Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1908, Patent Reform Act of 2007

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1908, PATENT REFORM ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - September 07, 2007)

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Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch) for the time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

When the Founders of this great Republic drafted our Constitution, they had the revolutionary vision that brought us this great and vibrant representative democracy that has lasted over 200 years. Included in the landmark Constitution that has served our Nation so marvelously is a provision that gives us, the Congress, the power ``to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.'' This provision receives little attention; but over the last two centuries it has played a critical part in the growth of the economy and the power, the wealth of the United States. Today, American intellectual property is worth over $5 trillion, more than that of any other country in the world. It also comprises more than half of all U.S. exports, driving almost half of the Nation's economic growth.

As Mr. Welch so eloquently stated, the last time Congress overhauled the patent system was over 50 years ago. Since then the fundamental underpinnings of our economy have undergone dramatic changes. But the patent system has remained generally static and now faces some difficulty in meeting the needs of our dynamic economy. So we must reform our patent system in order to meet the needs of our economy here and in the global marketplace, but we must do so in a way that protects, that continues to protect the intellectual property rights of all inventors and industries.

Today we are debating changing the system that President Abraham Lincoln called one of the three most important developments in world history. Yet on such a truly significant piece of legislation, legislation that will affect our economy for decades, the Rules Committee majority has severely restricted the input of Members of this House, the input that they can have on this extraordinarily important piece of legislation.

The rule brought forth by the majority allows only five amendments, five of the 14 amendments submitted. I submitted to you, Mr. Speaker, that is no way for the House to debate this important legislation. The majority should bring this bill to the floor with the opportunity for all Members to present their ideas, their proposals, their amendments, for the consideration of all of our colleagues. The majority should bring this legislation to the floor under an open rule.

I remind our friends of one of the central tenets of their campaign last fall. They said they would run the Congress in a more open and bipartisan manner. In fact, on December 6, 2006, the distinguished Speaker, Congresswoman Pelosi, reiterated her campaign promise. She said: ``We promised to the American people that we would have the most honest and open government, and we will.''

[Time: 09:30]

Here we are again with a restrictive rule, even on such a significant piece of legislation as the reform of our patent system.

The majority, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately is not living up to its promises, and it is the duty of the minority to remind the majority of when the majority falls short of the majority's promises.

It was quite clear from the testimony at the Rules Committee yesterday, very interesting testimony, very enlightening. It's been years in the making this legislation. There are Members of our Congress that have put a tremendous amount of effort and study and time into this critically important issue.

It was evident at the Rules Committee that this bill was drafted in an open manner, in a bipartisan manner. Why not thus continue the bipartisanship that has forged this important piece of legislation, why not continue that bipartisanship here on the floor today with an open rule?

Notwithstanding how Members may feel about the underlying bill, Mr. Speaker, I would urge all of our colleagues to vote against this rule, vote against this rule so that we can have a full and open debate on this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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