[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 52 (Tuesday, April 26, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4265]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 28--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE CONGRESS 
    ON WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY REGARDING THE IMPORTANCE OF 
            PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS GLOBALLY

  Mr. LUGAR (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Allen, Mr. Hatch, Mr. DeWine, 
Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Chafee) 
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was considered and 
agreed to:

                            S. Con. Res. 28

       Whereas protection of intellectual property is critical to 
     our nation's economic competitiveness, cultural diversity, 
     health and scientific development;
       Whereas the United States economy depends increasingly on 
     the work of authors, artists, inventors, programmers, and 
     many others who create intellectual products of high value;
       Whereas theft of intellectual property results in 
     competitive disadvantages to United States industries and job 
     losses for American workers, and for the United States 
     economy as a whole;
       Whereas the copyright industries employ approximately 
     11,500,000 workers or 8.41 percent of total employment in the 
     United States, a number that approaches the levels of 
     employment in the health care and social assistance sector 
     (15,300,000 employees) and the entire manufacturing sector 
     (14,500,000 workers in 21 manufacturing industries);
       Whereas there is great concern about the failure of many of 
     our trading partners to live up to their international 
     obligations in the area of intellectual property protection;
       Whereas counterfeiting of copyrighted products in digital 
     and other formats, as well as counterfeiting of all types of 
     trademarked products, has grown to an enormous scale;
       Whereas many of our trading partners, in particular Russia 
     and China, have laws in place to prevent piracy and 
     counterfeiting, but are failing to enforce the laws;
       Whereas Russia and China alone are responsible for over 
     $4,000,000,000 in losses a year to United States industries 
     due to piracy;
       Whereas piracy in Russia and China is open, notorious, and 
     permitted to operate without meaningful hindrance from the 
     governments of those countries;
       Whereas China should be encouraged to meet its intellectual 
     property protection obligations as a member of the World 
     Trade Organization (WTO);
       Whereas Russia should be encouraged to explore means to 
     provide effective piracy protection enabling compliance with 
     the rules set forth by the WTO;
       Whereas the United States Government must convey to these 
     countries that failure to act will have political and 
     economic consequences for relationships with the United 
     States; and
       Whereas Congress has enacted legislation regarding the 
     protection of intellectual property, including measures which 
     direct the Administration to censure countries that fail to 
     provide adequate and effective protection for intellectual 
     property: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That--
       (1) the Administration should utilize effective remedies 
     and solutions in addressing the lack of intellectual property 
     protection in China and Russia, using all available tools 
     provided by Congress;
       (2) the Administration should ensure that any country that 
     enjoys benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences 
     (GSP) program, such as Russia, lives up to its obligations to 
     provide adequate and effective protection for intellectual 
     property rights, or lose its eligibility to participate in 
     trade preference programs;
       (3) the Administration should ensure that action is taken 
     against any country with which the United States shares 
     mutual commitments under the WTO, such as China, when the 
     country fails to live up to its WTO commitments;
       (4) the Administration should urge Russia to promote 
     measures to enforce intellectual property protection which 
     will enable compliance with the intellectual property 
     commitments required by the WTO; and
       (5) the President should take any additional action the 
     President considers appropriate to protect the intellectual 
     property rights of United States businesses.

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