Background:
Following 16 months of a bi-partisan House investigation into the monopolistic practices of Big Tech corporations (notably Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook) resulting in this detailed report, and six months to carefully craft legislation, the House Judiciary Committee will be voting this Wednesday on a package of bills (listed below) aimed to rein in the power Big Tech by reforming decades-old antitrust laws and ban discriminatory conduct by their dominant platforms.
As the most powerful corporations in history, Big Tech have every reason to protect their ecosystem and have hired every corporate lobbyist in Wash DC to influence lawmakers with myths and disinformation to scare legislators.
Let’s combat their lobbying dollars with our constituent power! While our Congressman Delgado is not on the Judiciary Committee, he can be called upon to represent our voices on this historical vote. If the bills do not make it through committee, it may be too late to regulate Big Tech’s power to crush competition and stifle innovation.
Contact Rep. Delgado at 202-225-5614 or email.
Suggested script:
This is [your name] calling from [your town]. I’m calling to urge Rep. Delgado to reach out to his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to ask them to support the bi-partisan package of bills that would rein in the power of Big Tech corporations like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple. These corporations have grown too big, too powerful and too invasive, using their near-monopoly power to collect personal information on ordinary Americans and make billions by invading our privacy.
Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world, worth $200 billion dollars – and neither he, nor Amazon have paid a dime in federal income tax on Amazon’s $29 billion in earnings for two years—even though their business exploded during the pandemic.
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee will be marking up this anti-trust package, and we need these bills to pass to get to a full floor vote. To this end, I urge the Congressman to publicly voice his support for this legislation.
Thank you!
Please also share these on Social Media!
@HouseJudiciary’s antitrust investigation said it’s time for Congress to break @Amazon’s and BigTech’s power before they break us
#BigTechBills that came out of Congress’ investigations of @Amazon and other monopolies are a first step at loosening undemocratic corporate influence of government. It’s no surprise its lobbyists want to stop democracy by preventing a @HouseFloor vote on them.
The 5 bills:
H.R.3816 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)
American Choice and Innovation Online Act restores competition online by preventing dominant platforms from using their market power to unfairly advantage their own products or disadvantage rivals and other businesses online. The bill also creates an even playing field by prohibiting certain forms of discriminatory conduct that place a heavy thumb on the scale in favor of the dominant firm, such as preventing smaller companies from communicating with their own customers or establishing their own prices for goods and services. As a result, this legislation will breathe new life into innovation for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the digital economy, while ensuring that American consumers have the benefit of choice online.
Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (Introduced 06/11/2021) Cosponsors: (13)
H.R.3825 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)
Ending Platform Monopolies Act eliminates the ability of dominant platforms to leverage their control over across multiple business lines to self-preference and disadvantage competitors in ways that undermine free and fair competition. The bill is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden (TX-05).
Sponsor: Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (Introduced 06/11/2021) Cosponsors: (11)
H.R.3826 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)
Platform Competition and Opportunity Act of 2021 prohibits acquisitions of competitive threats by dominant platforms, as well as acquisitions that expand or entrench the market power of online platforms.
Sponsor: Rep. Jeffries, Hakeem S. [D-NY-8] (Introduced 06/11/2021) Cosponsors: (12)
H.R.3843 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)
Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021 updates filing fees for mergers for the first time in two decades to ensure that Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have the resources they need to aggressively enforce the antitrust laws.
Sponsor: Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (Introduced 06/11/2021) Cosponsors: (18)
H.R.3849 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)
ACCESS Act of 2021 promotes competition online by lowering barriers to entry and switching costs for businesses and consumers through interoperability and data portability requirements.
Sponsor: Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5] (Introduced 06/11/2021) Cosponsors: (14)
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