Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to put bipartisan tech antitrust legislation up for a vote by early summer before both houses of Congress take an extended recess, reports Axios.
Schumer, D-N.Y., met with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Wednesday to discuss Klobuchar's American Innovation and Choice Online Act which aims to ban Big Tech companies like Google and Amazon from favoring their own products and services against their competitors' offerings.
The bill received bipartisan support when it made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.
"There's a natural timeline. Once the summer break happens, it's going to be harder to get people focused on big issues," Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., who has led the House's tech antitrust efforts, told Axios.
"It's really urgent in my view," he said.
Schumer could also put the Open App Markets Act on the docket. The bill, which was also passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would have a similar impact as the American Innovation and Choice Online Act but focuses on app stores like those from Google and Apple.
Sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., the bill picked up the support of Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who voted against the earlier legislation.
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., told Axios he was confident Congress would "get something done before the summer recess — there's too much support in both chambers for any other outcome."
Klobuchar told the news outlet her bipartisan bill with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, "is the first major bill on technology competition to advance in the Senate since the dawn of the internet."
"I am working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this to a floor vote as soon as possible."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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