June 23, 2021

Rep. Lou Correa Calls For Continued Work On Tech Antitrust Legislation

California Congressman States Antitrust Legislation Will Hurt California’s Economy & Small Businesses

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Lou Correa released the following statement following the conclusion of a markup of antitrust legislation by the House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Lou Correa said, "I thank my colleagues for asking the important questions regarding tech antitrust. I remember working for Bell Systems a long time ago when Bell Systems was broken up. The question was asked and answered by Judge Green. 

"Today, again I ask a very similar question about high tech giants, antitrust, in the context, of international competition, where not all high tech giants are American firms, where new threats continue to emerge, threats to our privacy, cyber threats, need to invest in R&D, and job creation. These are some of the factors that I will use to evaluate how I answer the questions posed today.

"The answer to these questions should be about Main Street, and not about Wall Street or and not about D.C.'s beltway. This is about jobs and our constituents. In 2010, four percent of Californians worked directly in tech. Today, that number is about twelve percent or just under 2 million jobs held by real Californians. This number is even greater when we factor in the millions of workers who support these industries and communities.

"I recently attended high school graduations in my district. As I congratulated the graduates, I thought of their future. Could those staying in our community, those not going on to college, those not going to trade schools, or the military find a good job now?

"In my district, small businesses depend on services provided by these tech companies. Amazon has opened a distribution center and is looking to open a few more. These are good-paying jobs with benefits.   

"At the State level, these firms are a big reason California has a budget surplus, which enables California to invest in public education, our COVID-19 recovery effort, and helps Californias find the ladder to the middle-class. These firms are a strong part of our California miracle.   

"Today, we speak about the challenges of investing in R&D, fighting cybercrimes, competing with China and others around the world. This is exactly what these firms do on a day-to-day basis.   

"Yes, we must enforce our antitrust laws with adequate funding while we continue to assure that good-paying jobs are here for our children and that the public and private sector work together for national security."

###

Rep. Lou Correa represents California's 46th Congressional District. He serves as Chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Management, and Accountability, and is a Member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Agriculture Committee. Read more here.