Senate Passed Act Section 113: Same as enacted Act. Senate Debate Congressional Record-Senate Mr. HART. I thank the Senator. My second question has to do with a feature of the bill which I shall not say gave the committee trouble, but which involved problems that we spent considerable time identifying and resolving-the section that deals with the applicability of the antitrust laws. The Senate committee approved the section of the bill that deals with the application of the antitrust laws to cooperative activities in the field of safety, which was passed by the Senate as section 113 and was passed, in identical language, by the House as section 116, and has now been accepted, of course, by the conferees. I have the clear impression that when this section was approved by our Committee on Commerce-and was approved unanimously-we did it on the basis of the understanding that our committee report would contain an explanatory statement. A statement is made at page 13 of the committee report; but it had been my understanding that that statement would make clear that manufacturers could rely on the interpretation of the antitrust laws that was given to us, as contained in the Department of Justice letters that are a part of our record. I thought our conclusion was that the report would go on to say that a more detailed amendment incorporating this interpretation was not necessary. The report, however, states only that since the more detailed amendment would be merely declaratory of existing law, the amendment was not necessary. I assume, and I should like to have the RECORD clearly show-if I am wrong, I can be corrected-there was no intention on the part of the distinguished chairman of the committee to infer that manufacturers could not rely on the interpretations contained in the letters of the Department of Justice. I noted some time ago that in the discussion in the House the explanation was given that reliance could be had on the interpretation of the Department. Without further delaying the adoption of the report, I inquire of our able chairman whether this is solely reflective of the purpose and intention. Mr. MAGNUSON. I think that I can answer that question for the Senator. It is the clear understanding of the committee that the manufacturers can rely on the interpretation of antitrust laws contained in the letters of the Department of Justice. As the Senator recalls, the committee went over that matter very carefully. That is the reason why we did not add any more specific language embodying these interpretations in the bill itself. I think I can speak for the conferees that this was the intention of the conferees and the intention of the Members of the House when they adopted similar language. Mr. HART. I thank the chairman 21487 very much. Senate Committee Report Senate Report 1301, Pages 13, 14, and 32 APPLICATION OF ANTITRUST LAWS For the reasons set forth below, the committee included a provision in the act providing that "nothing contained herein shall be deemed to exempt from the antitrust laws of the United States any conduct that would otherwise be unlawful under such laws or to prohibit any conduct that would be lawful under such laws" (§ 113). Although the committee firmly believes that competition among automobile manufacturers in the development of safety improvements is essential for the achievement of rapid progress in automotive safety, the committee is aware that cooperation in research and testing among manufacturers can also play a significant role in safety development. To this end, the bill authorizes the Secretary to advise, assist, and cooperate with manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment, among others, in the development of motor vehicle safety standards and the testing of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment (§ 107). The committee considered including a provision in the bill to the effect that cooperation among manufacturers in developing safety devices or in exchanging information about safety standards is not illegal per se, but may be justified under the "rule of reason" to the extent consistent with the antitrust laws and without creating any exemption from the antitrust laws. However, the committee was advised by the Department of Justice that such a provision was unnecessary, since cooperation in the development of safety devices and in exchanging information about safety standards would not be unlawful per se under the antitrust laws but would be permissible under the "rule of reason" where joint efforts seem necessary and constructive and are not accompained by any unduly restrictive collateral agreements. Since the provision under consideration would have done no more than confirm this interpretation, the committee decided that that amendment was unnecessary. The committee by this indication of its views in no way intends to change the application of existing antitrust laws with respect to cooperative activities among automobile manufacturers in the field of safety development. The advice received from the Department of Justice, as summarized above, is contained in a letter from Assistant Attorney General Donald F. Turner to the chairman of the committee dated April 6, 1966, and a further letter from Deputy Attorney General Ramsey Clark to the chairman dated June 2, 1966. An extract from the letter of April 6 follows: Nor is there anything persuasive in the general argument that the vagueness of the antitrust laws prevents the formation of any cooperative effort to develop safety devices or to exchange information concerning standards. The antitrust laws do not prohibit such arrangements where joint efforts APPLICATION OF ANTITRUST LAWS 14 SEC. 113. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to exempt 32 from the antitrust laws of the United States any conduct that would otherwise be unlawful under such laws or to prohibit under the antitrust laws of the United States any conduct that would be lawful under such laws. Executive Communications Contains nothing helpful. As Introduced As H.R. 13228 in the House and S. 3005 in the Senate: contains no comparable provision. |