Consumer Protection
What Hank has done:
- As Chairman of the Courts and Competition Policy Subcommittee during the 111th Congress, led Congressional efforts to crack down on anti-competitive business practices, monopolies, and cartels.
- Introduced (with Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota) the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2011, which will protect consumers and stop business practices that require consumers to cede their rights to a jury trial as a condition of service. Hank first introduced this bill in 2007.
- Cosponsored the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, which passed House and Senate. It dramatically expands the CPSC’s capacity to oversee the consumer goods manufactured in and imported by the United States. This became obviously necessary, after the repeated introduction of toxic imported children’s toys and tainted pet food.
What Hank will do:
- From his post on the Judiciary Committee, continue to introduce legislation designed to level the bargaining and legal playing field between consumers and service and product providers.
- Support increased funding of and oversight on the part of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
- Call for quality control and safety assurance mechanisms in any trade agreements.
More on Consumer Protection
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On October 27, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules to protect consumers’ privacy for information collected by broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The final rules require greater choice, transparency, and security protection for this information.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr., (GA-04), the Ranking Member of the Antitrust Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement in response to the proposed acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T:
Agency will now hold public comment period until Dec. 1
LITHONIA, GA – This week, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reversed its decision to ban the use of kratom, a plant that researchers say could help fight the opioid epidemic.
On Sept. 30, Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) – along with colleague Mark Pocan (WI-02) – penned a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch objecting to the DEA’s hasty decision to classify kratom as a Schedule 1 substance without first going through its normal classification and rulemaking process.
Dear Friends,
WABE (NPR): Ga. Rep. Hank Johnson Introduces Voting Protection Measures: http://news.wabe.org/post/ga-rep-hank-johnson-introduces-voting-protection-measures
Rep. Johnson Calls for Hearing on 'Unprecedented Wave of Consolidation' in the Agricultural Industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04), Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommitee on Regulatory Reform and Antitrust Law (RRCAL), requested a hearing to address the alarming and unprecedented wave of consolidation in the agricultural sector:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) issued the following statement after the Department of Health & Human Services issued a rule Wednesday to prohibit nursing homes that do business with Medicare or Medicaid from inserting forced arbitration clauses into their patient contracts:
Congressman’s legislation would authorize Title III funds to establish on-campus resource centers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) introduced today the “Inclusive Campuses Act of 2016” (H.R. 6164) to authorize the use of Title III funds to establish on-campus resource centers for LGBTQ students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority serving institutions.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Today’s hearing is an important and welcome opportunity to discuss drug price competition in the market for treating opioid addiction.
Opioid addiction is a devastating public-health emergency in many of our communities.
Strongly linked to the prescription of opioid painkillers, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that opioids contributed to the deaths of 28,647 Americans in 2014.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights today released its Environmental Justice: Examining the Environmental Protection Agency Compliance and Enforcement of Title VI and E.O. 12,898, which found that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Final Coal Ash Rule disproportionately impacts low-income and communities of color and places the burden of enforcement on these communities.