Lee: DOJ Complaint Raises Serious Issues I am confident the judicial process will properly resolve this matter and curtail any illegal actions that result in significant consumer harm."
WASHINGTON – Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Senator Mike Lee made the following statement regarding the Department of Justice’s announcement of a lawsuit against several book publishers and Apple, Inc. alleging that the companies conspired to raise prices for e-books:
"The proper focus of our antitrust laws is consumer welfare. Although government regulators should not interfere with market forces absent a significant threat to competition, the allegations made in the complaint filed today by the Department of Justice raise serious concerns about the prices paid by consumers for e-books. Illegal price fixing harms consumers and must not be tolerated. I am confident the judicial process will properly resolve this matter and curtail any illegal actions that result in significant consumer harm."
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Elected in 2010 as Utah's 16th Senator, Mike Lee has spent his career defending the basic liberties of Americans and Utahns as a tireless advocate for our founding constitutional principles.
Senator Lee acquired a deep respect for the Constitution early on. His father, Rex Lee, who served as the Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan, would often discuss varied aspects of judicial and constitutional doctrine around the kitchen table, from Due Process to the uses of Executive Plenary Power. He attended most of his father's arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, giving him a unique, hands-on experience and understanding of government up close.
Lee graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science, and served as BYU's Student Body President in his senior year. He graduated from BYU's Law School in 1997 and went on to serve as law clerk to Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, and then with future Supreme Court Justice Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court.
Lee spent several years as an attorney with the law firm Sidley & Austin specializing in appellate and Supreme Court litigation, and then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Lee served the state of Utah as Governor Jon Huntsman's General Counsel and was later honored to reunite with Justice Alito, now on the Supreme Court, for a one-year clerkship. He returned to private practice in 2007.
Throughout his career, Lee earned a reputation as an outstanding practitioner of the law based on his sound judgment, abilities in the courtroom, and thorough understanding of the Constitution.
Today, Lee fights to preserve America's proud founding document in the United States Senate. He advocates efforts to support constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, and economic prosperity.
Lee is a member of the Judiciary Committee, and serves as ranking Member of the Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee protecting business competition and personal freedom.
He also oversees issues critical to Utah as the top Republican on the Water and Power Subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
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