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7343074
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Text of a Letter from the President to John J. Rhodes (R-AZ), Minority Leader of the House of Representatives
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7343074
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document
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Text of a Letter from the President to John J. Rhodes (R-AZ), Minority Leader of the House of Representatives
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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7343074
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17
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1976-03-17
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3
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1976
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Digitized from Box 23 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 1976
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO
JOHN J. RHODES, MINORITY LEADER OF THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 17, 1976
Dear John:
As I outlined to you on Tuesday, March 16, I support vigorous antitrust enforcement,
but I have serious reservations concerning the parens patriae concept set forth in
the present version of H.R. 8532.
I question whether federal legislation is desirable which authorizes a state
attorney general to sue on behalf of the state's citizens to recover treble damages
that result from violations of the federal antitrust laws. The states have the
ability to amend their own antitrust laws to authorize parens patriae suits in
their own courts. If a state legislature, acting for its own citizens, is not
convinced the parens patriae concept is sound policy, the Administration questions
whether the Congress should bypass the state legislatures and provide state attorneys
general with access to the federal courts to enforce it.
In addition to my reservations about the principle of parens patriae, I am concerned
about some specific provisions of the legislation developed by the House Judiciary
Committee.
The present bill is too broad in its reach and should be narrowed to price fixing
violations. This would concentrate the enforcement on the most important anti-
trust violations.
In addition, the Administration is opposed to mandatory treble damage awards in parens
patriae suits, preferring instead a provision which would limit awards only to the
damages that actually result from the violation. The view that federal penalties
were inadequate, which has been used to justify mandatory treble damages in the past,
is no longer justifiable given the substantial increases in these penalties in
recent years.
The Administration opposes extension of the statistical aggregation of damages,
beyond parens patriae legislation, to private class action suits because this is
outside of the appropriate reach of this legislation.
Finally, the Administration prefers discretionary rather than mandatory award of
attorney's fees, leaving such awards to the discretion of the courts.
During the last two years, the Administration has sought to improve federal
enforcement efforts in the antitrust area and the resources devoted to antitrust
enforcement have increased substantially. In December 1974, I signed the Antitrust
Penalties and Procedures Act which increased maximum penalties from $50,000 to $1 million
for corporations and $100,000 for individuals. As I indicated above, I support
vigorous antitrust enforcement, but I do not believe H.R. 8532 is a responsible way
to enforce federal antitrust laws.
Sincerely,
/s/ Gerald R. Ford
The Honorable John J. Rhodes
Minority Leader
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
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