employee of the ,united ,states2 and 7,b7 by striking except that any and inserting 1 and shall include the date of each written or oral communication and each author of1 recipient of1 and participant to each written or oral communication4 ,any2 7#h7 in subsection 7h71 by inserting 1 or by the ,federal ,trade ,commission under section #e of the ,federal ,trade ,commission ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #de71 after under section #d;,a of this ,act2 and 7#i7 by adding at the end the following3 7j7 ,voluntary dismissals 7#a7 ,in general ,any proposal to file a motion to voluntarily dismiss any civil proceeding brought by the ,united ,states or ,federal ,trade ,commission under the antitrust laws shall be filed with the district court before which such proceeding is pending1 and published in the ,federal ,register not less than #de days prior to the effective date of such voluntary dismissal4 ,the case shall be stayed during this #de-;day period4 7#b7 ,substitution ,during the #de-;day period under paragraph 7#a71 any ,state attorney general may file a motion for substitution in the proceeding4 ,a court shall grant the motion for substitution unless presented with clear and convincing evidence by the parties that there are no genuine issues of material fact that could support any claim in the proceeding or that the defendant would be entitled to judgment as a matter of law4 ,if the motion for substitution is granted1 the action does not abate1 but proceeds in favor of or against the remaining parties4 7#c7 ,transfer ,upon a grant of a motion for substitution under paragraph 7#b71 the ,united ,states or the ,federal ,trade ,commission shall promptly transfer all materials relevant to the litigation that are not subject to the deliberative process privilege to the applicable ,state attorneys general and the case shall continue on a schedule that will not cause undue delay1 as determined appropriate by the court4 7k7 ,,ftc civil proceeding 7#a7 ,stay and disposition ,at the time that the ,federal ,trade ,commission submits a proposal for a consent judgment to resolve an administrative proceeding1 the administrative proceeding shall be stayed until such time as the court to which a complaint is filed in accordance with subsection 7b7 determines whether to-- 7,a7 enter the proposed consent judgment2 or 7,b7 reject the proposed consent judgement and remand the matter4 7#b7 ,commencement ,the ,federal ,trade ,commission shall commence a civil proceeding by filing with the district court a complaint setting forth the violations of the antitrust laws alleged in the administrative proceeding and the proposal for a consent judgment4 7l7 ,transfer of materials ,in the case that a matter remanded under subsection 7k77#a77;,b7 is dismissed and a ,state commences a civil proceeding under the antitrust laws with respect to that matter1 the ,federal ,trade ,commission shall transfer materials to the ,state in accordance with subsection 7j77#c74 7m7 ,references ,in this section1 all references to-- 7#a7 the ,united ,states or the ,attorney ,general shall be deemed to include the ,federal ,trade ,commission1 as applicable2 and 7#b7 the antitrust laws shall be deemed to include an unfair method of competition under section #e of the ,federal ,trade ,commission ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #de74 4