WASHINGTON – During a Capitol Hill briefing held today, former Trump Administration National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien, American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Competitiveness Coalition Chair Scott Brown delivered one clear message to conservatives regarding the activist-backed American Innovation and Choice Online Act: don’t be fooled.
Endorsed by a litany of Biden Administration officials, left-wing groups and liberal U.S. Senators, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, S.2992, would expand the federal government, damage U.S. competitiveness and aid China in their quest for global dominance.
“While the Chinese Communist Party invests and supports their technology sector, some misguided politicians here at home are demonizing and targeting the private sector that will keep us one step ahead of Beijing,” said former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien. “Laws that directly benefit Chinese and other foreign tech competitors while disarming our own in the name of antitrust to score political points is the wrong approach. Even in a highly polarized climate, elected officials on both sides of the aisle should be able to find common ground on an issue as paramount as managing and staying ahead of the Chinese threat.”
“This legislation does nothing to focus on the pressing policy issue of the day: inflation, which continues to move in the wrong direction,” added American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin. “It also abandons the consumer welfare standard by interfering with innovation and sets damaging precedents across the economy. As we have seen over the last year and a half, policy errors can have serious ramifications, and the Senate should reject this misguided legislation before it can inflict any more harm on our fragile economy.”
“If passed, the so-called antitrust legislation would weaken America’s competitive advantage at both home and abroad,” concluded Scott Brown, former Ambassador and U.S. Senator and Chair of the Competitiveness Coalition. “I was honored to lead a discussion today featuring preeminent voices on both national and economic security, and am hopeful members of Congress, especially those who call themselves conservatives, will come to their senses and defeat the American Innovation and Online Choice Act once and for all.”
According to press reports, Majority Leader Schumer has committed to bring the bill to the floor for an upcoming vote this summer – despite internal opposition from fellow Senate Democrats.
Launched in April 2022, the Competitiveness Coalition is a first-of-its-kind group educating the public and advocating for policies that put consumers first while fostering innovation and attracting new investment. For more information, please visit competitivenesscoalition.com. Members of the press can contact the coalition at press@competitivenesscoalition.com.
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