[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 113 (Wednesday, August 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H6970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   URGING A NO VOTE ON THE AMERICAN INVENTORS PROTECTION ACT OF 1999

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I would urge Members to vote no this morning 
on H.R. 1907, the so-called American Inventors Protection Act of 1999. 
This bill is being brought up under suspension. It should be brought up 
under regular order. It is a very consequential bill.
  Last night the bill was brought on this floor at 9:17 p.m. as the 
last item of business. Those who had concerns about the bill and did 
not even have a chance to read it were limited to 10 minutes on a bill 
with constitutional consequences.
  This is not the bill that cleared the Committee on the Judiciary on 
May 26, 1999. I think our U.S. patent system deserves more than this 
cursory treatment by the leadership of this institution.
  At stake are the constitutional rights of our inventors, intellectual 
property rights into the next millennium, the rights to sue that are 
inherent in our legal system, and in fact, the independence of the 
Patent Office itself.
  I would urge my colleagues to vote no on H.R. 1907 until they have 
had a chance to read it. Bring it up under regular order.

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