[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H6856-H6857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTIFICATION OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING QUESTION OF 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House rule IX, clause 1, 
I rise to give notice of my intent to present a question of privileges 
of the House.
  The form of the resolution is as follows:

       A resolution, in accordance with House Rule IX, expressing 
     a sense of the House that its integrity has been impugned due 
     to the failure of the House to fulfill its obligations under 
     Article I, Section VIII of the Constitution
       Whereas Article I, Section VIII, of the Constitution states 
     Congress shall have Power to promote the progress of Science 
     and the useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors 
     and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective 
     Writings and Discoveries;
       Whereas such protections on Writings and Discoveries have 
     been promulgated by patent, copyright, and other laws, 
     including Public Law 98-417, affording Authors and Inventors 
     the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and 
     Discoveries for a limited period of time;
       Whereas Public Law 98-417 breaches this constitutional 
     requirement by failing to impose such limitation on the 
     protection of certain medical inventions;
       Whereas provisions of Public Law 98-417 imbue the Food and 
     Drug Administration with the authority to secure for limited 
     time for Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective 
     Medical Inventions;
       Whereas public Laws 98-417 fails to provide the Food and 
     Drug Administration the authority to refrain form securing 
     this exclusive right for inventors if the conditions for such 
     exclusivity are not met;
       Whereas due to the failure of Congress to provide the Food 
     and Drug Administration with the proper authority to fulfill 
     obligations under the Act, certain medical inventions have 
     received the exclusive Right to their respective Inventions 
     without limitation;
       Whereas the unlimited exercise of exclusivity by 
     prescription drug manufacturers subjects healthcare consumers 
     and third party payers to no-competitive prices and results 
     in significantly higher prescription drug costs for 
     purchasers;
       Whereas health care costs increased by 5% in 2001, 3.7 
     times faster than overall inflation rate;
       Whereas prescription drug cost spending is the fastest 
     growing component of health care costs, and rose 17% in 2001;

[[Page H6857]]

       Whereas health insurance premiums rose by 11% in 2001, 
     driven largely by the increased cost of prescription drugs;
       Whereas state Medicaid spending increased by 11% in Fiscal 
     year 2002, driven primarily by increased prescription drug 
     spending and enrollment growth;
       Whereas the number of individuals with health insurance 
     declined by 1.4 million in 2001, a function of the faltering 
     economy, rapid health inflation, and a growing number of 
     states in which public insurance programs are outpacing 
     budgets;
       Whereas prescription drugs are prescribed by licensed 
     healthcare professionals to consumers as a non-discretionary 
     purchase essential to their welfare;
       Whereas it is in the public interest to grant a limited 
     period of exclusivity to inventors of prescription drugs, but 
     extending that exclusivity places an inappropriate fiscal 
     burden on consumers, insurers, and pubic sector payers;
       Whereas generic drugs are sold as alternatives to medical 
     inventions for which exclusivity is no longer available;
       Whereas generic drugs have the same dosage, safety, 
     strength, quality, and performance as the medical inventions 
     for which they serve as substitutes, according to the Food 
     and Drug Administration;
       Whereas limitations on exclusivity have allowed 
     prescription drug prices to drop 40-80 percent when generic 
     drugs enter the market;
       Whereas limitations allowing generic drugs to enter the 
     market saved consumers $8-$10 billion in 1994 alone, 
     according to the Congressional Budget Office;
       Whereas the failure to apply limitations to the Exclusive 
     rights granted under Public Law 98-622 has afforded widely 
     used medicines, including Prilosec and Paxil, an indefinite 
     period of exclusivity;
       Whereas Prilosec and Paxil were among the 50 medicines 
     seniors used most in 2001;
       Whereas the Senate has passed S. 812, which amends Public 
     Law 98-417 to restore constitutionally mandated limitation on 
     medical inventions;
       Whereas the House has not considered Legislation to amend 
     Public Law 98-417 to restore constitutionally mandated 
     limitations in medical inventions;
       Whereas it is the obligation of the House to consider such 
     legislation in keeping with its constitutionally mandated 
     obligations to secure for Limited Times to Authors and 
     inventors the right to their Writings and Inventions;
       Whereas the failure of the House to restore limitations on 
     the exclusivity afforded to the inventors of prescription 
     drugs, if not remedied, will cost consumers and other 
     purchasers $60 billion over the next ten years, according to 
     the Congressional Budget Office;
       Whereas the failure of the House to restore limitations on 
     the exclusivity afforded to the inventors of prescription 
     drugs, if not remedied, will leave more seniors and other 
     Americans without access to needed medicines;
       Resolved, that it its the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that the House should consider pending 
     legislation to amend Public Law 98-417 to restore 
     constitutionally mandated limitations on medical inventions 
     on behalf of American consumers, including seniors, American 
     businesses, and tax-funded federal and state health insurance 
     programs.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under rule IX, a resolution 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 has immediate precedence 
only at a time designated by the Chair within 2 legislative days after 
the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentleman from Ohio will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I ask to be heard at the appropriate 
time on the question of whether this resolution constitutes a question 
of privilege.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. That time will be designated.

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