Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2385 - Federal Trade Commission Authorization Act of 1985

(House)
(Florio (D) New Jersey and Sikorski (D) Minnesota)

The Administration supports authorization of the Federal Trade Commission, and would not object to House passage of H.R. 2385 if it is amended to delete:

— the prohibition against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducting any study or investigation of (1) agricultural cooperative activities which are currently exempt from antitrust law or (2) agricultural marketing orders (section 6);

— the prohibition on the use of appropriations by the FTC during fiscal years 1986-1988 for the purpose of submitting statements to, opposing before, or intervening in the proceedings of, any Federal or State agency unless first advising committees of Congress of the proposed actions (section 9), This requirement is an unwarranted encroachment on the FTC's authority and responsibility to conduct its affairs efficiently, and it imposes additional burdensome paperwork requirements; and

— the numerous and unnecessary studies and reports to Congress concerning: (1) the marketing of imitation Native American arts and crafts, section 10; (2) unfair and deceptive practices in the life care home industry, section 11; (3) unfair and deceptive practices in the nursing home industry, section 12; and (4) bi-annual reports on FTC's enforcement activities relating to predatory pricing, section 13.