Innovation, Data, and Commerce

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) delivered the following opening remarks at today’s Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee hearing titled “Federal Trade Commission Practices: A Discussion on Past Versus Present.”  “Thank you to our distinguished witnesses who are here today to discuss the current state of an agency we all want to be there for us if we’ve been defrauded or deceived.  “The FTC’s core mission is to be at the forefront of protecting Americans, making it critical that they earn and keep the public’s trust and respect.”  DECADES OF BIPARTISANSHIP AND FOCUS   “I have been clear from the start of this Congress about my concern that the current FTC is heading in the wrong direction.  “Prior to the Biden-Harris administration, the FTC always worked to build consensus and champion bipartisanship.  “Certainly, there were differences of opinion—not every decision ended in a five to zero vote.  “However, at that time, commissioners and staff embraced a culture where they could freely exchange ideas and feel heard.  “Those open and honest discussions allowed the FTC to act in the American people’s best interest and garner the public’s trust.  “Disappointingly, this 40-year tradition and culture has been lost.  “The FTC has long acted as a ‘cop-on-the beat,’ not as a sector specific regulator in the way the Food and Drug Administration is, for instance.  “Unfortunately, the Commission has assumed more power and become a heavy-handed economy-wide regulator.  “This change in direction has led to many contentious and expensive court battles.  “I worry that the time spent in courtrooms—defending departures from past practices—is undermining the FTC’s core mission and overall success.  “I’m not alone in this view. The Supreme Court has concluded in unanimous decisions that the FTC’s historically commonly used tools have been expanded to become controversial and exceed their statutory authority.”  FTC NORMS AND PRACTICES   “Most notably, we have seen a breakdown in norms and practices that were considered commonplace in previous Democratic and Republican administrations.  “By removing ‘without unduly burdening legitimate business activity’ from its mission statement, the Commission has sent a clear message that it wants to be feared, instead of being a good-faith regulator.  “Job creators across the country now live in fear of receiving a letter out of blue threatening them on behavior they may not even be engaged in.  “Additionally, FTC Commissioners' rights have steadily eroded and access to important FTC business has been more shielded than ever.  “The Commission must take simple steps to start correcting course.  “For example, a cost benefit analysis should be done for all rules, 6B reports, and enforcement actions and commissioners and staff should have direct access to the economists working on it.”  DANGEROURS BRIAN DRAIN   “I’m hopeful that with a full set of commissioners, such access to the Econ Bureau and its specialists will again be the norm.  “Sadly, many career staff have chosen to leave or retire due to the decline of the agency's culture and disregard for its true mission.  “Respected surveys have shown employee morale and confidence in senior Commission leadership has steeply declined.  “Prior to Chair Khan’s appointment to the FTC, 87 percent of surveyed FTC employees agreed that senior agency officials maintained high standards of honesty and integrity.  “That number quickly dropped to 53 percent after just one year, then down to 47 percent a year later.  “It is also alarming that full time positions that Congress authorized for the FTC’s fraud prevention mission have been re-tasked to other areas.  “This is wrong and a clear attempt to bypass Congress and utilize the EU to impose more influence over U.S. companies since the Biden-Harris administration couldn’t find consensus here at home.  “Congress needs to reassert its Article I authority and act to stop this ongoing erosion of norms and longstanding Commission practices and restore the once strong processes of the FTC.  “While we have proposed legislation in the past, some of it has quickly become dated. I look forward to hearing from the experts here today on what Congress can do to put the FTC back on track and set the Commission up for success. “I know we share these goals, and I hope we can work together to achieve them.” 

Washington D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) delivered the following opening remarks at today’s hearing titled “Federal Trade Commission Practices: A Discussion on Past Versus Present.”    CURRENT FTC IS BREAKING HISTORIC NORMS “A couple months ago, our subcommittee welcomed the five Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to examine the current state of the agency.  “The specific focus of that hearing being to examine how Chair Khan is using the budget that Congress has afforded the Commission to carry out its mission. “During that hearing, I spoke about the bipartisan concern of Chair Khan’s priorities, intended or not, which have torn down the historic norms, practices, and reputation of the FTC as a consumer protection agency. “The precedent now being set matters—and we should discuss what this means for the future of the FTC’s trust with both consumers and business.”  DETERIORATING FTC CULTURE “Over the last few years, we’ve seen staff morale plummet. Despite being an independent agency, career staff no longer have the independence they used to have, particularly in educating consumers about avoiding scams. “Staff hours and resources that could have been spent protecting seniors in my state and others from scams were shifted to press releases and expansive rulemakings and competition issues.   Meanwhile, our constituents continue to be defrauded on a daily basis. “It just sends the wrong message when for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, career experts were able to work with their economist counterparts to assess the cost and benefit of a proposal. “Instead, sadly that once commonplace approach was upended and powers consolidated under the Chair’s general counsel office. “This kind of approach isolates the commissioners from their value and expertise within the agency and further ups the ante on partisanship, rather than faithfully executing the law. “The whole process gets corrupted this way, as too often left out of FTC proposals is important economic analysis and thorough stakeholder collaboration and—of course—what impact may be had on the backbone of our economy otherwise known as legitimate businesses. “This shift of actively seeking civil penalties and sending warning letters to have the judicial standing to seek them is inappropriate and predatory and must be abandoned. “The FTC should seek to encourage compliance of their policies, not bank on enforcement. “We cannot allow this FTC to continue to ruin its prior reputation as the premier consumer protection agency for the country.” RETURNING FTC TO THEIR MISSION “Their task to protect consumers from fraud and scams is too important to dedicate resources on legal theories and gotcha schemes. “My words may be harsh, and I may be upsetting some of my colleagues, but every day my constituents are plagued by scams: examples such as bad actors stealing seniors’ hard-earned money by pretending to be a loved one in search of help or claiming they’re a government agency warning of impending legal trouble that only a 500-dollar gift card could solve. “And in this economy, according to reports, Florida ranked third in most scams reported by residents: 1,393 per 100,000 residents. “This hearing serves to take a fresh eye to older reform proposals, to start thinking about new ones, and get the FTC back to its tried-and-true approaches and its essential consumer protection role. “Americans every day are getting ripped off. “I know each of us want the FTC to have the tools they need to go after these bad actors, and we must be responsible when legislating to prevent history from repeating itself from when much earlier iterations of the FTC tried to enact expansive rulemakings. “Let’s use this discussion today to learn what we can be doing to reform the FTC and turn it back into an agency each of us, on both sides of the aisle, would be willing to go to bat for.” 

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) delivered the following opening remarks at today’s Full Committee markup of 16 bills.    “We’re continuing this Committee’s mission to make life better for the American people—and future generations—by taking action on legislation from across several of our subcommittees.”  REPEALING HARMFUL MANDATES “We will consider three Congressional Review Act resolutions to rein in harmful regulations that are shutting down affordable, reliable energy and driving up costs for the American people.   “Energy is foundational to everything, and America needs more energy—not less. Rep. Balderson’s resolution is critical to achieving that by repealing the EPA’s plan to shutter American power plants and slash baseload energy. “Additionally, Rep. Allen’s resolution will overturn the administration’s harmful PM2.5 standard, which poses a major threat to America’s economic future by making it nearly impossible to build and manufacture goods in the U.S. “This will crush good-paying jobs, devastate communities, and further cede America’s economic leadership to countries like China. “We should be making it easier—not harder—to expand manufacturing in the U.S. “And lastly, Rep. Fulcher’s resolution will halt the EPA’s proposed rule for heavy-duty vehicle emission standards—a rule that will not only drive up costs across the board, but also threaten the security of our supply chains. “I thank the sponsors for their leadership on these bills.” IMPROVING AMERICANS’ HEALTH AND WELL-BEING “Today, we will also continue to build on our efforts throughout this Congress to improve the health of the American people and foster medical innovation and research in a bipartisan manner. “We will consider legislation led by Rep. Carter to extend telehealth flexibilities for seniors in Medicare in a fiscally responsible manner. “Additionally, we’ll advance bipartisan legislation to help speed up the process for getting treatments to children with cancer and other rare diseases. We’ve worked hard for a bill that will get broad, bipartisan support today. “We will move forward on legislation to enhance access to care for seniors and those with disabilities, including a bill to expand the Medicaid buy-in program for working seniors with disabilities, which will include a provision to pilot new tools for states to provide better home and community-based services to people with disabilities. “Yet another bill we will consider will ensure access to care for active-duty military families who risk losing access to key services when they travel to serve our country. “Finally, we will move forward legislation that will provide more information for those with disabilities and their families. “I want to thank all of the Members who worked hard to get these bills one step closer to becoming law.” PROTECTING KIDS ONLINE “Next, we will join together in a bipartisan way on behalf of the millions of parents, grandparents, and kids across the country to say enough is enough. “The Children and Teen’s Online Privacy Protection Act , COPPA, provides important updates to a law that was first passed more than 26 years ago and addresses the realities and threats facing kids and teens online in the modern internet ecosystem. “I’d like to thank Reps. Walberg and Castor, and Senators Markey and Cassidy, for all of their hard work in championing this legislation. “We will also consider the Kids Online Safety Act , which will provide both kids and parents the tools they need to better protect against serious online threats to children’s health and emotional well-being. “I’d like to thank Subcommittee Chair Bilirakis and Reps. Kathy Castor, Erin Houchin, and Kim Schrier for their leadership on this legislation. “These bills are two important pieces to begin ushering in a new era on the internet, one that is defined by accountability and safety. “Lastly, we will be considering the A.M. Radio for Every Vehicle Act , led by Subcommittee Chair Bilirakis and Full Committee Ranking Member Pallone. “This legislation will preserve this key resource that millions of Americans rely on for critical information, especially during public emergencies. “I did want to mention one bill that we will not be considering today, the REPAIR Act led by Dr. Dunn. I want to recognize the hard work that he, his staff, and numerous stakeholders have done since the bill was considered in the IDC subcommittee last October. “While we aren’t marking it up today, a lot of progress has been made, and I would encourage members and stakeholders to keep working together to find a path forward on this important piece of legislation. “In the nearly 230-year history of this Committee, we have established a rich tradition of taking on the hard problems and delivering solutions for the American people. “Today we will continue to build on that record of success. “I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting all of the legislation being considered today.”

Letter comes on the eve of athletes competing in the Paris Olympics and after WADA’s President refused to attend an Energy and Commerce Committee oversight hearing Washington, D.C. — In a new letter to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Witold Banka, bipartisan House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders pressed for answers regarding WADA’s handling of positive doping cases within China’s national swimming team ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. The letter contains questions that bipartisan Committee Members would have asked during a recent Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing , which Mr. Banka was invited to attend but refused to appear. Witnesses that did testify at the hearing included: Michael Phelps, American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist   Allison Schmitt, American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist   Travis Tygart , Chief Executive Officer, United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) KEY EXCERPTS:   “We write today to express our sincere disappointment at your refusal to accept our invitation to attend and provide testimony at our recent Subcommittee hearing. Members of Congress have important questions for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and are especially concerned about recent reports of your handling of dozens of cases of doping within the Chinese swimming team.  “WADA purports to maintain the integrity of sports by creating a fair and competitive sporting environment free from doping. As a U.S. taxpayer supported entity, WADA has a responsibility to the American people to ensure this integrity by enforcing international testing requirements. We believe WADA has fallen short of this important mission. ”  [...]   “ We are particularly concerned with the excessive deference being extended toward CHINADA—a state-funded operation with leadership deeply intertwined with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as current [Chinese Anti-Doping Agency] CHINADA director Li Zhiquan also serves as a Committee Secretary for the CCP. At a meeting in 2023, Zhiquan called on CHINADA employees to be 'loyal to the party' and to 'hold high the great banner of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.' Furthermore, WADA’s reported sponsorship arrangement with ANTA Sports—the Chinese athletic company sponsoring the Chinese Olympic Committee and China’s national swimming federation—could be perceived as a conflict of interest. Since WADA is expected to uphold and maintain international anti-doping standards, WADA’s apparent lack of skepticism and failure to enforce the rules against CHINADA is troubling. While we are aware that WADA has opened an investigation, we are concerned that international scrutiny was necessary to force due diligence that should be routine .”  [...]  “This incident unfortunately reinforces our concern that WADA appears to be reverting to its previous poor management practices.”  [...]  “With the Paris Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremony just a day away , the Committee seeks to better understand the circumstances surrounding WADA’s decision not to appeal the decision to clear the twenty-three swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine.”   BACKGROUND :  In January 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers (“23 swimmers”) tested positive for trimetazidine, or TMZ, a banned substance improperly used to increase stamina and hasten recovery times.  Three months after the positive tests, CHINADA initiated an investigation into the source of the TMZ and by June 2021 claimed the athletes ingested the banned substance through food tainted in a hotel kitchen.  According to reporting, Chinese investigators “offered no explanation […] for how a prescription drug available only in pill form had contaminated an entire kitchen.”  In reliance on “external legal advice” and its science department, WADA determined that CHINADA’s claims were “plausible” and chose not to appeal the decision or further investigate the matter.  Three of these Chinese swimmers went on to win gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games in July of 2021.  China has selected 11 swimmers that tested positive for TMZ before the Tokyo Games to compete in the upcoming Paris Games.  In a strikingly similar case, Kamila Valieva, a Russian figure skater, also tested positive for the banned substance TMZ during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.  The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) issued a provisional suspension but was quickly cleared by RUSADA’s discipline board, since Valieva claimed she ingested the substance by mistake through a contaminated source.  Rather than simply accept RUSADA’s contamination explanation, WADA appealed the decision and ultimately, Valieva received a four-year ban from competition and was retroactively stripped of her gold medal. The letter was signed by Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-NJ), Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL). CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Oversight and Acoountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) sent letters to eight federal agencies today following the recent Supreme Court decision on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo , in which the court overruled Chevron deference. Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) and House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) joined Chairs Rodgers and Comer on an additional letter sent to the Environmental Protection Agency. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “We write to call to your attention Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a recent Supreme Court decision that precludes courts from deferring to agency interpretations when the statutes are ambiguous. In its decision, the Court explicitly overruled Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), which required deference to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. By allowing such deference, the Court in Chevron enabled the ‘Administrative State’ to usurp the legislative authority that the Constitution grants exclusively to Congress in Article I. The Chevron decision led to broader, more costly and more invasive agency regulation of Americans’ lives, liberty, and property.   “Perhaps no administration has gone as far as President Biden’s in issuing sweeping Executive edicts based on questionable assertions of agency authority. The Biden administration has promulgated far more major rules, imposing vast costs and paperwork burdens, than either its most recent predecessors. Many of these rules...have been based on overreaching interpretations of statutes enacted by Congress years ago, before the issues now regulated were even imagined.   “The expansive Chevron deference has undermined our system of government, creating an unaccountable Administrative State. Thankfully, the Court has now corrected this pattern, reaffirming that ‘[i]t is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.’ Given the Biden administration’s record of agency overreach, we are compelled to underscore the implications of Loper Bright and remind you of the limitations it has set on your authority.”   CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Environmental Protection Agency. CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Communications Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Trade Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to Department of Commerce.   CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Department of Energy.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration.

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), E&C Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chair Bob Latta (R-OH), E&C Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), E&C Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, launched an investigation into grants made to an AI scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  The Chairs made requests for documents to UCLA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).  BACKGROUND :  On November 1, 2023, a Newsweek investigation found that the federal government awarded at least $30 million in federal research grants led by Mr. Song-Chun Zhu, who is now “at the forefront of China's race to develop the most advanced artificial intelligence.”  The investigation further revealed the NSF and DOD continued funding Mr. Zhu even as he “set up a parallel institute near Wuhan, took a position at a Beijing university whose primary goal is to support Chinese military research, and joined a CCP ‘talent plan’ whose members are tasked with transferring knowledge and technology to China.”  In particular, Newsweek found that the project once led by Mr. Zhu received $1.2 million in two grants from the Office of Naval Research in 2021, the year following his departure to China.  KEY LETTER EXCERPT:   “Mr. Zhu has openly discussed how if China takes the lead in developing a ‘truly universal intelligence,’ then it will ‘become the winner of the international technology competition.’ He has also referred to the AI race as being equivalent in military importance to the race for the atomic bomb. In a period of intensifying geopolitical competition with the CCP, ceasing federal government support for Chinese AI development is a critical national security imperative.”  CLICK HERE to read the letter to UCLA Chancellor Gener Block.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.