Chair Khan Opening Statement at House Committee on Appropriations , Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Gov.

[Passages]

President Biden's relentless sledgehammer, Lina Khan.


Date May 15, 2024
By Lina M. Khan, Chair

Chair Khan Opening Statement
House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
United States House of Representatives
May 15, 2024

Chairman Joyce, Ranking Member Hoyer, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you
for inviting me to testify today. Chairman Joyce, congratulations on your appointment as Chair.
I’m happy to share with you some of the critical work the FTC has advanced this past year and to
discuss with you the Commission’s budget request for fiscal year 2025. For every one dollar the
FTC receives in funding, we provide fourteen dollars in benefits to the public. For the American
people, there is no doubt that resourcing the FTC is an excellent return on investment. Of course,
none of this work would be possible without the talented and dedicated staff of the FTC, whose
hard work and fidelity to the FTC’s mission protect Americans’ pocketbooks, privacy, and
economic liberty.

As American families continue to struggle with higher prices for daily necessities, the
FTC’s work helps ensure that Americans keep more of their paycheck. By protecting fair
competition and preventing unlawful business practices, our work improves families’ bottom
lines and lowers costs—be it at the grocery store, the pharmacy counter, or the gas pump.
As part of that work, the FTC has initiated the largest crackdown on illegal telemarking
in our history, and consumer complaints have plummeted nearly 60 percent since 2021. As AI
turbocharges scams, we’re shutting down fraud affecting older Americans, veterans, and other
underserved populations, including those recovering from opioid addiction.

The Commission is bringing all its tools to bear to protect Americans’ privacy. Over the
last year, we have taken on unscrupulous data brokers and issued bans on firms who exploit or
endanger people’s sensitive health or geolocation data, including by selling it to entities in China.
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/oral-remarks-khan-may15-2024.pdf