Re: Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on S 467 IS, the Antitrust Merger Review Act.
Date: April 13, 1999.
Source: Senate Judiciary Committee.
| Opening Statement of Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH). Re: Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on S 467 IS, the Antitrust Merger Review Act. Date: April 13, 1999. Source: Senate Judiciary Committee. |
|
|
Good morning, and welcome to the Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on S. 467, the Antitrust Merger Review Act, a bill that will impose time limits on Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reviews of mergers.
The reason that Senator Kohl and I have introduced this legislation is simple: the FCC is taking too long to review telecommunications mergers.
Let me just mention one example. SBC and Ameritech announced their intention to merge in May of 1998, and formally filed their application in July. Two weeks ago, after eight months of review, the FCC offered to start a “collaborative process” with the parties, to examine five major areas of concern. This process is supposed to conclude by the end of June, more than a full year after the parties announced their merger. That is just too long.
Now I want to be very clear -- we want the FCC to conduct thorough investigations of these matters. When SBC and Ameritech first announced their proposed merger, Senator Kohl and I sent a letter to the FCC to request that the FCC give special attention to the competitive implications of consolidation in the telephone industry, and the impact of the proposed SBC/Ameritech merger in particular. So we think the FCC has a role to play. Furthermore, I like the idea of the collaborative process. I think it is a good idea to involve the parties in an effort to resolve competitive concerns, and I am hopeful the process will be a success.
But the FCC simply has to act more rapidly. In an industry that has been as active and vibrant as telecommunications, it is absolutely essential that the regulatory agencies move quickly and efficiently to resolve competitive issues. Merging parties, and their competitors, cannot be asked to wait in regulatory limbo, month after month -- not knowing if or when a merger will be allowed, not knowing what conditions may be attached, not knowing how the market will be structured in the future. We are not trying to influence how the FCC decides, but no matter what the FCC decides on a particular issue, individual businesses need certainty. More generally, the industry needs prompt regulatory decisions, so that it can move more quickly toward full and vigorous competition. The FCC has to promote that competition, not stand in the way of competition by dragging its feet on review of mergers.
Just as important, as I have mentioned before, we must consider the employees of the merging companies. These people are often thrown into complete turmoil by the prospect of a merger -- they don’t know what is going to happen to their company, they don’t know if they are going to have to move, or if they are going to lose their jobs. We need to be sensitive to these very understandable human concerns, and do everything we can to get these people quick answers -- so they can plan for their futures, and figure out how they are going to provide for their families.
Before I turn to Senator Kohl, let me just mention that most of you have probably noticed that S. 467 addresses more than just FCC time limits; in fact, much of the bill deals more generally with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. We are currently evaluating ways to amend Hart-Scott. Specifically, we are most focused on the possibility of modifying the $15 million filing threshold, which has not been changed since the law was first passed back in 1976. Senator Kohl and I are working closely with Senator Hatch, and with the Justice Department, on that aspect of the bill.
So we may do some more work on the overall framework of Hart-Scott, but for today we would like to focus on the section that specifically deals with FCC time limits. I am looking forward to hearing the testimony of our witnesses, and I am sure that they will provide helpful insights as we prepare for a Subcommittee markup at the end of the month.