The drug industry has proposed voluntary price restraints, under strong criticism from Clinton.

The nation's drug companies will ask for an antitrust exemption to enable them to discuss price restraints.

Mr. Davis welcomed the price restraints but said the decision would allow prices to stay at historically high levels.

They range from price restraints to the inclusion of the telephone companies in the cable business, a move the industry has fought ferociously.

If manufacturers were trying to jack up prices, they wouldn't ordinarily use vertical price restraints.

The purpose of vertical price restraints is to encourage better service to customers.

Some of this price restraint has come from the decline this year in overall commodity prices, which are down 12 percent.

The House passed a bill that would have eliminated the price restraints 15 months after passage.

The Bush administration has opposed price restraints on electricity, arguing that they distort the market.

But some members of Congress doubt whether the price restraint will last.