WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, issued the statement below on President Biden’s Executive Order to promote competition in the American Economy.

“Competition policy needs new energy and approaches so that we can address America’s monopoly problem. That means legislation to update our antitrust laws, but it also means reimagining what the federal government can do to promote competition under our current laws.

“I commend President Biden for this groundbreaking Executive Order, which will help restore competition to important sectors of our economy and will also protect workers from anticompetitive employment restrictions. I look forward to working with the Administration to strengthen our nation’s competition policy, and I will continue to advance legislation in Congress to bring the lasting, transformative change we need to build a growing economy that works for all Americans.”

In February, Senator Klobuchar introduced the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act to give federal enforcers the resources they need to do their jobs, strengthen prohibitions on anticompetitive conduct and mergers, and make additional reforms to improve enforcement.

In June, Senator Klobuchar’s bipartisan legislation with Senator Grassley (R-IA), the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, passed the Senate. This legislation would authorize additional resources for antitrust enforcers to protect consumers by updating merger filing fees, lowering the burden on small and medium-sized businesses, and ensuring larger deals bring in more revenue for the antitrust agencies, all at no additional cost to the American taxpayer.

In April, Senator Klobuchar introduced the Preserving Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act to limit anticompetitive “pay-for-delay deals” that prevent or delay the introduction of affordable follow-on versions of branded pharmaceuticals.

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