Oversight Hearing of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission
House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
2025-05-15
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Source: Congress.gov
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Transcript
and Financial Service and General Government will come to order. This hearing is titled Oversight of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Members will have five legislative days with which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the record. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. I'd like to thank Chairman Ferguson for being here today and his leadership over the last several months. The Federal Trade Commission plays an important role in promoting marketplace competition and protecting consumers. ensuring robust competition is vital to fostering economic growth while also lowering costs for all Americans. Over the last several years under previous leadership, the FTC routinely strayed from its core mission and stretched the limits of its statutory authorities. I'm encouraged by the Commission's renewed focus and direction under your leadership. Advances in technology and the emergence of artificial intelligence have presented new opportunities and challenges for businesses and consumers alike. American innovators are at the forefront of these major technological advances. While regulators have a responsibility to maintain common sense guardrails, they should do so in a way that does not stifle innovation and force good paying jobs overseas. The FTC's spending level for fiscal year 2025 was held flat from FY 2024 at $425.7 million. Despite that flat funding, for the last two fiscal years, the commission faces rising costs for expert witnesses, infrastructure, and technology. Furthermore, the recent passage of the Take It Down Act require the FTC to deploy additional resources to crack down on the publication of non-consensual intimate images, including those generated by AI. I look forward to hearing more about the Commission's implementation of this important piece of legislation and the additional resources that will be required. Chairman Ferguson, you have described the Federal Trade Commission's role as a cop on the beat. Like police officers, the Commission has a responsibility to enforce the law fairly, without bias or prejudice. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DESERVE AN FTC THAT STICKS TO ITS CORE MISSION OF PROMOTING COMPETITION AND PREVENTING FRAUD IN THE MARKETPLACE. PROVIDING REGULATORY CERTAINTY AND PREDICTABILITY TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR WILL SPUR AN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND BENEFIT ALL AMERICANS THROUGH AFFORDABLE PRICES.
I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM CHAIRMAN FERGUSON ABOUT HIS VISION FOR THE COMMISSION AND THE RESOURCES THAT WILL BE REQUIRED TO EXECUTE ON THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION'S MISSION. I NOW RECOGNIZE THE RANKING MEMBER, MR. HOYER, FOR HIS OPENING STATEMENT. THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN. Very much. Welcome, Chairman Ferguson, to the committee. I want to thank you for the work that you have done and you are doing.
You had a very extensive statement, footnoted more than any other statement I think I've read for an opening statement. I thought I was reading a law brief. But having said that, it was very comprehensive. But one of the things I noticed in it, and I say this at the outset. Well, I'm going to ask questions later. I'm going to be going in and out. It has nothing to do with your testimony. It has to do with we have two hearings going on at the same time. One of my top priorities, Mr. Chairman, as you know, throughout my time in Congress has been making our workers. our businesses, and our entire economy more competitive. That's why I, as majority leader, started the agenda that I called Make It in America, which obviously is a double entendre. People came to America to make it, to succeed. But also, the way we're going to succeed better is to make it, whatever it may be, in America. We're moving towards that effort. But as you point out in your statement, it can be a self-defeating effort the larger one enterprise gets and other enterprises are left by the wayside. Many of the historic bills we passed in the 117th Congress, including the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act, were designed to promote competition and to grow manufacturing and our science research in America. That's the objective we ought to all share. If you support innovation, if you support growth, if you support development, then you have to support competition. I tell my Democrats, if you want to be pro-worker, you need to be pro-employer. Both need to be in equilibrium. Both have a role to play. And both need a referee. You talked about cop on the beat, referee.
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