[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 30 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           RESEARCH WORKS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DARRELL E. ISSA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 27, 2012

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer the following statement 
along with my colleague from New York and the original cosponsor of 
H.R. 3699, Representative Carolyn B. Maloney:
  The introduction of H.R. 3699 has spurred a robust, expansive debate 
on the topics of scientific and scholarly publishing, intellectual 
property protection, and public access to federally funded research. 
Since its introduction, we have heard from numerous stakeholders and 
interested parties on both sides of this important issue.
  As the costs of publishing continue to be driven down by new 
technology, we will continue to see a growth in open access publishers. 
This new and innovative model appears to be the wave of the future. The 
transition must be collaborative, and must respect copyright law and 
the principles of open access. The American people deserve to have 
access to research for which they have paid. This conversation needs to 
continue and we have come to the conclusion that the Research Works Act 
has exhausted the useful role it can play in the debate. As such, we 
want Americans concerned about access to research and other 
participants in this debate to know we will not be taking legislative 
action on H.R. 3699, the Research Works Act. We do intend to remain 
involved in efforts to examine and study the protection of intellectual 
property rights and open access to publicly funded research.

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