Cantwell Applauds Senate Confirmation of Final FTC Member, Unlocking New Opportunities to Protect Consumers

With Bedoya, FTC can act to protect consumers on price gouging, rising drug prices, and privacy

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Alvaro Bedoya's as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, previously spoke on the Senate floor in favor of his nomination to ensure the FTC can effectively protect American consumers. Bedoya will be the fifth commissioner on the FTC, completing the Commission with 5 members.

"The FTC needs to be able to protect all Americans, and to accomplish that we need to have a commission that is not deadlocked, but has somebody like Mr. Bedoya who can help us move ahead on these issues before we fall even more behind," said Sen. Cantwell. "Mr. Bedoya's tie breaking vote will allow the Commission to make progress on issues that are top of mind for all Americans right now, from high prices at the pump, to the rising cost of prescription drugs, and the safety of their family's personal information online."

Click Here to Watch Sen. Cantwell on the Senate Floor ahead of the discharge vote

The Commission is responsible for protecting consumers and competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices. The FTC is the nation's key consumer protection agency, and helps protect consumers from online fraud scams, rising prices at the gas pump, high cost of drug prices, and protecting children's privacy online.

Cantwell has made the point that Mr. Bedoya is the right person to get the job done.

"Mr. Bedoya's experience on technology and privacy in particular will be integral to the FTC's work to protect consumer privacy," said Sen. Cantwell. "There are many important decisions on the horizon for protecting and enhancing privacy as the technology age unfolds. Alvaro Bedoya's voice is one we need on the FTC to make sure that they get it right."

Last month, Cantwell joined Majority Leader Schumer in a press conference about high costs and how confirming Mr. Bedoya to the Commission will give the FTC the ability to act and protect consumers.

Alvaro Bedoya was the Founding Director of the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law, where he is also a Visiting Professor of Law. Before founding the Center, Alvaro served as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, where he conducted oversight on mobile location privacy and biometrics, drafted bipartisan legislation to protect victims of sexual assault, and drafted portions of the bipartisan NSA reform law, the USA FREEDOM Act. A naturalized citizen born in Peru and raised in upstate New York, Alvaro graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School.