Klobuchar takes over antitrust panel

By Brendan Sasso - 01/31/13 03:40 PM ET

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday selected Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to chair its subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.

The committee oversees efforts by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to preserve competition and combat monopolization.

Klobuchar succeeds Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), who retired at the end of last term. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) will stay on as the panel's ranking member.

“Protecting our consumers while promoting innovation and competition is what keeps this country strong,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “During my time in the Senate I have fought tirelessly on behalf of consumers and worked hard to advance innovation to move our economy forward, and that is what I will continue to do as chair of the Antitrust Subcommittee.”

Lee said he looks forward to remaining active on the subcommittee to ensure the antitrust laws are faithfully enforced.

"Antitrust enforcers must not pick winners and losers in the marketplace or interfere with private enterprise where robust market forces are present," Lee said. "But properly limited antitrust enforcement helps competition thrive and can forestall burdensome regulatory structures that impose great costs on our economy and society."

Antitrust regulators are particularly active in the technology industry. In 2011, the Justice Department sued to block AT&T's attempt to buy T-Mobile, and in 2012, the Justice Department required Verizon and a coalition of cable companies to agree to a set of concessions to complete their $3.9 billion deal.

After a yearlong investigation, the FTC earlier this month cleared Google of antitrust charges over favoring its own services in search results.

Also on Thursday, the Judiciary Committee announced that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) will stay on as chairman of the Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee, with freshman Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) as the top Republican.

Franken is expected to push legislation that would require companies to get a customers' consent before collecting or sharing their mobile location data.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will remain as chairman of the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights Subcommittee, and freshman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will serve as the ranking member.