Ranking Member Hoyer Statement at the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request Hearing for the Federal Trade Commission

Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5), Ranking Member of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on President Biden's fiscal year 2025 budget request for the Federal Trade Commission:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Chair Khan, for being with us today.

One of my top priorities has always been ensuring that American workers, families, and businesses can get ahead, and that the American economy remains competitive in the twenty-first century.

That mission has guided my Make it in America agenda.

Promoting competition was central to some of the historic bills we enacted last Congress – from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the Chips and Science Act to the Inflation Reduction Act.

We all want competition and the innovation, growth, and development that come with it.

Justice Louis Brandeis once cautioned, however, that "unless there be regulation of competition, its excesses will lead to the destruction of competition."

That's the goal of the FTC: to promote fair competition and to protect American consumers.

We've seen the detrimental effects of anti-competitive business practices on American consumers just recently.

Whether it's at the grocery store or at the pump, many families have had to contend with higher prices.

Recent inflation is largely a product of the Covid-19 pandemic, Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and other disruptions to the global economy, but anti-competitive business tactics have also played a role.

Recent FTC reports have found that there has been a lot of consolidation among grocery store and supermarket chains, which has allowed their profit margins to grow even higher than before the pandemic.

They can charge their customers a whole lot more when those customers don't have anywhere else to shop.

FTC research has also found similar trends in the meatpacking industry, with monopolies driving up grocery prices to turn a larger profit.

Oil and gas companies have also engaged in price gouging, raking in record profits despite many Americans struggling to afford to refill their tanks.

The FTC is also playing a leading role in ensuring that health care services nationwide are affordable, accessible, and of high quality by closely scrutinizing mergers, both vertical and horizontal, throughout the industry.

Although inflation continues to go down and our economy continues to outcompete our G7 peers, we need to keep working to bring down costs even further.

The FTC is crucial to that effort by helping promote competition.

The FTC is also vital to protecting American consumers.

FTC rules help defend Americans against everything from scam calls to health care data breaches.

A few weeks ago, for example, the FTC issued a rule banning non-compete clauses.

That means that if you're flipping burgers for a fast-food chain, your employer can't prevent you from going to work for another restaurant across the street if it's offering better wages.

The FTC needs federal funding to conduct this essential work.

That's why I strongly support the FTC's fiscal year 2025 request of $535 million.

If you're opposed to these predatory business practices – as most Americans are – then you ought to support this funding.

If you believe – as I do – that capitalism depends on fair competition, then work with us to fulfill the FTC's request.

Thank you again to Chair Khan for joining us, and I look forward to hearing why these resources are so crucial to the American people.