[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 23, 1997)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D374-D375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        House of Representatives


Chamber Action
Bills Introduced: 22 public bills, H.R. 1406-1427; and 2 resolutions, 
H. Con. Res. 65 and H. Res. 124, were introduced.
  Pages H1793-94
Reports Filed: Reports were filed as follows:
  Filed on April 22, 1997, H.R. 1278, to authorize appropriations for 
the activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, amended (H. Rept. 105-66 Part I);
  Filed on April 22, 1997, H.R. 1277, to authorize appropriations for 
fiscal year 1998 and fiscal year 1999 for the civilian research, 
development, demonstration, and commercial application activities of 
the Department of Energy (H. Rept. 105-67 Part I);
  H.R. 449, to provide for the orderly disposal of certain Federal 
lands in Clark County, Nevada, and to provide for the acquisition of 
environmentally sensitive lands in the State of Nevada, amended (H. 
Rept. 105-68);
  H. Con. Res. 8, expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the 
significance of maintaining the health and stability of coral reef 
ecosystems, amended (H. Rept. 105-69);
  H. Res. 125 providing for consideration of H.R. 1271, to authorize 
the Federal Aviation Administration's research, engineering, and 
development programs for fiscal years 1998 through 2000 (H. Rept. 105-
70);
  H. Res. 126 providing for consideration of H.R. 1273, to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 for the National Science 
Foundation (H. Rept. 105-71);
  H. Res. 127 providing for consideration of H.R. 1274, to authorize 
appropriations for the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 (H. Rept. 105-72); and
  H. Res. 128 providing for consideration of H.R. 1275, to authorize 
appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 (H. Res. 105-73).
Page H1793
Suspension of the Rules: The House agreed to H. Res. 117, the rule 
providing for consideration of motions to suspend the rules. 
                                                             Page H1719
Order of Business: Pursuant to H. Res. 117, Representative Hastings of 
Washington announced the following measures to be considered under 
suspension of the rules: H. Con. Res. 8, H.R. 39, H.R. 449, H.R. 688, 
and H.R. 1272.
  Page H1719
21st Century Patent System Improvement: The House passed H.R. 400, to 
amend title 35, United States Code with respect to patents. 
                                                         Pages H1719-42
  Agreed to the Committee amendment in the nature of a substitute as 
modified and amended.
Page H1742
Agreed to:
  The Kaptur amendment that exempts small business, independent 
investors, and universities from publication of patent application 
information until the patent is granted. Specifies that patent 
information can be published before the patent is granted if the data 
has been made public in foreign countries, the application has been 
filed with the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for five years or 
longer and the PTO determines that the public interest would be served 
by publication, or the inventor deliberately delays publication of the 
patent (agreed to by recorded vote of 220 ayes to 193 noes, Roll No. 
88);
Pages H1731-37, H1740-41
Rejected:
  The Campbell amendment that sought to limit the defense to patent 
infringement based on prior domestic use, to the actual quantity, 
volume, or scope of the prior use (rejected by a recorded vote of 185 
ayes to 224 noes, Roll No. 86);
Pages H1719-23, H1739-40
  The Campbell amendment that sought to limit the publication of all 
patent applications until there have been two Substantive Patent Office 
actions since the filing and defined Substantive Patent Office action 
(rejected by a recorded vote of 167 ayes to 242 noes, Roll No. 87); and
                                                  Pages H1723-31, H1740
  The Hunter amendment that sought to require that all patent 
examination and search duties shall

[[Page D375]]

be performed within the United States by U.S. citizens who are 
employees of the U.S. Government; require patent examiners to spend 
five percent of their duty time per annum in examiner training, 
establishes an incentive program to retain examiners, and exempts PTO 
from administrative or statutory limits on full-time employee positions 
or personnel (rejected by a recorded vote of 133 ayes to 280 noes, Roll 
No. 89).
Pages H1737-38, H1741-42
  The Clerk was authorized to correct section numbers, punctuation, and 
cross references and to make such other technical and conforming 
changes as may be necessary to reflect the actions of the House in 
amending H.R. 400.
Page H1742
  H. Res. 116, the rule that provided for the consideration of the bill 
was agreed to on April 17.
Suspensions: The House voted to suspend the rules and pass the 
following measures:
  Coral Reef Ecosystems: H. Con. Res. 8, amended, expressing the sense 
of Congress with respect to the significance of maintaining the health 
and stability of coral reef ecosystems. Agreed to amend the title; 
                                                         Pages H1742-44
  African Elephant Conservation: H.R. 39, to reauthorize the African 
Elephant Conservation Act;
  Pages H1744-46
  Southern Nevada Public Land: H.R. 449, amended, to provide for the 
orderly disposal of certain Federal lands in Clark County, Nevada, and 
to provide for the acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands in 
the State of Nevada;
  Pages H1746-50
  Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund: H.R. 688, amended, to 
amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require at least 85 percent of 
funds appropriated to the Environmental Protection Agency from the 
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund to be distributed to States 
for cooperative agreements for undertaking corrective action and for 
enforcement of subtitle I of such Act; and
  Pages H1750-53
  Fire Administration Authorization: H.R. 1272, amended, to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 for the United States 
Fire Administration;
  Pages H1753-57
Bipartisan Task Force on Reform of the Ethics Process: Agreed by 
unanimous consent that the order of the House of February 12, 1997 be 
extended through May 7, 1997 with the following modification: After 
``Minority Leader'': insert ``, or a member designated from the floor 
by the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader at the time of notice 
pursuant to clause 2(A)(1) of Rule IX,''
  The order of the House on February 12, in furtherance of the 
understanding concerning the establishment of the ethics task force, 
made in order during the period beginning immediately and ending on 
April 11, 1997: (1) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct may 
not receive, renew, initiate, or investigate a complaint against the 
official conduct of a member, officer, or employee of the House; (2) 
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct may issue advisory 
opinions and perform other non- investigative functions; and (3) a 
resolution addressing the official conduct of a member, officer, or 
employee of the House that is proposed to be offered from the floor by 
a member other than the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader as a 
question of the privileges of the House shall once noticed pursuant to 
clause 2(a)(1) of Rule IX, have precedence of all other questions 
except motions to adjourn only at a time or place designated by the 
chair in the legislative schedule within two legislative days after 
April 11, 1997.
Page H1757
Amendments: Amendments ordered printed pursuant to the rule appear on 
pages H1795-96.
Senate Messages: Message received from the Senate today appears on page 
H1717.
Quorum Calls--Votes: Four recorded votes developed during the 
proceedings of the House today and appear on pages H1739-40, H1740, 
H1740-41, and H1741-42. There were no quorum calls.
Adjournment: Met at 2:00 p.m. and adjourned at 10:05 p.m.