For Immediate Release: November 14, 2024
Press Contact: Jimmy Wyderko, [email protected]

US Senate and House Democrats Reiterate Support for Taking on Corporate Concentration to Deliver for Working Class Americans

Watch the full event here

Washington, D.C. — On Capitol Hill yesterday, at an event organized by Fight Corporate Monopolies, small business groups, and other civil society organizations, a series of U.S. Democratic Senate and House members emphatically reiterated their support for delivering for working families by addressing corporate concentration and abuse. As recent polling indicates, taking on big corporations that squeeze working families is extremely popular with Americans across the country and party lines.

Reflecting on the key lessons learned following the election, each of the members expressed that Americans—especially working class voters—are hungry for an aggressive economic agenda that takes powerful corporations head-on. The Senators and Representatives who spoke also emphasized, and at times specifically named, monopolies that are abusing consumers and small businesses, calling on their colleagues in Congress to do the same.

The speakers recapped how current enforcers at the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have made critical strides through litigation and policymaking to stand up to corporate power across the economy, and why it’s important to push the incoming Trump-Vance administration and the next Congress to center these efforts in their future enforcement and lawmaking. The event included Congressmembers who represent battleground districts, like Rep. Chris Deluzio, who made clear that running against corporate power is a winning message for Democrats trying to garner support from critical swing voters.

"Over the last three years, enforcers at the Federal Trade Commission, DOJ Antitrust Division, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took meaningful steps to challenge corporate power,” said Nidhi Hegde, Director of Fight Corporate Monopolies. “Over the next four years, we need to protect these initiatives and hold the incoming Administration and Congress accountable for delivering tangible economic wins to benefit America’s working class.”

"This is not the time to let this movement die,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who headlined the event. “This is the time to push it forward.”

“Both the Google and Facebook cases were started during the previous administration,” Senator Klobuchar continued. “Now it’s time to finish those cases, because [DOJ AAG] Kanter and [FTC Chair] Khan have aggressively pursued those cases, and we have AGs from all over the country—Republicans and Democrats—that have joined in on those efforts. As we move forward and figure out how we’re going to take on this monopoly power…I think we’ve got to make that a major focus — trying to move these things and hold them to it”

“We talk about oligarchy — it‘s not only massive income and wealth inequality, it is not only the stagnation in wages for working class people, it is also a massive increase in concentration of ownership,” said Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT). “The antidote to enormous economic and political power on the part of the few is mass organizing at the grassroots level among working people – to stand up and fight for an economy that works for all.”

“The number one takeaway I have from what just happened is that the American people want a fair economy that works for them.” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “My proof points on that are to look at where progressive economic issues were on the ballot — they won...Every way that we can measure, we see over and over that Americans believe that corporations have too much power, and they are using that power to squeeze everyday families.”

“We are not weak and powerless against a handful of giant corporations that think they can just rip us off at will.” added Senator Warren. [The outgoing antitrust enforcers] have shown us it is possible to fight back and damn it is possible to win…Anyone who thinks the genie is going to get stuffed back in the bottle after January misunderstands what has happened in America in the last four years.”

“Americans feel like they’ve lost control over their economic lives and can’t get ahead no matter how hard they work, and that a handful of enormous multinational corporations wield an enormous amount of influence over the quality of their lives without accountability or transparency to the public,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). “That is an 80% message with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents…One of the primary ways to speak to that lack of power is to go after these unaccountable, untransparent economic entities and bring that power and that locus of control closer to these people and closer to these communities.”

"We have to address the cost of living crisis that is pinching families all over America, and antitrust should be one of the major tools in that solution," said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-05). “The results of last week’s election should made it clear, on both sides of the aisle, that rising prices for essentials and above all else, food, were a major factor in voters’ choices. In nearly every industry within the food sector, four firms control 50% or more of the market….These fiefdoms wield massive power, but they're not accountable.”

“Beyond funding, Congress and antitrust enforcers have to finetune our antitrust laws and enforcement tools to meet today’s challenges,” added Rep. Scanlon. With respect to food prices, I’ve advocated with Senator Warren and others for the revival of the Robinson-Patman Act, which gives the FTC the ability to go after many of the anticompetitive practices that are common among food retailers.”

“From tech to housing to food to pharma to media to agriculture, monopolies are strangling our communities,” said Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-12). “We need bold, transformative legislation to break up monopolies that have been allowed to crush our communities for too long. We need strong antitrust laws that don’t just tinker around the edges but go straight into the heart of the issue — putting people over profits and blocking these corporations from using their wealth to continue to buy out competition and skirt taxes.”

"In Western PA, we saw decades of bad trade policy, stuff pushed by Wall Street to strip us for parts," said Representative Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17). “There's a tendency in our party to always look for a win-win. But sometimes there's a bad guy and you gotta fight 'em…We can win in competitive places talking about standing up for people’s dignity, bringing down costs, taking on corporate power. These are winning messages."

“I came to this job having been a teacher for years. I ran because I thought about all the students I have, and all of their parents, who are working so damn hard and didn’t have a pot to piss in,” said Representative Becca Balint (D-VT-At Large). “That’s why I ran, because they live on those back dirt roads in Vermont and they think to themselves, ‘how will i ever have a better life for my kids and my grandkids?’ So when we think about these issues, we have to figure out how when we’re talking about antitrust and trust-busting and monopolies that always puts the people at the center of why we’re doing this work.”

The hosts of the event included business and antimonopoly advocates, Fight Corporate Monopolies, Main Street Alliance, National Community Pharmacists Association, P Street, Small Business Majority, and Tech Oversight Project.

Watch the full event here.

Learn more about Fight Corporate Monopolies here.

###

Fight Corporate Monopolies is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit that is building a movement to address today’s crisis of concentrated economic power. We do not accept any funding from corporations. For more information on Fight Corporate Monopolies, visit:fightcorporatemonopolies.org.