SHIELD Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2671 To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to specify certain effects of guidelines, general statements of policy, and similar guidance issued by the Federal Trade Commission. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2021 Mr. ARMSTRONG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to specify certain effects of guidelines, general statements of policy, and similar guidance issued by the Federal Trade Com- mission. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Solidifying Habitual 4 and Institutional Explanations of Liability and Defenses 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2671.IH H2671 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2671 IH SEC. 2. EFFECTS OF GUIDELINES, GENERAL STATEMENTS 1 OF POLICY, AND SIMILAR GUIDANCE. 2 Section 18(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 3 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(3)(A) No guidelines, general statements of policy, 6 or similar guidance issued by the Commission shall confer 7 any rights upon any person, State, or locality, nor shall 8 operate to bind the Commission or any person, State, or 9 locality to the approach recommended in such guidelines, 10 general statements of policy, or similar guidance. In any 11 enforcement action, the Commission shall prove a violation 12 of a provision of law enforced by the Commission. The 13 Commission may not base an enforcement action on, or 14 execute a consent order based on, acts or practices that 15 are alleged to be inconsistent with any such guidelines, 16 general statements of policy, or similar guidance, unless 17 the acts or practices violate a provision of law enforced 18 by the Commission. 19 ‘‘(B) In any enforcement action, a defendant may 20 offer as evidence of compliance with a provision of law en- 21 forced by the Commission, any guidelines, general state- 22 ments of policy, or similar guidance issued by the Commis- 23 sion pursuant to that law.’’ 24 ‘‘(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to 25 confer any authority upon or negate any authority of the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2671.IH H2671 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2671 IH Commission to issue guidelines, general statements of pol- 1 icy, or similar guidance.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2671.IH H2671 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS