TIME Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2677 To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to require a time limitation for consent orders, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2021 Mr. BURGESS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to require a time limitation for consent orders, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Technological Innova- 4 tion through Modernizing Enforcement Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘TIME Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. TIME LIMITATION FOR CONSENT ORDERS. 7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 5 of the Federal Trade 8 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) is amended by adding at 9 the end the following new subsection: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2677.IH H2677 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2677 IH ‘‘(o) TERMINATION CLAUSE REQUIRED FOR CON- 1 SENT ORDERS.—Any consent order entered into by the 2 Commission shall include a termination clause that the 3 consent order shall expire not later than 8 years after the 4 date on which the consent order is entered into, unless 5 such consent order relates to alleged fraud by the entity 6 subject to the consent order and requires a time limit 7 longer than 8 years based on the factors described in this 8 subsection. In determining the time limit for any termi- 9 nation clause, the Commission shall consider each of the 10 following factors: 11 ‘‘(1) The impact of technological progress on 12 the continuing relevance of the consent order. 13 ‘‘(2) Whether there is reason to believe that the 14 entity would engage in activities that violate this sec- 15 tion without the consent order 8 years after the con- 16 sent order is entered into by the Commission. 17 ‘‘(p) CONSENT ORDER REVIEW.—Any consent order 18 entered into by the Commission that is unrelated to al- 19 leged fraud by the entity subject to the consent order and 20 has a termination date more than 5 years after such con- 21 sent order is entered into shall include a clause providing 22 for Commission review of the consent order 5 years after 23 the date on which the order is entered into. Such clause 24 shall require the Commission to evaluate whether the con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2677.IH H2677 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2677 IH sent order continues to serve its initial purposes based on 1 the factors described in subsection (o). The clause shall 2 provide that if, based on such evaluation, the Commission 3 determines that the consent order no longer serves its pur- 4 poses, the Commission shall terminate the consent order. 5 ‘‘(q) PETITION FOR REVIEW OF EXISTING CONSENT 6 ORDERS.—Any entity that as of the effective date of this 7 subsection is subject to a consent order that is unrelated 8 to alleged fraud and has been effective for a period of at 9 least five years may petition the Commission to terminate 10 such consent order. In evaluating a petition to terminate 11 a consent order under this subsection, the Commission 12 shall consider whether the consent order continues to serve 13 its initial purposes based on each of the factors described 14 in subsection (o). If, based on such evaluation, the Com- 15 mission determines that the consent order no longer serves 16 its purposes, the Commission shall terminate the consent 17 order.’’. 18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—The amend- 19 ment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date 20 of enactment of this Act and with respect to subsections 21 (o) and (p) of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission 22 Act (15 U.S.C. 45), as added by subsection (a), shall apply 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2677.IH H2677 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2677 IH with respect to any consent order entered into after such 1 date. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2677.IH H2677 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS