Sen. Lee issued the following statement in response to news reports that Kroger plans to buy Albertsons for $24.6 billion, combining two of the nation’s largest grocery chains at a time when food prices are already up 13% from last year.

“Utahns, like all Americans, are suffering from skyrocketing food prices. As the senior Republican member of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, I will do everything in my power to ensure our antitrust laws are robustly enforced to protect consumers from anticompetitive mergers that could further exacerbate the financial strain we already feel in the grocery store checkout aisle.”