[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 171 (Wednesday, December 4, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7461-H7469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3309, INNOVATION ACT; AND PROVIDING
FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1105, SMALL BUSINESS CAPITAL ACCESS AND JOB
PRESERVATION ACT
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 429 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 429
Resolved, That at any time after adoption of this
resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule
XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of
the bill (H.R. 3309) to amend title 35, United States Code,
and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to make improvements
and technical corrections, and for other purposes. The first
reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of
order against consideration of the bill are waived. General
debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one
hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. After
general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment
under the five-minute rule. In lieu of the amendment in the
nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the
Judiciary now printed in the bill, it shall be in order to
consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment
under the five-minute rule an amendment in the nature of a
substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print
113-28. That amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be
considered as read. All points of order against that
amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived. No
amendment to that amendment in the nature of a substitute
shall be in order except those printed in part A of the
report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this
resolution. Each such amendment may be offered only in the
order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member
designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall
be debatable for the time specified in the report equally
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent,
shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject
to a demand for division of the question in the House or in
the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such
amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of
the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report
the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been
adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote in the House
on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the
bill or to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made
in order as original text. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to
final passage without intervening motion except one motion to
recommit with or without instructions.
Sec. 2. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in
order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 1105) to amend
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to provide a registration
exemption for private equity fund advisers, and for other
purposes. All points of order against consideration of the
bill are waived. An amendment in the nature of a substitute
consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 113-29 shall
be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be
considered as read. All points of order against provisions in
the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall
be considered as ordered
[[Page H7462]]
on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment
thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except:
(1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on
Financial Services; (2) the further amendment printed in part
B of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this
resolution, if offered by Representative Carolyn Maloney of
New York or her designee, which shall be in order without
intervention of any point of order, shall be considered as
read, shall be separately debatable for 10 minutes equally
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, and
shall not be subject to a demand for division of the
question; and (3) one motion to recommit with or without
instructions.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Poe of Texas). The gentleman from
Florida is recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis),
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose
of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule, House
Resolution 429.
House Resolution 429 provides a structured rule for both H.R. 3309,
the Innovation Act, and H.R. 1105, the Small Business Capital Access
and Job Preservation Act. The rule gives the House the opportunity to
debate a variety of important amendments offered by Members on both
sides of the aisle.
The Innovation Act seeks to address a growing problem of abusive
patent litigation, commonly known as ``patent trolling.'' Patent trolls
are nonpracticing entities. In other words, they don't make or sell
products, and they don't supply services. Instead, they exist only to
secure fees from businesses that use technologies covered by the
patents they own. They do this by acquiring weak patents and then
filing numerous patent infringement lawsuits or sending blanket demand
letters to a business.
The victims of these frivolous lawsuits are all too often small
businesses or start-ups that are ill-equipped to protect themselves.
They simply don't have the resources available to mount an adequate
defense. It is, by definition, a lose-lose scenario for them.
Defendants pay millions in damages if they lose and millions in legal
fees if they win. More often, defendants are forced to settle, despite
the merits of a case, in order to avoid expensive legal costs.
Meanwhile, patent trolls are aided by law firms that operate on
contingency fees. This means that, if nonpracticing entities lose their
cases, there are no monetary consequences for them--none at all. They
aren't on the hook for legal fees like their counterparts are.
As you can see, for small companies, this system is inherently
unfair. Our small businesses are our most important innovators in this
country. They are largely responsible for the new products and services
we, as consumers, enjoy. They are also a critical factor in growing our
economy and creating jobs. We ought to provide fairness to them by
leveling the playing field in the patent litigation process. We ought
to ensure that our patent system isn't stifling innovation but
encouraging it. Unfortunately, this just isn't the case right now.
Patent trolling is a destructive practice that saps resources from
small businesses and increases costs for consumers.
{time} 1245
And its negative impact isn't limited to just the tech sector either.
Patent trolling affects businesses and industries of all types,
including the health industry and even grocers. It is absolutely a drag
on our economy.
An issue like this undoubtedly deserves to be debated by the House.
This rule will ensure that a deliberative process takes place. The rule
also allows for consideration of H.R. 1105, the Small Business Capital
Access and Job Preservation Act.
This legislation would remove the requirement that small private
equity firms register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the
SEC. However, it would retain the option of registering if they choose
to.
Under current law, small private equity firms are being grouped by
behemoths despite the fact that they played no contributing role in the
financial crisis we just went through. Even the chairman of the SEC in
a letter to Chairman Hensarling admitted that the private equity funds
were not an underlying cause of the recent financial crisis.
Furthermore, private equity does not pose a systemic risk to the
economy. So why are we taking limited resources at the SEC away from
their mission and shifting them to oversee firms that pose no systemic
risk at all? Why are we burdening these small companies with SEC
registration costs that, according to the Private Equity Growth
Council, can exceed over $1 million per year?
More money in unnecessary compliance costs means less money to invest
in companies, particularly newer ones, which allow them to grow and
create the jobs we desperately need.
In my own State of Florida, there are over 1,000 private equity-
backed companies. Let me repeat that: there are over 1,000 private
equity-backed companies in Florida alone. There are over 100 private
equity firms within the State of Florida. These companies support more
than 800,000 workers throughout the country.
In fact, in 2012, Florida ranked fifth in the Nation in attracting
private equity investment. That investment is a vital tool for growing
companies, and we are needlessly handcuffing their ability to do just
that.
H.R. 1105 will help these smaller funds and increase the capital
available for real companies so their businesses can thrive. Make no
mistake, this is a jobs bill and it will help grow our economy.
I support this rule that will allow us to consider these bills, and I
hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will do the same.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
There are many things that my good friend from Florida said that I
agree with. I will be discussing some of the merits of these bills, but
it is worthwhile to bring forward before discussing what these bills
are, what these bills are not.
It has been 159 days and 14 hours since the Senate passed a
comprehensive immigration reform bill. This body's failure to act on
immigration reform has already cost our economy nearly $6 billion. Each
additional day, each day that we delay action costs $37 million in
revenue; hundreds of thousands of jobs lost; failure to secure the
border; failure to restore the rule of law to our country; countless
families torn apart.
While the Judiciary Committee has found the time to move asbestos
bills and patent reform bills to the floor with ease, immigration
reform remains stagnant. The Judiciary Committee has reported out four
immigration reform bills: the Legal Workforce Act, the Agricultural
Guestworker Act, the SAFE Act, and the SKILLS Visa Act. They reported
these four bills out prior to the asbestos bill which was rushed
immediately to the floor and prior to the patent bill which was rushed
to the floor after a hearing in the Rules Committee yesterday.
My question to the gentleman from Florida--and I will be happy to
yield for a moment--is why we are giving such treatment to asbestos and
patent reform when immigration reform would create so many more jobs
and reduce our deficit by so much more?
I would like to know if the gentleman from Florida has an answer to
that question.
I yield to the gentleman from Florida.
Mr. NUGENT. I thank the gentleman from Colorado, but I will tell you
this: the House is moving through the Judiciary Committee at a pace to
make sure that we do this right in regards to immigration.
Where the Senate has rushed through a bill that is so comprehensive
and so large, it will be similar to ObamaCare before we actually----
Mr. POLIS. Reclaiming my time, 68 Members of the Senate, including
[[Page H7463]]
many Republicans, including former Presidential Republican nominee John
McCain, supported the Senate immigration reform bill.
I certainly understand the desire to get it right, but bills don't
get right by themselves. These are four bills that have passed in the
Judiciary Committee. We in Rules like to make them right by allowing
good, thoughtful amendments from colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
I hope that next week or when we are back, we will be able to move
forward the immigration bills with the same alacrity that we have moved
forward asbestos and patent reform.
I hope the same thing happens that as these bills move through
Judiciary that we do see them in the Rules Committee and that they
ultimately come to this floor for debate.
Mr. Speaker, I do support the underlying bills that are contained
under this rule. I support H.R. 1105, the bipartisan Small Business
Capital Access and Job Preservation Act. It exempts private equity
funds which are very lightly leveraged in helping to grow companies and
jobs from costly and unnecessary SEC registration and reporting
requirements like venture capital firms that are already exempted and
substantially have very similar business models to private equity
firms. These registration requirements are an impediment to business
and an impediment to job growth and have nothing to do with creating
systemic risk in our economy.
Importantly, this bill would only exempt private equity firms with
low debt-to-equity ratios leveraged at a ratio of less than 2 to 1.
Once you get to talking about much higher debt-to-equity ratios, there
is potentially systemic risk if you are talking about funds in the
multi-billions of dollars that are highly leveraged. It is still hard
to see how that could happen. It had nothing to do with the financial
meltdown of '08-'09. But in this case, we are being extremely safe in
saying if they are leveraged 2 to 1, they are no systemic risk to the
economy.
My State and my district know firsthand the benefits that private
equity provides to employees, to companies, to investors, including
pensions, and our economy. There are nearly 500 private equity-backed
companies headquartered in Colorado, many more that operate with
employees, more than 124,000 workers in Colorado facilities. In 2012,
there were 67 private equity investments in Colorado totaling over $26
billion that were brought to our State because of this investment
mechanism, placing Colorado third in the States receiving the most
private equity investment.
The underlying rule also makes in order H.R. 3309, the Innovation
Act, which I also support. In 2011, ``patent assertion entities,'' some
of whom are bad actors which are sometimes referred to as ``patent
trolls,'' who often produce little or nothing and derive their revenue
from litigation and licensing, cost significant overhang to other
businesses and to consumers for whom many of these costs are passed
along in the products or services that we all enjoy. The majority of
the targets of patent trolls were start-ups--hospitals, restaurants,
retailers, hotels, and other important job-creation engines in our
economy.
The reforms made in the America Invents Act, enacted 2 years ago,
went a little ways in this regard, but did not do much to halt or put a
stop to or reduce patent troll litigation or improve the quality of
patents. In the case of software patents, growing patent backlogs, lack
of training and resources available to PTO examiners, and ambiguity
regarding patentability standards have led to approval of low-quality
software patents that have not even stood up when brought to
litigation.
Thankfully, the momentum is growing to address patent reform. I want
to be clear--and I discussed this with Chairman Goodlatte in the Rules
Committee yesterday--this bill is not patent reform. I believe the
gentleman, Mr. Goodlatte, agrees this is not patent reform. It may be a
few steps in the right direction. It may be a good start. It doesn't
fundamentally create an intellectual property protection system for the
digital era in the 21st century.
It continues to put, constructively, Band-Aids on a 1913 system,
which I do believe it is high time to rethink. I look forward to an
upcoming symposium in my district at the University of Colorado this
Friday that we will be having on sort of ``blue sky'' intellectual
property protection mechanisms for the 21st century in the digital
economy to encourage growth and to protect inventors. This bill does
not do that. However, it is a step forward in many regards.
While I strongly support many of these patent system improvements, it
won't fix our patent system. Patent trolls have targeted every form of
business. It should come as no surprise that the Innovation Act enjoys
support from Members from both sides of the aisle, from companies, from
academics. I submitted a letter from 67 professors at law universities
who practice in IP from a broad ideological perspective into the record
in our Rules Committee yesterday expressing their support for this
bill.
This bill maintains protections for inventors' rights to enforce
their patent claims. Specifically, this bill allocates the burden of
patent litigation more fairly. It includes a provision that restores
financial accountability to the patent system by making it easier for
courts to impose sanctions on anyone who brings a frivolous patent
suit.
The bill also requires the disclosure of critical details when a
patent-holder files a suit, such as what patent and claims are being
infringed, so the person or entity receiving the letter can know what
is being discussed so that defendants don't need to guess the nature of
the allegations against them.
The underlying legislation further requires patent-holders to
disclose additional information to the PTO, the court, and the accused
infringer, including the patent ownership, who owns the patent, and
parties with financial interest in the patent. These provisions will
help stop patent trolls who engage in illegitimate litigation campaigns
and extortion against start-ups and small businesses.
While I strongly support these patent reforms that are a modest step
towards improving our patent system, the litigation reforms alone don't
have enough to benefit start-ups and small companies that are targeted
by patent trolls who send pre-litigation demand letters. I am very
appreciative of the chairman's effort to allow, and the Rules
Committee's effort to allow, for the discussion of my amendment, along
with Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Connolly, and Mr. Marino, who have been working
in this regard to see stronger language on the issue of pre-litigation
demand letters. And I am grateful that we have made in order an
amendment to increase accountability in the demand letter process.
We will be discussing that amendment in a more thorough basis
shortly; but, in brief, the problem is that before a patent troll even
files a suit, it typically sends a demand letter, or many demand
letters, demanding some form of payment. Under current law, the sender
does not even have to disclose even the most basic information. As
such, entities often hide behind numerous shell corporations or send
vague or overbroad letters that don't even identify the owner of the
patent or the basis of their legal claim, essentially leading
particularly small companies to have to hire lawyers or attorneys at
great expense. When you have a company that is a $300,000-a-year
company, a $500,000-a-year company, and you receive one or more of
these notices, you can imagine how that takes away from your growth,
your margins, your ability to hire more people, if you have to retain
professional counsel to even understand what is being alleged that your
company did.
Importantly, the underlying bill requires patent-holders seeking to
bring willful infringement claims to provide their targets with a
minimum level of disclosure information. The amendment enhances that
and builds upon the language and would mandate that demand letters
include information identifying the parent entity of the claimant. This
language will help ensure that patent trolls can no longer hide under
shell companies to conceal their true entity and their legitimacy from
the demand letter recipient.
I look forward to discussing these bills further, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to respond to my good friends
from Colorado. I appreciate that he appreciates the approach that this
House
[[Page H7464]]
is taking, particularly as it relates to both of the bills that are the
underlying aspect of this rule. It is about moving in a deliberative
manner to make sure that we get it right. I thank Mr. Polis for
pointing that out.
I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins).
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman for
yielding.
I rise in strong support of the rule and the underlying legislation,
particularly H.R. 3309, the Innovation Act.
As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I have seen firsthand the
diligent and deliberative effort put forth by Chairman Goodlatte and
the rest of the committee to bring forth to this body a pro-business,
pro-growth, pro-liberty bill to reform our patent laws. As my friend
from Colorado stated, there is more that can be done, but this is a
very positive step. I agree with him, and I appreciate that support.
The committee vote speaks for that as well when it is 33-5 reported out
of committee on final passage.
In the time that I have been yielded, I would like to also talk about
a misconception that some in the higher education community seem to
have about a fee-shifting provision in this bill.
Despite the claims of some, the bill language protects plaintiffs who
bring a reasonable and good faith case and who do not engage in
litigation misconduct. In fact, even if a plaintiff's case is rejected
by a court, the plaintiff is still immune from a fee award if his case
``had a reasonable basis in both law and fact.''
I am a strong supporter of our universities and the incredible
research they are doing. I believe our patent laws should protect them,
just as they should protect the small businesses and start-ups that
rely on our world-class patent system. The ability to enforce one's
patent in court is essential to preserving the value of the patent and
is the inherent right of the patent-holder.
Nothing in the Innovation Act changes this. Ensuring fair and
equitable access to our courts isn't done at the expense of
universities, but at the benefit of all patent-holders.
{time} 1300
As we move forward to general debate and the consideration of
amendments made in order by this rule, I urge my colleagues to be very
cautious in supporting amendments that would gut or upset the careful
balance achieved by this bill.
Many of the sections in H.R. 3309 are intertwined, and the result is
a package of reforms that collectively will help American businesses
and job creators, both large and small, combat a business model
designed solely to benefit from exploitation of our patent system.
And make no mistake, this isn't just a Silicon Valley problem. In my
home State of Georgia, I hear from hotels, retailers and start-ups
alike on the economically devastating impact that vague demand letters
and the threat of costly and frivolous litigation has on their ability
to do business.
End-users are often attacked and often threatened for infringement of
an unidentified patent they previously bought in a store. This is why
the customer protections in section 5 of the bill are so important and
should not be weakened or eliminated. As a strong conservative, I
believe our government shouldn't be in the business of picking winners
and losers in the marketplace. Innovation thrives when government takes
a hands-off approach, but there are time when Congress must step in to
ensure that our laws operate as they were intended. This is exactly why
we need H.R. 3309.
I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bills;
and I also ask that each Member carefully consider any amendment that
would weaken or compromise the provisions of H.R. 3309, and
particularly section 5.
But I will say this before I leave because I have come and spoken on
many bills, and my dear friend from Colorado continues to bring up
immigration. I just want to remind the Speaker that there was a time a
few years ago when there was a golden era in which his party controlled
the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. NUGENT. I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I thank the gentleman.
There were choices made, and there were plenty of choices you made,
and even one to this day that we are talking about, health care
legislation. One of those choices, from your point of view, sadly, was
not taken, and that was immigration. Today we are dealing with bills
that we both agree on, but let's not forget the fact that when you had
a chance, you didn't do it.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are advised to direct their remarks
to the Chair and not to individual Members in the second person.
Mr. POLIS. And I certainly wish that we had acted on immigration
reform. We did pass under Democratic control a DREAM Act, if the
gentleman will recall, in the waning days of the 111th Congress, and
did take at least one constructive step with an immigration bill that
we brought to the full floor of this House and passed.
I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr.
Perlmutter), a member of the Financial Services Committee and a former
member of the Rules Committee.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, first I want to address H.R. 3309, the
Innovation Act, which is generally a good bill. It is trying to deal
with issues of nuisance litigation where somebody is sued and the costs
of litigation are so extreme that they pay money just to stay away from
litigation. That is really the underlying purpose of the bill.
Now, what we have got to make sure of as Members of this House and as
Members of the legislature is that we don't advantage one party over
another. And the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) made a
good point, Mr. Speaker, last night at the Rules Committee that you
don't want to disadvantage small inventors who have come up with a good
idea or a great product, something very novel, and some major
corporation takes that idea or that product away and doesn't pay for
it. That is the purpose of patent litigation.
At the same time, you don't want to have some small company that buys
a Wi-Fi service all of a sudden getting sued by some company they never
heard of and they are saying wait a minute, we are not a patent
infringer. I say all of this because the purpose is to have good
litigation where there isn't extortion and there isn't theft as the
result of some patent infringement.
What is done in this bill, I think, though, is micromanagement of the
courtroom and its processes. Each of these cases stands and falls on it
own merits, and the courts are best equipped to determine their own
rules and their own procedures as to how these cases should move
forward.
I am generally going to support this. I offered an amendment which
was not adopted by the Rules Committee last night to delay until
December of 2015 the effect of section 6 of the bill so that the courts
could create their own rules and not have the legislature do it; 100
years ago we passed the Rules Enabling Act which allows the courts to
set their own procedure which is then overseen by the legislature. That
is sort of discarded in this bill, and we create some very specific
rules, and I think that is a mistake, and I think we could have some
real winners and losers. And I think the small guy, the small inventor,
the small purchaser could be in trouble. So I would just suggest to the
House and to the Rules Committee that we do look at delaying so that
the courts can offer their own procedure.
I do want to address two other things. It has been over 150 days
since we started this legislature. We should be dealing with
immigration reform. We are not doing that. And I want to finish my
story about the Montez family who are from Arvada, Colorado, who could
never get affordable insurance and now are able to under the Affordable
Care Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. POLIS. I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. They have three children. They work two jobs. Neither
employer of the mom or dad provides health insurance. Finally, after
all these years, they have been able to get health insurance at about
$150 using the credits that are available under the
[[Page H7465]]
Affordable Care Act and the children's health program that this
Congress has passed. These people have health care for the first time
in their marriage, which is a couple of decades, and they are very
thankful. So this is a good Thanksgiving season for the Montez family
of Arvada, Colorado.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida
for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3309, the Innovation Act, and the rule we
are debating now. This bipartisan legislation brings much-needed
reforms to our patent litigation process, which continues to be plagued
by patent trolls.
Patent trolls use weak patents to extort millions of dollars from
innocent business owners through demand letters and frivolous patent
infringement lawsuits. Businesses are forced to decide between years of
costly litigation or a settlement.
The number of patent infringement claims has almost doubled in the
past 3 years, and The New York Times reported that one lawyer filed
patent lawsuits against 1,638 companies in the past 5 years. These
lawsuits soak up capital that is better spent on investment,
innovation, and job creation.
In fact, a 2012 study by the Boston University School of Law found
that patent trolls cost the American economy $80 billion annually. The
study also found that defendants paid $29 billion to patent trolls in
2011 alone.
The Innovation Act targets abusive patent litigation while protecting
legitimate patent infringement claims. It provides accountability on
the front end of litigation by requiring parties to state exactly why
they are filing suit. H.R. 3309 also requires parties who file
meritless patent claims to pay the attorneys' fees of their victims as
a disincentive to pursue their baseless claims.
These reforms are vital to restore accountability and rein in
abusive, frivolous, and costly patent lawsuits. I urge my colleagues to
support this important legislation, and I thank Chairman Goodlatte for
introducing this bipartisan bill.
Mr. POLIS. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Chu), a member of the Judiciary Committee, one of the key
architects and somebody who worked very hard on this bill.
Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Innovation Act.
This bill will help curb abusive lawsuits brought by patent assertion
entities, more commonly known as patent trolls.
Rather than relying on patents to protect investments in new
innovative technologies, these actors abuse our patent system. They
threaten legitimate businesses and consumers with costly litigation for
selling or using a product that falls under their overly broad patent.
The patent system is nothing short of a net for them to cast in hopes
of extorting settlement fees. Right now, this scheme is costing our
economy $29 billion every year.
While the bill is not perfect, the Innovation Act is a promising
first step towards reining in these abusive tactics. I still have
concerns with provisions that address fee shifting and the Federal
judiciary, and we need to ensure that the Patent Office is fully
funded. But this conversation will continue beyond today's vote, and my
hope is to see these concerns addressed for the American people.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise reluctantly to favor the rule
because it makes an extremely important amendment, my own and several
others, it approves them to come on the floor; but I oppose final
passage because even with those amendments, they do not do enough to
make this bill worth supporting.
One of the most important amendments is my amendment, as I stated,
which would strike the section of this legislation which eliminates for
the small inventor, for the independent inventor, the right of judicial
review if his case is being mishandled by the patent system. And let me
just note that if, indeed, this was to protect, if we were going to
protect the little guy, if that was the purpose of this bill, there
wouldn't be a question here. But here we are eliminating the little
guy's right to even go to court if he is being mistreated by the patent
system.
Also, an amendment not made in order was Marcy Kaptur's amendment
which would have, again, protected the little guy. We are being told
this protects the little guy; yet they won't allow Marcy Kaptur's
amendment, which is aimed at protecting the little guy, from even
coming to a vote.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. NUGENT. I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. We hear over and over again that this is about
patent trolls and hinting that there are illegitimate patents that we
are talking about. We are talking about legitimate patents; and the
patent troll, let us just note, who is he going against supposedly, it
is multinational mega--mega--corporations that routinely infringe on
the little guy. Yet Marcy Kaptur, while trying to protect the rights of
the little guy against these giant corporations--like Google--instead,
we have not permitted her amendment to come forward.
This is the greatest attack, this bill, on the small inventor that I
have ever seen in 25 years. I ask support for the rule, but oppose the
bill itself.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Cardenas).
Mr. CARDENAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3309, the
Innovation Act. This bill will allow businesses of all sizes and in all
industries to devote their time and resources to job creation, research
and development, and to continue to support the innovation that makes
U.S. companies so competitive in our global market.
I have heard from businesses and associations in a cross-section of
industries asking for the passage of this bill so they can more fully
dedicate themselves to building their businesses and the U.S. economy.
I have heard for support for H.R. 3309 from the Motion Picture
Association of America and movie studios such as 20th Century Fox who
are economic drivers in Los Angeles and all across the country. There
are other widespread and bipartisan supporters, such as the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Realtors, the National
Association of Broadcasters, which shows how essential patent reform is
for American businesses and all industries.
While we can all agree that this is not a perfect bill, its passage
will allow our businesses to fuel the U.S. economic recovery rather
than battle abusive litigation. I urge my colleagues to support
innovation by voting ``yes'' on final passage of the Innovation Act.
Chamber of Commerce of the
United States of America,
Washington, DC, November 20, 2013.
Hon. Bob Goodlatte,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of
Representatives. Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Goodlatte: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the
world's largest business federation representing the
interests of more than three million businesses of all sizes,
sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and
industry associations, and dedicated to promoting,
protecting, and defending America's free enterprise system,
commends you for advancing the patent litigation reform
debate by introducing and moving to markup H.R. 3309, the
``Innovation Act.''
The Chamber strongly supports the protection of legitimate
intellectual property rights. The patent system fosters
innovations and economic growth across a wide variety of
industries. The ability for legitimate patent holders to
defend their intellectual property is vital to keeping U.S.
businesses strong and competitive--both domestically and
globally.
At the same time, however, the Chamber is acutely aware of
the problems associated with excessive and abusive patent
litigation. In too many instances, elements of the
plaintiffs' bar leverage the potentially astronomical cost of
patent litigation to force abusive and coercive settlements.
The Chamber is particularly concerned by the increasing
prevalence of third party litigation financing to fund
frivolous and abusive patent cases, the increased use of
procedural maneuvers designed to further escalate the cost of
litigation and force settlements, and the plaintiffs' bar's
use of patent demand letters to extract settlements from
innocent users and sellers of a product. H.R. 3309 seeks to
address these very real patent litigation problems.
While the various concerns raised by elements of the
business community with H.R. 3309 will need to be addressed
through the overall legislative process, the Chamber is
pleased that you are moving this legislation forward. The
Chamber views this as a positive development and appreciates
your work on this important issue.
[[Page H7466]]
The Chamber looks forward to working with you, your
congressional colleagues, and other interested stakeholders
as H.R. 3309 moves through the legislative process in order
to ensure that demonstrable patent litigation abuses are
addressed appropriately, while preserving America's strong
tradition of protecting intellectual property rights.
Sincerely,
R. Bruce Josten,
Executive Vice President,
Government Affairs.
____
December 3, 2013.
Hon. John Boehner,
Speaker, House of Representatives.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Minority Leader, House of Representatives.
Dear Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi: The broad-
ranging group of undersigned industries and main street
American businesses, responsible for tens of millions of U.S.
jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic
activity, support passage of the Innovation Act of 2013 (H.R.
3309). We believe this legislation aims to address the
widespread abuses of the legal system by certain patent
assertion entities, commonly referred to as patent trolls.
During this time of economic need, we believe enactment of
H.R. 3309 is integral to curbing frivolous and costly patent
litigation that currently hinders our ability to innovate,
create jobs and promote positive economic growth. Such
frivolous lawsuits by patent trolls are an expensive
distraction for many diverse, mainstream American industries,
and the staggering growth of patent troll activity in recent
years has caused our businesses to receive thousands of
threatening demand letters and forced more than 7,000
lawsuits (a 400% increase since 2006), costing the U.S.
economy more than $80 billion in 2011 alone.
Simply, patent trolls do not innovate, create jobs or
promote economic growth. Our businesses do.
To make clear, patent trolls no longer only threaten large
technology companies. In 2012, patent trolls filed more
lawsuits against small and medium-sized non-tech businesses
than against tech companies. The many targets of this abuse,
ranging from food providers, retail stores and media
companies to financial institutions, hotels, gaming
entertainment companies and other industries that drive the
U.S. economy, have been left with no choice but to defend
themselves through inefficient and burdensome processes,
rarely avoiding costly litigation. We believe American
businesses must be able to defend against these consequential
attacks more efficiently and less expensively.
While we recognize there may be no single solution that
addresses all complexities surrounding our nation's patent
process, but one thing is clear: The Innovation Act of 2013
has significant bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and
throughout many sectors, small and large, of the American
business community. This broad support and willingness to
work together is a true testament to its importance and we
urge House passage of H.R. 3309.
Sincerely:
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; American Gaming
Association; American Hotel & Lodging Association;
Coalition for Patent Fairness; Competitive Carriers
Association; Footwear Distributors & Retailers of
America; International Franchise Association; MPA--The
Association of Magazine Media; National Association of
Broadcasters; National Cable and Telecommunications
Association; National Restaurant Association; Newspaper
Association of America; Online Publishers Association;
Overstock.com, Inc.; Printing Industries of America;
The R Street Institute; U.S. Travel Association.
____
National Association of Realtors,
Washington, DC, December 2, 2013.
Re Support H.R. 3309--Scheduled for Floor Vote This Week.
Hon. John Boehner,
Speaker, House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol, Washington,
DC.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Minority Leader, House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol,
Washington, DC.
Dear Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi, On behalf
of the more than one million members of the NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS' (NAR), I urge you to
support H.R. 3309, ``the Innovation Act'' (Goodlatte, R-VA),
scheduled for a vote on the House floor this week. Our
members view the reforms in this bill as an important step in
protecting innovators and main street businesses from broad
claims of patent infringement based on patents of
questionable validity, all brought by non-practicing
entities.
NAR, whose members identify themselves as
REALTORS', represents a wide variety of real
estate industry professionals. REALTORS' have been
early adopters of technology and are industry innovators who
understand that consumers today are seeking real estate
information and services that are fast, convenient and
comprehensive. Increasingly, technology innovations are
driving the delivery of real estate services and the future
of REALTORS'' businesses.
As technology users, NAR and several of its members
recently faced onerous patent infringement litigation over
questionable patents dealing with location based search
capabilities. These suits were brought by patent holding
companies and other non-practicing entities. They were
eventually settled in a multi-million dollar settlement. In
addition, our broker and agent members are increasingly
dealing with demand letters to license commonly used
technologies like scanner-copiers and online alert functions.
Our members know firsthand that ``patent trolls'' divert
significant time and money from their businesses.
The Innovation Act will bring needed reforms to address the
troll problem by increasing transparency, and pleading
specificity among other things. Taken together, the reforms
in the Innovation Act will shift the burden of frivolous
litigation from small business defendants to the trolls
themselves.
Without needed reforms that assure that asserted patent
rights are legitimate and frivolous litigation schemes are
curtailed, the ability of businesses owned by
REALTORS', many of which are small businesses, to
grow, innovate and better serve modern consumers will be put
at risk. NAR supports the reforms in the Innovation Act as a
way to rebalance a patent system that is increasingly a
target of uncertainty and abuse.
Most REALTORS' are entrepreneurs and small
business owners, and we help to create new jobs in our
communities. We urge you to vote in favor of The Innovation
Act of 2013 so that the threat of patent trolls is mitigated
in the future, allowing us to return to our essential
mission: to serve our clients.
Sincerely,
Steve Brown,
2014 President,
National Association of Realtors'.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire if the gentleman has
any other speakers.
Mr. NUGENT. I do not.
{time} 1315
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, so I yield myself
such time as I may consume.
The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins), rightly asserted that the
Democrats did not, in fact, when they were in charge of the legislature
in both Chambers, fix our broken immigration system. However, we did
pass the DREAM Act. And given that this is football season and I think
that my friend, the gentleman from Georgia, perhaps shares affinity for
football, that while we did not in fact score a touchdown and fix our
broken immigration system, at least the Democrats got a field goal when
we were in charge. We are still waiting for the Republicans to match
our field goal here if we can't score a touchdown with comprehensive
immigration reform, and we look forward to improving these bills that
have passed out of the committee before the asbestos bill, before the
patent reform bill, and need the work of the full membership of this
body to improve them.
Legislation is not like a fine wine, that when it sits in a barrel it
improves itself. It needs to be actively worked upon to improve it, and
I hope that it is a matter of days or hours or minutes until we can
dust off these immigration bills that Chairman Goodlatte and the
Judiciary Committee have worked on and improve upon them so that this
body can actually move forward and score a field goal, a touchdown or
more, and finally replace our broken immigration system with one that
reflects our values as Americans, restores the rule of law, reduces our
deficit by $200 billion, creates 6 million jobs for American citizens,
secures our borders, and implements workplace enforcement of our
immigration system. I am confident that we can do that working
together, just as we are working together on these bills that are
before us today.
As I indicated earlier, that while the patent bill does harvest some
low-hanging fruit, there remains a lot of work to be done to create a
21st century intellectual property protection system for our country.
One such effort was an amendment that I offered, Polis amendment 5,
that was not allowed under this rule. This amendment reflects a bill
that I sponsor with Mr. Marino that regards the Demand Letter
Transparency Act. Depending on a start-up's resources, even the
recipient of one demand letter can even be a death sentence for a small
one-, two-, three-person company. The threat of a demand letter alone
can jeopardize a company's ability to raise funds, can scare away
potential customers, and, God forbid, actually defending a patent
lawsuit can cost hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in legal
bills, which to a one-,
two-, or three-person company is simply a matter of shutting the doors
because they cannot afford to do that.
[[Page H7467]]
At the Rules Committee yesterday, I offered my bipartisan amendment
based on legislation that I introduced with Representative Marino and
Representative Deutch that would provide a comprehensive approach to
increasing transparency and accountability in the demand letter
process. While our amendment was not made in order, I am grateful we
did include at least some slight provisions regarding who owns shell
corporations, amendment 4 was allowed. We plan to continue to press
forward on the need to address this issue through meaningful
legislation.
Our bill would require certain entities to provide additional
disclosure information to the PTO and to the demand letter recipient so
that these start-ups and mom-and-pop restaurant owners and stores will
know who is sending these demand letters and whether the claims they
are making are truthful or grounded at all or just a scam.
Our bill would establish a searchable and accessible public registry
of demand letters and clarify that the Federal Trade Commission could
use its authority to impose civil penalties to go after patent trolls.
While the FTC has announced its intent to investigate PAEs, our bill
would clarify the FTC's role to use its enforcement powers against PAEs
who engage in unfair and deceptive trade practices to find as a
violation the provisions of our bill.
Our amendment would prevent patent trolls from hiding behind
anonymous shell companies and empower defendants to take collective
action and share information and increase reporting so that the
regulatory authorities and the PTL are on alert as to which patents are
being frivolously asserted by whom.
In conjunction with litigation reforms that are proposed in this
underlying bill, our proposal would produce a more robust patent market
and a more productive and predictable and competitive economy.
Our proposal is supported by a diverse group of individuals and
organizations, including DISH Network, Public Knowledge, the National
Restaurant Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the
National Retail Federation, the Direct Marketing Association, the
Mobile Marketing Association, the Association of American Advertising
Agencies, and the Hotel & Lodging Association, among many others.
Mr. Speaker, for once, this body is moving forward on bipartisan
legislation that will help spur innovation and economic growth. The
first bill that we are considering with regard to private equity will
help increase job growth and job creation in our country by removing a
regulatory burden that was put in without the proper justification.
Private equity funds had nothing to do with the meltdown in 2008 and
2009, nor do they represent any systemic risk to our economy. They
simply allow people to aggregate their resources to buy stock equity in
companies. We have a cap on the debt equity ratio of two to one, and
they do what they do. People earn money and people lose money, and that
is how the economy works, but there is absolutely no systemic risk.
Some of these dollar amounts sound high, but what we talked about in
the Rules Committee yesterday is that you might have a private equity
fund that is $300 million. That sounds like a lot of money. That is the
amount of money they have to invest over a period of years. With $300
million, they invest that over 5, 6, or 7 years. That is not their
operational budget. Their operational budget is 2 percent or less of
that every year. So a $300 million private equity fund might have an
annual budget of $6 million.
Again, $6 million sounds like a lot of money. It certainly is. But
when compliance with the SEC reform is $500,000, as has been estimated,
you are talking about a sizeable percentage of your annual operating
budget. So that means you have to hire a couple of people less. You
might not be able to do that extra investment that you didn't have the
ability to do the diligence in. You might not be able to invest in that
additional company and help it grow and create jobs because of
regulatory compliance that has nothing to do with systemic risk.
Mr. Speaker, as this session of Congress comes to a close, the first
session of the 113th Congress, there is much that this body has left
undone. While the other Chamber across the way has acted on
overwhelmingly bipartisan measures that help fix our immigration
system, saving $200 billion, creating over 6 million jobs, securing our
borders, restoring the rule of law, and uniting families, this body has
not passed a single bill in that area.
While the other body has passed a bill that would prevent companies
from discriminating against gay and lesbian employees with strong
bipartisan support, this body has not even brought such a bill to
committee or the floor.
While I am pleased to see the bipartisan Innovation Act and Small
Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act come to the floor
today, although I would like to see them with a more open process that
allowed more ideas from both sides of the aisle to be introduced as
amendments, I only hope that a majority of this body sees fit to hold
votes on other issues such as immigration reform and employment
nondiscrimination, which I am confident would pass the floor of the
House today.
As I talk to many tech companies and small businesses in my district,
many of the purported beneficiaries of this modest patent reform bill,
they support it, but they support immigration reform more. They say,
Good job. Now get immigration reform done. That is what I am hearing
from employers and businesses in my district. I hope that my colleagues
on the other side of the aisle are hearing the same.
Our Nation cannot afford to maintain a 20th century intellectual
property protection system in a digital and biological era. This bill
does not correct that. It does not change that. It is a modest step
forward and an important part of reforming parts of the process that
Democrats, Republicans, and many stakeholders can agree are broken.
The measure contains bipartisan balanced proposals, just as H.R. 15
does, the comprehensive immigration reform bill in the House, with over
190 bipartisan sponsors. And just as this bill will continue to
incentivize entrepreneurship, so too--times 10, times 100--would
comprehensive immigration reform, which includes a start-up visa that
allows entrepreneurs who have already received commitments of
investment to come to this country and create their jobs here. We are
turning jobs for Americans away every day we fail to act on immigration
reform. We can bring H.R. 15 to the Rules Committee and to the floor of
the House next week or we can stay the following week and give this
body the opportunity to send a bill to President Obama's desk to
finally replace our broken immigration system with one that works.
Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an
amendment to the rule to bring up House Resolution 424, Ranking Member
Slaughter's resolution, that prohibits an adjournment of the House
until we adopt a budget conference report. This body should not adjourn
until we have completed a budget conference report that could help
prevent a second government shutdown and prevent a fiscal crisis.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the
amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately
prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, while I am actively encouraging Members on
both sides of the aisle to get behind the Innovation Act and the Small
Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act, I must urge my
colleagues to vote ``no'' and defeat the previous question, as well as
a ``no'' vote on the restrictive rule.
I hope that we can send the message that we need to bring immigration
reform to the floor of this House, rather than let the four bills that
have already emerged out of committee stay sitting and aging and not
getting any better while we fast-track asbestos and while we fast-track
modest patent reforms.
The time has come to act on immigration reform. Please join me on
voting ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
[[Page H7468]]
I am speaking to some of the comments that were made, particularly as
it relates to football. We talked about a field goal and 3 points, but
here is the position that the majority has taken in the House as it
relates to immigration. It is about first downs. It is about moving the
ball forward in measured steps, about getting it right the first time,
not going through what we have gone through with these huge bills.
Mr. POLIS. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. NUGENT. I yield to the gentleman from Colorado.
Mr. POLIS. It seems more like we have been in a timeout for 3 months
since these bills have passed committee.
Mr. NUGENT. Reclaiming my time, it takes time, as you know, to move
meaningful legislation through and to get it right the first time.
You have to live with some things when you have these megabills with
thousands of pages, such as a 1,000-page immigration bill or 2,500
pages for the Affordable Care Act. At the end of the day, let's do this
in a reasonable approach, because we want immigration reform, because
we know we have a broken immigration system. We absolutely know that. I
think this House has taken the right approach in doing things in a
measured way to get first downs until we get to the end zone where we
all want to be.
As we notice on this bill, even though there is strong bipartisan
support on both of these pieces of legislation, we still have some that
aren't happy because sometimes bills never get to exactly where
everybody wants them to be. I get that. In a perfect world, we would
get everything we want. It is not a perfect world. We don't get
everything we want. But it is about moving the ball forward, and I
think that my good friend from Colorado has talked eloquently about the
issues as relate to patent reform and private equity because I know he
has been part of that world. He speaks from experience in those areas.
Is it everything that you want? Probably not. We have heard from the
chairman of the committee that it is not everything he wants. But it is
a step in the right direction. It is moving the ball forward. It is
getting the first down. It is moving it so that we can win the game--
not a political party, but the American people. Consumers can win. The
holders of patents can win. That is what this is all about.
With regard to demand letters, I lived through this as a sheriff. We
used to get demand letters that we were going to get sued, and the
whole idea behind it was the fact that they thought we would settle for
$30,000 or $40,000 to make them go away. Here is what happened.
The sheriffs got smart, and they put together a consortium of
sheriffs, 60 out of 67, in a sheriffs self-insurance fund. Guess what?
We changed the tables and the dynamics in regard to it just as this
bill will do. What we did was say, Guess what? We are no longer going
to be blackmailed into giving money. On a legitimate case, you are
going to settle; but on a case that is frivolous, we would say, No
thanks. Let's go to trial. They never want to do that because it is
expensive on their end, too, particularly when they could wind up
paying for that.
Mr. Speaker, a lot has been said today, and I think a lot more is
going to be said after we pass this rule. As we talk about what I think
is fair, that abusive patent litigation is a growing problem--we have
heard that from both sides today.
{time} 1330
Under current patent systems, small businesses and startups simply
don't have the resources to compete with the patent trolls. They are
easy targets. They routinely settle, regardless of the merits of the
case, to avoid hefty legal costs.
We understand that, therefore, it is important that we level the
playing field for our innovators, our innovators that actually create
something, an idea out of thin air, and create something that can be
turned into jobs in the future.
Regardless of where the Members of this body fall on the underlying
legislation, it seems that we are all in agreement that we need to
combat this destructive practice.
We are also in agreement that we need jobs. The rule provides for
consideration of a bill that will give small companies more access to
capital, more opportunities to grow, more opportunities to create jobs.
The rule makes in order important germane amendments addressing this.
Mr. Speaker, we heard a call to vote ``no'' on the rule for other
reasons. Let's talk about creating jobs in America. Let's talk about
protecting our innovators.
Let's not get caught up in the politics of the day. Let's do the
right thing for the American people today, the thing that is going to
be heard today in this House. Let's vote on a rule, and let's pass that
rule. I support this rule, and I encourage my colleagues to vote
``yes'' on the rule as well.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Polis is as follows:
An Amendment to H. Res. 429 Offered by Mr. Polis of Colorado
At the end of the resolution, add the following new
section:
Sec. 3. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the
House shall proceed to the consideration of the resolution
(H. Res. 424) prohibiting the consideration of a concurrent
resolution providing for adjournment unless the House has
adopted a conference report on the budget resolution by
December 13, 2013, if called up by Representative Slaughter
of New York or her designee. All points of order against the
resolution and against its consideration are waived.
THE VOTE ON THE PREVIOUS QUESTION: WHAT IT REALLY MEANS
This vote, the vote on whether to order the previous
question on a special rule, is not merely a procedural vote.
A vote against ordering the previous question is a vote
against the Republican majority agenda and a vote to allow
the Democratic minority to offer an alternative plan. It is a
vote about what the House should be debating.
Mr. Clarence Cannon's Precedents of the House of
Representatives (VI, 308-311), describes the vote on the
previous question on the rule as ``a motion to direct or
control the consideration of the subject before the House
being made by the Member in charge.'' To defeat the previous
question is to give the opposition a chance to decide the
subject before the House. Cannon cites the Speaker's ruling
of January 13, 1920, to the effect that ``the refusal of the
House to sustain the demand for the previous question passes
the control of the resolution to the opposition'' in order to
offer an amendment. On March 15, 1909, a member of the
majority party offered a rule resolution. The House defeated
the previous question and a member of the opposition rose to
a parliamentary inquiry, asking who was entitled to
recognition. Speaker Joseph G. Cannon (R-Illinois) said:
``The previous question having been refused, the gentleman
from New York, Mr. Fitzgerald, who had asked the gentleman to
yield to him for an amendment, is entitled to the first
recognition.''
The Republican majority may say ``the vote on the previous
question is simply a vote on whether to proceed to an
immediate vote on adopting the resolution . . . [and] has no
substantive legislative or policy implications whatsoever.''
But that is not what they have always said. Listen to the
Republican Leadership Manual on the Legislative Process in
the United States House of Representatives, (6th edition,
page 135). Here's how the Republicans describe the previous
question vote in their own manual: ``Although it is generally
not possible to amend the rule because the majority Member
controlling the time will not yield for the purpose of
offering an amendment, the same result may be achieved by
voting down the previous question on the rule . . . When the
motion for the previous question is defeated, control of the
time passes to the Member who led the opposition to ordering
the previous question. That Member, because he then controls
the time, may offer an amendment to the rule, or yield for
the purpose of amendment.''
In Deschler's Procedure in the U.S. House of
Representatives, the subchapter titled ``Amending Special
Rules'' states: ``a refusal to order the previous question on
such a rule [a special rule reported from the Committee on
Rules] opens the resolution to amendment and further
debate.'' (Chapter 21, section 21.2) Section 21.3 continues:
``Upon rejection of the motion for the previous question on a
resolution reported from the Committee on Rules, control
shifts to the Member leading the opposition to the previous
question, who may offer a proper amendment or motion and who
controls the time for debate thereon.''
Clearly, the vote on the previous question on a rule does
have substantive policy implications. It is one of the only
available tools for those who oppose the Republican
majority's agenda and allows those with alternative views the
opportunity to offer an alternative plan.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, with that I yield back the balance of my
time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
[[Page H7469]]
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
____________________