Reauthorization of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): hearing before the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce

OCLC Number: (OCoLC)50562941 Excerpt: ...d ask permission to include my statement in the record in its entirety. Senator Ashcroft. Without objection. Senator Hollings. We have a concurrent hearing before the Budget Committee on the President's budget. Let me say that we are lucky to have a very strong Federal Trade Commission, and it has been doing an outstanding job. One, I agree with their request. Our Chairman's bill is excellent reauthorization proposal. Although I do not think the amount is sufficient, I am sure we can compromise and negotiate that out especially given that the demands upon the Federal Trade Commission are just almost insurmountable, including with increased requests for mergers. Along that line, I rather agree with Senator Hatch. We have got to raise the level of review. We really had in mind large mergers, but with the volume involved, and the time required, the reality is that we are going to have to include these issues with Senator Hatch's bill. However, I disagree with his ministerial review on that Second Request, the FTC's current process has been working, and it is working in a real fine fashion. The distinguished Chairman just this morning talked about bureaucracy. I did not know you further bureaucratize with appeals, and appeals, and appeals as a solution. I am at the other end of the spectrum about this cutting the size of government, which I agree with, but we have to meet every year to increase the size of key agencies, namely at the law enforcement level in relation to the Department of Justice. Its budget has increased in ten years from $4 billion to $22 billion. You ought to look at it. I mean, everything that we can think of relative to running for public office, we seek to make it a federal law, a felony, or whatever, and we have got more marshals, more U.S. attorneys, more judges, more appeals courts, more bankruptcy courts, more reviews here and there, and eve...