[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 103 (Friday, July 12, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H7510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ATTACK ON THE AMERICAN PATENT SYSTEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempre. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher] is recognize for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, during election years we hear a lot 
of people who are steamed on this issue or that issue. They are very 
upset about it. The fact is that many times it is just because it is an 
election year, and we have to remember that.
  For example, the other party did control both Houses of Congress and 
the Presidency for 2 years just prior to when Republicans took control 
of both Houses of Congress. During that 2-year time period, if indeed 
it had been important for the Democratic Party to pass an increase in 
the minimum wage, they would have passed that increase in the minimum 
wage because they had control of both Houses of Congress and the 
Presidency, but they did not.
  If, indeed, there is something where Republicans in the Senate are 
holding back on an increase in minimum wage in order to get something 
else that they want, I think we have to remember that if we call that 
holding it hostage, the liberal Democrats who controlled both Houses of 
Congress and the Presidency must have held the minimum wage hostage for 
2 years because they had all the power in the world to do what they 
wanted to do.
  Also, when we hear about other apsects that seem to be important now 
to the people on the other side of the aisle, campaign reform, for 
example, it should not be any surprise to anyone who is really paying 
attention that they could have also passed any type of campaign reform 
they wanted. After all, they did control both Houses of Congress and 
the Presidency. But they did not do that. Maybe they are upset now 
because they are suggesting that they want to do something that they 
did not do when they had the power to do it. That is sort of confusion.
  Well, I would like to talk about something that I talked about long 
before it was a political year, something that really does cross 
political boundaries, because on this particular issue there is 
widespread bipartisan support from people who are sincerely concerned 
about an attack on a fundamental building block of American prosperity.
  Both Democrats and Republicans have signed on to a bill that I have 
to restore the guaranteed patent term to Americans. I know this sounds 
like a yawner of an issue. I mean, patent law, after all. But what is 
happening right now, and most Americans do not understand it, is that 
there is an absolutely despicable underhanded attack on the American 
patent system. We have multinational corporations that are engaged in 
an effort to change the fundamental law that has permitted America to 
be the No. 1 technological power in the world.

  Yes, patent law is such a yawn. Who is concerned about patent law? 
Well, long ago our economic adversaries and, yes, our military 
adversaries figured out what America's greatest strength is. It is not 
that our people work so hard, because our people do work hard, but 
people all over the world work hard.
  But our people when they work, or our defenders when they defend our 
country, have superior technology. That gives us our edge. It always 
has. We have the technological edge. That is what has secured our 
country's security and has secured us a standard of living that has 
been admired and envied all over the world.
  Is it any surprise, then, that our economic adversaries and countries 
that do not like the United States would look for our Achilles heel? 
What is it that gives us that power? What gave Samson that strength but 
his long locks? Our secret is the fact that we have had the best 
technology, and we have had the best technology because we have had the 
strongest patent system in the world.
  Now, there is an underhanded effort, an effort that has been going on 
for about 2 years to try to change the fundamental patent law of this 
country so that it will undermine America's ability 10 years down the 
road to outcompete our economic adversaries.
  Some people, of course, who are supporting the patent changes are 
doing so perfectly well-intentioned, and perhaps they bought into this 
or that argument. The fact is, what is the driving force behind those 
who want to change our patent law? The driving force is an idea that we 
should globalize all patent law, so all of the laws should be the same, 
and Americans who have had the strongest guaranteed patent rights of 
any people in the world will just have to live with fewer rights 
because we need a global harmonization of law.

                              {time}  1500

  Well, that concept may appeal to some people. It certainly appeals to 
multinational corporations and big businessmen. But that is a threat to 
the American well-being. H.R. 3460 is about to be put to this floor, 
and it would steal America's technology. It should be defeated and the 
Rohrabacher amendment put in its place.

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