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Balfour, 440 F. 2d 469, 473 (CA7), cert. denied sub nom. Alpha Chi Omega v. Rader, 404 U. S. 983 (1971). In the ICC proceeding here in question, the United States' petition for leave to intervene charged Greyhound with no wrongdoing, took no position on the merits, sought no relief, and, indeed, disclaimed any knowledge of the relevant facts. It sought only an opportunity for Mt. Hood to establish its allegations. This case, therefore, simply cannot be viewed as one based on any matter "complained of" by the United States.13

B

Moreover, the language of § 5 (i) that we rely upon accurately manifests Congress' intent in enacting the section. As the Court previously has noted, the original § 5 of the Clayton

13 The Government's petition to intervene is clearly distinguishable from the Federal Trade Commission's complaint that this Court, in Minnesota Mining & Mfg. Co. v. New Jersey Wood Finishing Co., 381 U. S. 311 (1965), held to have tolled the Clayton Act's period of limitations under the predecessor of § 5 (i), 15 U. S. C. § 16 (b) (1964 ed.). There the FTC had filed a proceeding against the subsequent antitrust defendant under § 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U. S. C. § 18 (1964 ed.). It was clear that the Government had actually charged the defendant with violations of the antitrust laws. The subsequent private antitrust action was directly based on the Government's allegations (which had resulted in a consent order). 381 U. S., at 313, 322-323.

The petition to intervene in question here is also distinguishable from cases (the correctness of which we do not address) holding the Clayton Act's period of limitations to have been tolled by § 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U. S. C. § 45 (1976 ed.). See, e. g., Luria Steel & Trading Corp. v. Ogden Corp., 484 F. 2d 1016 (CA3 1973), cert denied, 414 U. S. 1158 (1974); Rader v. Balfour, 440 F. 2d 469 (CA7), cert. denied sub nom. Alpha Chi Omega v. Rader, 404 U. S. 983 (1971); Lippa's, Inc. v. Lenox, Inc., 305 F. Supp. 182 (Vt. 1969). In each of these cases the Government actually had charged the defendant with, and sought the prevention or punishment of, specific anticompetitive conduct or antitrust violations, and a comparison of the Government's charges with the private litigant's complaint showed that the private action was based on the matter complained of by the Government.

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Act, 38 Stat. 731, was adopted in response to the request of President Wilson and consisted of material that now constitutes §§ 5 (a) 1 and 5 (i).1 In a speech to Congress on January 20, 1914, the President urged that a statute be enacted that would permit victims of antitrust violations to have "redress upon the facts and judgments proved and entered in suits by the Government" and that "the statute of limitations shall be suffered to run against such litigants only from the date of the conclusion of the Government's action. It is not fair that the private litigant should be obliged to set up and establish again the facts which the Government has proved." 16 51 Cong. Rec. 1964 (1914). This very language of the President was quoted in part in Minnesota Mining & Mfg. Co. v. New Jersey Wood Finishing Co., 381 U. S. 311, 318 (1965). Congress acceded to the President's request. What is now

14 15 U. S. C. § 16 (a) (1976 ed.). This section provides:

"A final judgment or decree heretofore or hereafter rendered in any civil or c[r]iminal proceeding brought by or on behalf of the United States under the antitrust laws to the effect that a defendant has violated said laws shall be prima facie evidence against such defendant in any action or proceeding brought by any other party against such defendant under said laws or by the United States under section 15a of this title, as to all matters respecting which said judgment or decree would be an estoppel as between the parties thereto: Provided, That this section shall not apply to consent judgments or decrees entered before any testimony has been taken or to judgments or decrees entered in actions under section 15a of this title."

15 The original version of what is now § 5 (i) provided:

"Whenever any suit or proceeding in equity or criminal prosecution is instituted by the United States to prevent, restrain or punish violations of any of the antitrust laws, the running of the statute of limitations in respect of each and every private right of action arising under said laws and based in whole or in part on any matter complained of in said suit or proceeding shall be suspended during the pendency thereof." 38 Stat. 731.

16 President Wilson's message was quoted frequently during the course of the congressional debates to explain the purpose of the amendments. See, e. g., 51 Cong. Rec. 9090, 9488 (1914).

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§ 5 (i) was enacted to ensure that private litigants would have the benefit of prior Government antitrust enforcement efforts. 381 U. S., at 317. Here, however, as already has been pointed out, Mt. Hood is seeking to benefit not from a Government antitrust action but from an ICC proceeding that Mt. Hood itself initiated.

Accordingly, construing § 5 (i) as applicable to the facts of this case would not serve Congress' most obvious purpose. It would also fail to give any weight to another related and important congressional purpose. A Ninth Circuit panel very recently emphasized: "Although the plaintiff is correct in asserting that [§ 5 (i)] serves the broad and beneficent purpose of aiding private antitrust litigants . it is also true that it is a statute of repose." Dungan v. Morgan Drive-Away, Inc., 570 F. 2d 867, 869 (1978). This is clear upon examination of the 1955 amendments to the Clayton Act. 69 Stat. 282. Before these amendments, the period of limitations under the Clayton Act was determined by state law. This bred confusion in the computation of the period within which a private suit was required to be brought, especially when the Act's tolling provision (what is now § 5 (i)) came into play. In order to eliminate this confusion, the amendments established a uniform period of limitations of four years" and declared that the suspension of the statute would extend "during the pendency" of the federal proceeding and "for one year thereafter." Finally, the amendments mandated, in what is now the proviso to § 5 (i), that, in the event the statute of limitations is tolled, any private right of action based on the matter complained of in the action by the Government "shall be forever barred unless commenced... within four years after the cause of action accrued." 18

17 69 Stat. 283, now § 4B of the Clayton Act, as amended, 15 U. S. C. § 15b (1976 ed.).

18 69 Stat. 283.

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The Senate Report accompanying the 1955 amendments reflects congressional policy against "undue prolongation of [antitrust] proceedings" by extending the limitations period. It noted:

"While the committee believes it important to safeguard the rights of plaintiffs by tolling the statute during the pendency of Government antitrust actions, it recognizes that in many instances the long duration of such proceedings taken in conjunction with a lengthy statute of limitations may tend to prolong stale claims, unduly impair efficient business operations, and overburden the calendars of courts. The committee believes the provision of this bill will tend to shorten the period over which private treble-damage actions will extend by requiring that the plaintiff bring his suit within 4 years after it accrued or within 1 year after the Government's case has been concluded.

"While the committee considers it highly desirable to toll the statute of limitations during a Government antitrust action and to grant plaintiff a reasonable time thereafter in which to bring suit, it does not believe that the undue prolongation of proceedings is conducive to effective and efficient enforcement of the antitrust laws." S. Rep. No. 619, 84th Cong., 1st Sess., 6 (1955).19

In view of the congressional emphasis on certainty and predictability in the application of § 5 (i), the Court of Appeals' conclusion that the United States' petition to intervene should be treated as the "functional equivalent of a direct action" by the United States, 555 F. 2d, at 700, is unacceptable. A functional-equivalence standard, applied this loosely, resurrects the very confusion and uncertainty concerning the application of the statute of limitations that Congress sought to eliminate in the 1955 amendments. In a case such as this,

19 See also H. R. Rep. No. 422, 84th Cong., 1st Sess., 8-9 (1955).

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in which the Government took no position in its initial petition, a functional-equivalence test would require a detailed review of the record in each proceeding to see what position the Government ultimately took and whether its participation was or was not the "functional equivalent of a direct action." The Government, of course, may well change its position. For example, in Denver & R. G. W. R. Co. v. United States, 387 U. S. 485 (1967), the Government intervened in an ICC proceeding with one position, adopted another in the District Court, and then "completely reversed" itself in this Court. Id., at 490-492. Thus, endorsement of the suggested functional-equivalence test would mean that it might be impossible to determine whether Government proceedings would toll the statute until those proceedings were finally resolved. As the Court of Appeals seems to have acknowledged, such an approach would lead to serious problems. 555 F. 2d, at 699 n. 31. See also Dungan v. Morgan Drive-Away, Inc., 570 F. 2d, at 870-871; cf. Leh v. General Petroleum Corp., 382 U. S., at 65. To be sure, one way around these problems would be to say that the statute is tolled anytime the United States participates in any regulatory proceeding, regardless of what it contends or does in that proceeding. Even respondent, however, appears to recognize the undesirability of this result, and that such an interpretation has no support in the language or history of the statute.20

III

We conclude, in sum, that the Clayton Act's statute of limitations was not tolled, under § 5 (i), by the filing of the

20 We do not mean to suggest that no rational distinctions concerning the Government's participation in regulatory proceedings can be drawn. It may be appropriate, in a given case, to apply § 5 (i) where the Government's petition to intervene in fact charged a violation of the antitrust laws and demanded relief to prevent, restrain, or enjoin that violation. That, however, is not this case, and we expressly decline to offer any view as to the applicability vel non of § 5 (i) in such a context.

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