[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 42 (Thursday, March 13, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1655-S1661]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota:
S. 2125. A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure the
integrity of voice communications and to prevent unjust or unreasonable
discrimination among areas of the United States in the delivery of such
communications; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation.
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss a
widespread problem affecting rural communities in South Dakota and
across our country. This issue represents both a public safety and
economic issue for rural America.
For far too long, rural communities have experienced problems with
long-distance or wireless telephone calls that are not being properly
connected. The call completion problem extends beyond South Dakota and
has affected telephone customers in dozens of states. These call
failures create frustration and concern for family members trying to
connect with friends and family, as well as small businesses losing
business because they miss calls from customers. The problem also poses
a serious public safety threat, such as when a police dispatcher cannot
reach law enforcement or when a doctor cannot call a patient regarding
follow-up care. Rural telephone customers affected by this problem are
rightfully frustrated and demand a solution.
I first learned about this issue from the manager of a rural health
clinic in Canistota, SD. The clinic has experienced a decline in
business as a result of the call completion problems. Incoming calls
regularly do not reach the clinic and therefore go unanswered.
Additionally, some patients have heard misleading messages about the
clinic's number being disconnected, which leads them to believe the
clinic has closed. This is just one example of the negative impact this
problem is having on communities and Main Street businesses across
rural America.
To be honest, I could barely believe it when I first learned about
this issue. Today, we should be worried about narrowing the digital
divide not worrying whether rural communities have access to basic
telephone service. While many factors could be at play, the Federal
Communications Commission believes the use of third-party ``least cost
routers'' to connect calls is a leading cause of the problem. It
appears that some of these intermediate providers are failing to
properly complete calls to avoid the higher access charges associated
with rural telephone networks. It is particularly challenging to
resolve the problem because calls are often dropped before they reach
the rural telephone network, making it difficult for rural providers to
pinpoint when and where problems occur.
Over the past few years, I have worked with many of my Senate
colleagues, the FCC, telephone providers, and consumers to fix this
problem and hold those causing this problem accountable. I would like
to say a special thank you to Senators Amy Klobuchar and Deb Fischer
for joining me in introducing a Sense of the Senate resolution last May
that directed the FCC to take action to end these discriminatory
practices. Since our resolution
[[Page S1656]]
was introduced, the commission unanimously approved rules to strengthen
its ability to monitor and enforce the delivery of calls to rural
areas. Although the commission's rulemaking and ongoing investigation
represent a step in the right direction, a more immediate resolution is
needed.
Today, I introduced the Public Safety and Economic Security
Communications Act. This legislation takes immediate action to stop the
bad actors that are failing to complete calls to rural areas. The bill
includes common sense reforms that will help end the discriminatory
delivery of calls by requiring voice providers to register with the FCC
and comply with basic service quality standards. The legislation will
help ensure that small businesses, families, and emergency responders
in every corner of South Dakota and across our country can once again
rely upon connection of their incoming telephone calls.
I invite my colleagues to join me in stopping this problem by
cosponsoring the Public Safety and Economic Security Communications
Act.
______
By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Cruz):
S. 2128. A bill to name the Department of Veterans Affairs medical
center in Waco, Texas, as the ``Doris Miller Department of Veterans
Affairs Medical Center''; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of
the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2128
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On October 12, 1919, Doris Miller was born in Waco,
Texas.
(2) On September 16, 1939, Miller enlisted in United
States Navy as mess attendant, third class at Naval
Recruiting Station, Dallas, Texas to serve for a period of
six years.
(3) On February 16, 1941, Miller received a change of
rating to mess attendant, second class.
(4) On June 1, 1942, Miller received a change of rating
to mess attendant, first class.
(5) On June 1, 1943, Miller received a change of rating,
to cook, third class.
(6) On November 25, 1944, Miller was presumed dead by the
Secretary of the Navy a year and a day after being carried as
missing in action since November 24, 1943 while serving
aboard U.S.S. Liscome Bay when that vessel was torpedoed and
sunk in the Pacific Ocean.
(7) Miller was awarded the Navy Cross Medal, Purple Heart
Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific
Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.
(8) Miller's citation for the Navy Cross said ``for
distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and
disregard for his own personal safety during the attack on
the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese
forces on December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain
on the bridge, Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and
in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his
Captain, who had been mortally wounded, to a place of greater
safety, and later manned and operated a machine gun directed
at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave
the bridge.''.
(9) On June 20, 1973, the U.S.S. Miller (FF-1091), a
Knox-class frigate, was named in honor of Doris Miller.
SEC. 2. NAME OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL
CENTER, WACO, TEXAS.
The Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in
Waco, Texas, shall after the date of the enactment of this
Act be known and designated as the ``Doris Miller Department
of Veterans Affairs Medical Center''. Any reference to such
medical center in any law, regulation, map, document, record,
or other paper of the United States shall be considered to be
a reference to the Doris Miller Department of Veterans
Affairs Medical Center.
______
By Mr. UDALL of New Mexico:
S. 2129. A bill to amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to
improve technology transfer at the Department of Energy by reducing
bureaucratic barriers to industry, entrepreneurs, and small businesses,
as well as ensure that public investments in research and development
generate the greatest return on investment for taxpayers, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, New Mexico is blessed with some
of the world's finest scientists. Each day, brilliant researchers at
our universities and national labs go to work, and the results are
amazing. At the same time, entrepreneurs in New Mexico and across the
country are looking for opportunities to leverage innovation and to
create new high-tech products and applications.
I rise to introduce the Accelerating Technology Transfer to Advance
Innovation for the Nation--what we are calling the ATTAIN Act. That is
a long title and an important goal: to improve the Department of
Energy's technology transfer mission and to move innovation from the
lab to the market. This grows our economy and creates a greater impact
from our research and development dollars.
But before I talk to my colleagues about what the bill does, I wish
to explain why it is so important. Tech transfer may seem to be just
some technical issue, affecting bureaucratic rules or regulations, but
it is more. It is how innovation in the lab today helps create jobs
tomorrow.
In the 21st century, our national labs are the birthplace of
innovation that creates new products and businesses and entire
industries. Scientists are developing cutting-edge ways to power
computers, to transmit new information, to heal the body. These
innovations have great market potential in aviation, the military,
medicine. They can be spun into high-tech businesses, changing the
world, putting people to work.
In New Mexico, many companies have been formed as a result of
discoveries at Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs. For example,
Mustomo, Inc., a startup using technology developed at LANL, provides
3D ultrasound tomography for the detection of breast cancer, and
technology from Sandia, used by TEAM Technologies, has created a device
that can disable improvised explosive devices. Since 2010 over 4,000
units have been deployed and are saving lives in war zones right now.
But despite these amazing successes, we are operating at just a
fraction of the potential. My home State could do so much more. New
Mexico has all the ingredients to become a high-tech powerhouse. There
are great minds at our national labs and military bases. We have
fantastic universities and a booming energy industry. We need to create
an environment to allow it to reach that potential. This is a major
initiative of mine to help create the right formula to help industry
take off in New Mexico. That is the purpose of my bill.
Almost a decade ago Congress created a Department of Energy
Technology Transfer Coordinator to move innovation from the lab bench
to the marketplace, to spur businesses and cutting-edge product
development in New Mexico and across the Nation, to help entrepreneurs
outside of the big-city powerhouses on the coasts get access to
capital, to help them find partners in industry. But the Department has
not come close to meeting its potential. A recent inspector general's
report tells the story. It cited numerous deficiencies at DOE. The
Department is over 7 years delinquent in finalizing its Technology
Transfer Execution Plan, nor has DOE implemented a forward-looking
process for its commercialization fund--over 2 years after being
directed to do so by the former Secretary. In addition, the Technology
Transfer Coordinator post at the Department has been vacant since April
2013. That is nearly 1 year after the previous Coordinator's departure.
This position should be filled as quickly as possible with a qualified
and motivated candidate.
Technology transfer is important in New Mexico and to the Nation, and
the Department's failure to perform is unacceptable. My bill addresses
these shortfalls. We can do better, and we have to. The first step is
to make tech transfer a priority. Our goals are clear: consolidate
bureaucracy, streamline contracting, and use models that have proven
successful.
There are three key elements to my legislation.
First, it permanently authorizes new tools for the Secretary of
Energy's new Department-wide technology transfer office to enable DOE
and DOE's new Tech Transfer Coordinator to meet their responsibilities
and to measure and report their progress. Better coordination is
absolutely crucial so we can reduce barriers and efficiently use
[[Page S1657]]
the limited resources available. My bill requires that this office be
accountable and responsible, that it work with the national labs and
with industry in the right way at the Department and fully implement
the EPACT Energy Technology Commercialization Fund--something DOE has
yet to do according to Congress's original intent.
Second, the bill authorizes a new tech transfer corps, modeled on the
National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps, to support investments
in entrepreneurs, mentors, scientists, and engineers. It authorizes
technology commercialization challenges that push--getting innovative
technologies into the market--and also pull--enabling partnerships with
industry to identify and focus on common challenges. It will also
improve coordination of technology transfer and entrepreneurship
priorities with universities, foundations, and nonprofits, both
regionally and nationally.
Third, we adapt an existing public-private partnership model used by
the Small Business Administration and apply it to technology transfer
to increase access to capital for promising startup companies.
We are not asking for more money. We need to do more with what we
have. We are not asking--and I want to emphasize that--we are not
asking for more money. We need to do more with what we have. The bill
requires DOE and SBA to work together, to use the strengths of each
agency--DOE's innovative technology and SBA's financial acumen--and it
increases investment in new technologies via the SBIC Impact and Early
Stage Initiatives. The Impact Initiative includes SBA matching funds of
up to $1 billion, and the Early Stage Initiative includes $1 billion
more.
This collaboration addresses an important concern. Since 2008 less
than 6 percent of these venture capital funds have been invested in
seed funds and tech maturation, and 70 percent of that went into just
three States--California, New York, and Massachusetts. There are great
opportunities outside these three States. This bill will help those
funds find them. States such as New Mexico have a surplus of innovative
ideas and a lack of investment dollars. With this bill we can balance
that equation.
The benefits are clear: new technology, new partnerships, and new
opportunities. Cutting-edge research today means high-paying jobs
tomorrow. American inventions and intellectual property fuel our
economy. Mr. President, 75 U.S. industries are classified as
intellectual property intensive. They added $5.8 trillion to U.S.
output last year. They are 38 percent of our GDP. They directly or
indirectly supply over 55 million jobs--jobs that on average pay 30
percent higher wages. These IP companies account for 74 percent of our
exports.
We need to do all we can to support innovation and to improve
technology transfer--the bridge between new discovery and new
opportunity--to grow our economy, to create high-paying jobs. I believe
this is something we can all support.
Last August I cohosted a tech transfer conference in Santa Fe. I met
with nearly 200 of New Mexico's most successful entrepreneurs,
innovators, and investors. We talked about the challenges and
opportunities of technology transfer and how important it is to the
future.
We have always succeeded by being one step ahead of the competition.
American innovation has led the world in industry, in health care and
transportation, in science and technology. The ATTAIN Act will help
move that innovation from the lab to the marketplace, helping
businesses grow, creating jobs, and keeping us competitive in a global
marketplace.
For a student with a bright idea, for an entrepreneur with the drive
to chase their dream, it can be a long road. Fortunately, they do not
give up easily. They are as tough as they come. They are already giving
so much with hard work, with taking risks. They do their part. DOE
needs to do its part as well.
We all want to move innovation forward and to better coordinate the
handoffs. I am committed to working with the Department of Energy to
make this a reality. This is an important goal, and it should be an
equally important priority. That is why I am introducing this bill
today.
______
By Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. McCain, Mr. Thune,
and Mr. Enzi):
S. 2132. A bill to amend the Indian Tribal Energy Development and
Self-Determination Act of 2005, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on Indian Affairs.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce S. 2132, the
Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments
of 2014.
In recent years, the Committee on Indian Affairs has received
concerns from Indian tribes and the energy industry that the Federal
laws governing the development of tribal energy resources are complex
and often lead to significant costs, delays, and uncertainty for all
parties. These costs, delays, and uncertainties discourage development
of tribal energy resources and drive investments away from tribal
lands.
According to the National Congress of American Indians, Indian tribes
hold nearly a quarter of American onshore oil and gas reserves. Yet,
existing tribal energy production represents less than 5 percent of the
current national production. If we can remove the costs and delays of
developing energy on Indian lands, we could potentially see the
country's energy production, and thus energy independence, increase
significantly.
Over 8 years ago, Congress passed the Indian Tribal Energy
Development and Self-Determination Act. This act created a new,
alternative process for Indian tribes to take control of developing
their energy resources on their own lands without the burdens of
administrative review, approval, and oversight. This approach gives
Indian tribes the option to enter into tribal energy resource
agreements with the Secretary of the Interior. Once an Indian tribe
enters into this agreement, it has the authority to enter into
subsequent leases, business agreements, and rights-of-way affecting
energy development, without further review and approval by the
Secretary--a significant departure from the standard laws, and
consequent bureaucracy, applicable to tribal contracts. That approach
was a step in the right direction.
However, the agreements and process authorized under the Indian
Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act have not been
utilized to the extent that they could be, primarily because the
implementation of the act has been made more complex than it should be.
It is time we make key improvements to the law so that Indian tribes
can take advantage of these agreements and significantly reduce
bureaucratic burdens to energy development. Years of consultation and
outreach to Indian tribes have produced targeted solutions to address
the concerns about the process for entering these agreements.
The bill that I am introducing today, S. 2132, would streamline the
process for approving the tribal energy resource agreements and make it
more predictable for Indian tribes.
I would like to highlight some of the key provisions in this bill.
This bill includes a number of amendments to improve the review and
approval process for the tribal energy resource agreements. For
example, the bill provides clarity regarding the specific information
required for tribal applications for these agreements. In addition, the
bill sets forth specific timeframes for Secretarial determinations on
the agreement applications. Moreover, if an application is disapproved,
this bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to provide
detailed explanations to the Indian tribe and steps for addressing the
reasons for disapproval.
This bill also has various provisions that would improve technical
assistance and consultation with Indian tribes during their energy
planning and development stages. The bill also includes an amendment to
the Federal Power Act that would put Indian tribes on a similar footing
with States and municipalities for preferences when preliminary permits
or original licenses for hydroelectric projects are issued.
Additionally, S. 2132 would allow Indian tribes and third parties to
perform appraisals to help expedite the Secretary's approval process
for tribal agreements for mineral resource development. This bill does
not focus on only traditional resource development,
[[Page S1658]]
but includes renewal resource development components as well. For
example, the bill would create tribal biomass demonstration projects to
provide Indian tribes with more reliable and potentially longterm
supplies of woody biomass materials.
My bill is intended to provide Indian tribes with the tools to
develop and use energy more efficiently. In passing this bill, Congress
will enhance the ability of Indian tribes to exercise self-
determination over the development of energy resources located on
tribal lands, thereby improving the lives and economic well-being of
Native Americans.
Before I conclude, I would like to thank Senators Enzi, Thune,
Hoeven, and McCain for joining me in cosponsoring the Indian Tribal
Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments of 2014. I
urge my colleagues to join me in advancing S. 2132 expeditiously.
______
By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Reid, and Mr.
Durbin):
S. 2145. A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to
permit facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to be
designated as voter registration agencies, and for other purposes; to
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to reintroduce the Veteran
Voting Support Act, which is cosponsored by Senators Leahy, Durbin, and
Reid.
Almost 7 years ago, during the previous administration, I learned
that a Department of Veterans Affairs facility in California had barred
voter registration groups from accessing veterans in the facility.
Similar reports emerged in other parts of the country.
This was unacceptable. Therefore, then-Senator Kerry and I worked
with the VA to establish a fair, nonpartisan policy to facilitate voter
registration and voting for veterans who receive services at VA
facilities.
We held a hearing in the Rules Committee on a previous version of
this bill on September 15, 2008, when I was Chairman of that committee.
One week before that hearing, the VA issued a directive that created
a new and substantially improved policy to permit state and local
election officials, as well as nonpartisan groups, to access VA
facilities.
Yet many expressed concerns that it did not go far enough. For
example, the Brennan Center for Justice, American Association for
People with Disabilities, Common Cause, Demos, and the League of Women
Voters sent me a letter stating that the directive was ``an important
step in the right direction'' but stressed ``that the VA's recent
directive will not be sufficient to protect the voting rights of the
men and women served by the VA.''
Paul Sullivan, then Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense,
said: ``There is a veteran voting rights crisis. As many as 100,000 of
our veterans living in VA facilities may not be able to vote in our
November 4 election.''
Mr. Sullivan also explained a key problem facing veterans who live at
a VA facility: ``When a veteran moves into a VA facility, the veteran's
old registration becomes invalid. The veteran must re-register before
he or she can vote again.''
In short, while many believed the VA's directive was not perfect,
they also acknowledged it was an improvement.
I am sad to report that the 2008 voting assistance directive expired
at the end of September 2013. That means no voting assistance directive
is in place at the VA, with the mid-term elections only a few months
away.
This is unacceptable. There is no justification for it. Veterans'
voting rights, like the voting rights of others, do not have an
expiration date.
There is no question about the continuing need for VA action in this
area.
While the VA's directive was in place, from 2008 to 2012, veteran
voter registration ticked up only slightly, from 77 to 78 percent,
according to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.
But during the same period, actual voting by veterans dropped as a
percentage of the veteran population--from 70.9 percent to 70.3
percent.
In raw numbers, there remain over 4.6 million veterans who either are
unregistered or for whom the Census Bureau's data reports no response.
In the 2012 election, there were over 6.2 million veterans who either
did not vote or for whom the Census data reports no response.
Thus, there is much more to do to help our veterans register and cast
their ballots.
The VA is the agency best suited to do the job because it comes into
contact with several million veterans each year.
In fact, in 2013, according to the VA's latest statistics, there were
over 6.41 million unique patients in the VA health care system, up from
5.65 million in 2008, a 15 percent increase.
Today, I am reintroducing the Veteran Voting Support Act, which,
unlike a VA directive, cannot be rescinded by the VA and would not
expire.
This bill would take important steps to improve veterans' ability to
register and vote.
First, the bill would require the VA to provide a veteran seeking to
enroll in the VA health care system with a mail-in voter registration
form. Such a form would also have to be provided to currently enrolled
veterans upon a change of address or enrollment status.
The VA would be required to send such forms to the appropriate state
election official within 10 days, or within five days if the form is
received within five days before a registration deadline.
Second, the VA would be required to provide assistance to veterans
seeking to register to vote using the mail-in form. Such assistance
would be non-partisan.
Third, the bill would require the director of a VA community living
center, domiciliary, or medical center to provide assistance to
veterans with respect to voting by absentee ballot, consistent with
state and local laws. This section is limited to residents of a
community living center or domiciliary and inpatients of a medical
center.
Fourth, the bill would ensure that the VA provides access for
nonpartisan organizations to provide voter registration and assistance
at VA facilities.
This is subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions,
including limiting activities to regular business hours and requiring
advance notice to the facility.
Fifth, the bill would prevent the VA from prohibiting access to VA
facilities by election administration officials at the state and local
levels, as long as the officials provide only nonpartisan information
about voting, such as voter registration, voting systems, absentee
balloting, and polling locations. This is also subject to reasonable,
time, place, and manner restrictions.
Finally, the bill would require the VA to report annually on the
number of veterans helped by this bill.
We owe our veterans a great debt. That debt includes a promise we
will not deny them the right to vote and will commit to involving them
in the process of choosing leaders who may send Americans into harm's
way. This bill would help veterans register to vote, and it would help
veterans living in VA facilities cast their ballots.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Veteran Voting
Support Act.
______
By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Coburn, Ms. Klobuchar, and
Mr. Flake):
S. 2146. A bill to establish a United States Patent and Trademark
Office Innovation Promotion Fund, and for other purposes; to the
Committee on the Judiciary.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to protect and secure the
user fees paid by America's inventors and businesses to the Patent and
Trademark Office, and to stabilize that Office's funding, by
introducing the Patent Fee Integrity Act. I want to thank my co-
sponsors on this bill, Senators Coburn, Klobuchar, and Flake.
Throughout most of its history, taxpayers supported the operations of
the Patent and Trademark Office, or PTO, through appropriations from
general funds. However, in 1990, Congress established a 69 percent user
fee ``surcharge,'' so that the PTO became funded entirely through fees
paid by its users, the American inventors who make our country the
world's technological leader.
Unfortunately, almost immediately, Congress began using the funds
that inventors paid to protect their inventions for other purposes. In
1992, $8.1
[[Page S1659]]
million in user fees were diverted. In 1993, $12.3 million was
diverted. In 1994, $14.7 million. So it continued, growing each year,
until what started as a trickle became a flood in 1998, with $199
million in PTO user fees diverted.
PTO user fees continued to be diverted in most of the following
years, at varying levels. In fiscal year 2011, as Congress was
finishing its work on major patent reform, a new fee diversion record
was set, a staggering $209 million in user fees diverted from the PTO
that year.
Meanwhile, at the same time that these fees were being taken away,
the length of time that it took to get a patent out of the Patent
Office steadily increased. In fiscal year 1991, average patent pendency
was 18.2 months. By fiscal year 1999, it had increased to 25 months. By
fiscal year 2010, average patent pendency had increased all the way to
35.3 months.
These are not just numbers. This is innovation being stifled from
being brought to market. The longer it takes to get a patent approved,
the longer a new invention, a potential technological breakthrough,
sits on the shelf, gathering dust instead of spurring job growth and
scientific and economic progress.
Ultimately, this dulls our country's competitive edge in the global
economy. America's record of innovation is the envy of the world; it
has provided us a marked competitive edge over the decades and even
centuries. When we stifle the progress of our innovation within the
PTO, we lose some of this competitive advantage, and the jobs and other
economic benefits that accompany it.
Obviously, there is a direct relationship between fee diversion and
patent pendency. The more fees that are diverted away from the PTO, the
fewer patent examiners they can hire, the more patents each examiner
has to process, and the longer it takes them to get to any individual
patent--a longer patent pendency.
But it is not just the time that it takes to get a patent that is
hurt by diversion of resources. The quality of the patents issued is
harmed as well.
As members of this body know, the Senate Judiciary Committee is
actively considering legislation to address abuses of the patent
system, and the House of Representatives passed its own legislation on
the subject by a strong bipartisan vote of 325-91.
A variety of businesses all over the country are being sued and
subjected to letters demanding payment, often based on very
questionable patents that should never have been issued by the Patent
Office in the first place.
Businesses and lawyers have asserted patents for, by way of example:
Scanning and e-mailing a document; completing a purchase on a website
with one click, as opposed to multiple clicks; and e-mailing a press
release, something that I think it's safe to say that every member of
this body does many times each month.
When there aren't enough patent examiners to give patent applications
sufficient attention, bad patents get issued.
As the President and CEO of the Internet Association, which
represents leading Internet companies like Amazon, eBay, Expedia,
Facebook, Hotels.com, Netflix, Twitter, and Yahoo!, puts it: ``the
Patent Fee Integrity Act . . . would provide the Patent and Trademark
Office with adequate funding and resources to improve overall patent
quality. Improving patent quality is an essential step in improving the
entire patent ecosystem by shutting off the supply of low-quality
patents that fuel litigation by patent trolls.'' The Coalition for
Patent Fairness, which includes such major companies as Blackberry,
Cisco, Dell, Google, Oracle, and Verizon, notes that ``When patent
quality suffers, innovation throughout America's economy is stymied,
and patent trolls are able to prosper.''
To make sure the Patent and Trademark Office has the resources it
needs to issue patents in a timely manner and to improve patent
quality, in 2011, in the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, we gave the
PTO the authority to increase its user fees.
Some of us fought at that time to end the practice of fee diversion,
led by my co-sponsor Senator Coburn, to make sure that the users got
the full benefit of their increased fees. Unfortunately, our colleagues
on the other side of the Capitol watered down the language that the
Senate passed to accomplish this purpose.
One of the sponsors defended that language when it came back to the
Senate, arguing that the bill ``creates a PTO reserve fund for any fees
collected above the appropriated amounts in a given year--so that only
the PTO will have access to these fees.''
I warned then that the House's changes provided no assurance that
that is what would actually happen.
So what happened? Well, the PTO went ahead and raised its fees, as
expected.
Did it get to keep all those new fees?
Unfortunately, the government wasted little time in diverting the new
fees. In fiscal year 2013, $121 million in PTO user fees were diverted,
due to sequestration. This pushed the total of PTO user fees diverted
since PTO was made self-sufficient in 1990 to over $1 billion, $171
million, to be exact.
Requiring the payment of higher patent fees which are then used for
general government purposes really amounts to a tax on innovation which
is the last thing we should be burdening in today's technology-driven
economy.
The fact that this latest round of fee diversion occurred through
sequestration provides another reason why the legislation we are
introducing today is needed. PTO never should have been subject to
sequestration in the first place. As I have described, it is not
supported at all by taxpayer funds--it is completely funded by user
fees. These users pay for a service when they send in their fees: the
timely consideration and processing of their patent or trademark
application or renewal. They are entitled to have the benefit of what
they paid for. These funds should not be sequestered, to pay for other
government services, for which there is a deficit. The PTO does not
contribute at all to the deficit, and that has been the case for more
than 20 years.
As a result of PTO's budgetary shortfall, in which sequestration
played a significant part: information technology modernization was
scaled back significantly; the process of opening new PTO satellite
offices, called for in the America Invents Act, was frozen; hiring of
most support personnel was stopped; and travel and training was
virtually eliminated.
Last fall brought another unfortunate budgetary disruption: the
shutdown of the federal government. Fortunately, the PTO was able to
keep operating for that limited time, with the balances it had in its
account. However, had the shutdown continued, PTO, too, would have been
forced to close up--despite the fact that it collects fees that make it
self-sustaining.
There is no good reason why PTO should be subject to sequestration
and shutdown. As the Business Software Alliance states in their
supporting letter, ``This bill would ensure the USPTO can continue
conducting self-funded operations that produce tremendous economic and
social value for the United States.''
The Patent Fee Integrity Act strikes current language that makes PTO
subject to the appropriations process, which has been the principal
avenue through which its funding has been diverted, and ensures that it
can keep its funding. However, we also include measures to maintain
accountability for the agency; the bill: requires the PTO Director to
submit an annual report and operations plan to Congress; requires the
PTO Director to submit an annual spending plan to the Appropriations
Committees; and requires an annual independent financial audit.
This bill is supported across the width and breadth of the patent
user community. It is endorsed by: Bayer Corporation; Biocom; The
Biotechnology Industry Organization; BSA, The Software Alliance; The
Coalition for Patent Fairness; The Coalition for 21st Century Patent
Reform, which represents a broad group of nearly 50 global corporations
who employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in a variety of sectors,
including 3M, Caterpillar, General Electric, General Mills, Procter &
Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, and Northrop Grumman; Fallbrook
Technologies; The Innovation Alliance, which includes innovative small,
medium, and large businesses, including Dolby Laboratories and
QUALCOMM; the Intellectual Property Owners Association, which
[[Page S1660]]
represents more than 200 companies and 12,000 individuals in the U.S.
who own intellectual property; The Internet Association; Mattel; Motor
& Equipment Manufacturers Association; National Association of
Manufacturers; Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America;
and Xerox.
Many of these groups disagree vehemently with each other about patent
reform. However, they all come together to unite in support of the bill
we are introducing today, the Patent Fee Integrity Act.
BSA, The Software Alliance aptly observes, ``with their funds
constantly under attack, the USPTO faces an endless and unnecessary
challenge to provide the services for which American innovators have
already paid. The Patent Fee Integrity Act will help the USPTO continue
to increase patent quality, provide critical, time-sensitive services,
and guarantee continuity of its operations independent of continually-
shifting political considerations.''
I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this critical bill. As
the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform and others observed in the
letter they sent to me in support of this bill: ``Your legislation
would empower the USPTO to fully support America's innovators without
adding a single penny to the deficit.''
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that letters of support be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
BSA/The Software Alliance,
Washington, DC, March 13, 2013.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein: On behalf of BSA/The Software
Alliance and its members, which are among the world's most
innovative companies, I write to express strong support for
the Patent Fee Integrity Act, which would remove the US
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from the congressional
appropriations process. This bill would ensure the USPTO can
continue conducting self-funded operations that produce
tremendous economic and social value for the United States.
The USPTO plays an indispensable role in sparking the
growth of America's economy by protecting intellectual
property (IP) and promoting innovation. Over the last two
decades, however, the federal government has withheld,
diverted, or sequestered more than $1 billion in USPTO user
fee collections. This bill recognizes that with their funds
constantly under attack, the USPTO faces an endless and
unnecessary challenge to provide the services for which
American innovators have already paid.
The Patent Fee Integrity Act will help the USPTO continue
to increase patent quality, provide critical, time-sensitive
services, and guarantee continuity of its operations
independent of continually-shifting political considerations.
Moreover, it will protect against reducing the USPTO's
operating capacity at a time when it needs to expand to
enable American businesses to bring new innovations to
market.
We commend you for your leadership in introducing the
Patent Fee Integrity Act and look forward to working with you
and others to ensure it garners the broad bipartisan support
it deserves.
Sincerely,
Victoria A. Espinel,
President and CEO.
____
March 13, 2014.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein: We commend you for introducing the
Patent Fee Integrity Act and we offer our full support.
America's economic future depends on our continued ability
to innovate and commercialize new products and processes.
American businesses are among the most dynamic and innovative
in the world. We develop the technology that creates jobs and
stimulates our economy. Our nation's universities partner
with business to conduct the ground-breaking research, as
well as educate the creative people, that fuel the innovative
dynamism of the business sector. Such investment is not
without risk, which is why the Patent Fee Integrity Act has
never been more critical.
U.S. innovators rely on patents to protect their investment
in the research and development of breakthrough innovations
such as manufacturing and product technologies and life-
saving drugs. Valid and enforceable patent rights are
essential in this process and enable the United States to
maintain its competitive edge. An adequately funded United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is vital in
ensuring that high quality patent rights are promptly
granted. Yet, the precarious funding situation of the USPTO
makes the realization of this essential mission impossible.
Over the last two decades, the government has withheld,
diverted, or sequestered hundreds of millions of USPTO user
fee dollars. With uncertain and insufficient funding, the
USPTO faces an endless and unnecessary challenge in providing
the services for which American innovators have requested and
paid. The Patent Fee Integrity Act would end this problem by
removing the USPTO from the Congressional appropriations
process and allow all of its user fees to fund its
operations. Your legislation would empower the USPTO to fully
support America's innovators without adding a single penny to
the deficit.
Our innovation based economy demands a fully-funded USPTO.
The USPTO needs predictability and certainty in its budgeting
so that it can provide the patent protection needed champion
America's innovators. We support quick passage of the Patent
Fee Integrity Act.
American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA);
Bayer Corporation; Biocom; Biotechnology Industry
Organization (BIO): Boston Scientific Corporation; Bristol-
Myers Squibb Company; Caterpillar Inc.; Corning Incorporated;
The Cummins Allison Corporation; Cummins Inc.; DuPont; Eli
Lilly and Company; Greatbatch, Inc.; IBM Corporation;
Illinois Tool Works (ITW); International Test Solutions Inc.;
Johnson & Johnson; Leggett & Platt; The Manitowoc Company,
Inc.; Mattel, Inc.; Motor & Equipment Manufacturers
Association; National Association of Manufacturers (NAM);
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; PPG
Industries, Inc.; The Procter & Gamble Company; Smiths Group;
United Technologies Corporation; Xerox Zimme.
____
Coalition for
Patent Fairness
Washington, DC, March 13, 2014.
Statement on the Patent Fee Integrity Act,
The Coaliton for Patent Fairness (CPF) thanks Senator
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for introducing the Patent Fee
Integrity Act.
As patent holders, CPF members recognize the importance of
an adequately funded U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
We applaud Senator Feinstein for taking steps to ensure that
the PTO has the resources it needs to fulfill its essential
mission and to maintain patent quality.
Improving patent quality is a vital piece of the patent
puzzle. When patent quality suffers, innovation throughout
America's economy is stymied, and patent trolls are able to
prosper. Quite clearly, patent reviews conducted today will
have a lasting impact in the future; by helping to establish
adequate funding of the PTO, the Patent Fee Integrity Act
will support innovation.
The U.S. patent system plays an important role in helping
America's economy flourish, and abuses of that system pose a
significant threat to innovation and economic growth. We
thank Senator Feinstein for her leadership and will continue
to work with her and her colleagues toward the passage of
patent litigation reform.
____
Fallbrook Technologies,
Cedar Park, TX, March 13, 2014.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein: As CEO of an emerging technology
company with roots in California, I write to enthusiastically
endorse your effort to introduce patent legislation that is
critically important to America's innovation ecosystem and
the U.S. economy, the Patent Fee Integrity Act. Although
Fallbrook Technologies cautions the Senate to tread extremely
cautiously with other proposed patent legislation, the Patent
Fee Integrity Act represents the only patent reform bill
which advances the one issue that unifies intellectual
property stakeholders across the innovation spectrum and thus
should be advanced by the Senate without delay.
Fallbrook is an emerging manufacturing and technology
development company dedicated to improving the flexibility of
power transmission within a wide variety of mechanical
devices. Currently, Fallbrook is located in Texas, but we
have California ties as our technology was invented in
Fallbrook, California, a large number of our investors are in
California and some key employees currently reside in San
Diego. Our core technology is the patented and award-winning
NuVinci' continuously variable planetary (CVP)
transmission system. Fallbrook's NuVinci CVP technology is a
standard component on more than 60 major bicycle brands
throughout Europe, and can improve the performance and
efficiency of products that use a transmission, such as
automobiles, agricultural equipment, light electric vehicles,
outdoor power equipment and wind turbines. Fallbrook employs
over 130 people in the U.S. (as of the date of this letter),
including about 30 of the best engineers in the transmission
sector. We currently hold over 600 patents and pending
applications worldwide and are working with our key
automotive licensees to bring gas-saving vehicles to the
marketplace.
As you are aware, for more than a decade, American
innovators like Fallbrook have had our U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office user fees diverted by Congress for other
purposes. Essentially, such fee diversion has worked as an
innovation tax which slows the technology development process
and hinders job creation. The Patent Fee Integrity Act will
repeal this innovation tax and is long overdue. Full USPTO
funding will provide the USPTO the resources it needs to
improve patent quality while Congress determines whether
further actions may be needed to improve the patent system.
[[Page S1661]]
We applaud you and your bipartisan cosponsors for
introducing the bill and stand ready to assist you in any way
necessary.
Sincerely,
William Klehm,
Chairman and CEO.
____
Innovation Alliance,
March 13, 2014.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein: The Innovation Alliance, a
coalition of research and development-focused companies,
thanks you and your cosponsors for introducing the Patent Fee
Integrity Act, which will put an end to fee diversion once
and for all. We have long maintained that ending fee
diversion, and thereby giving the U.S. Patent & Trademark
Office (``USPTO'') all of the fees it is paid by patent
applicants, is the single most important change policymakers
can make to improve the U.S. patent system.
Over the last 20 years, approximately $1 billion in fees
paid by patent applicants has been diverted from its proper
use at the USPTO. This unwarranted diversion of fees has
resulted in more than 600,000 unexamined patent applications
and more than 28 months in the average patent pendency time.
Ending this tax on innovation is perhaps the one change to
the patent law that unites stakeholders from all parts of the
innovation ecosystem in the United States.
The Innovation Alliance thanks you for your leadership on
this critically important issue for the patent system. We
look forward to working with you and your cosponsors to pass
the Patent Fee Integrity Act into law as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Brian Pomper,
Executive Director.
____
Intellectual Property
Owners Association,
Washington, DC, March 12, 2014.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senate, Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein: Intellectual Property Owners
Association (IPO) writes to express its strong support for
the Patent Fee Integrity Act, to provide for the permanent
funding of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO).
IPO is a trade association representing companies and
individuals in all industries and fields of technology who
own or are interested in intellectual property rights. IPO's
membership includes more than 200 companies and more than
12,500 individuals who are involved in the association either
through their companies or as inventor, author, law firm, or
attorney members. Our members all agree that the United
States needs a fully-funded USPTO to keep our nation
competitive, encourage innovation and create new jobs.
Over the last two decades the government has withheld,
diverted or sequestered about $1 billion in USPTO user fee
collections. Removing the USPTO from the congressional
appropriations process is the most promising approach we know
for stopping the hemorrhaging of USPTO fees. We hope the
Senate will move ahead with the bill as soon as possible.
Thank you for your help in securing full, permanent funding
for the USPTO. We stand ready to assist in any way we can.
Sincerely,
Herbert C. Wamsley,
Executive Director.
____
The Internet Association,
Washington, DC, March 13, 2014.
Statement of Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of the Internet
Association, on Senator Feinstein's Introduction of the Patent Fee
Integrity Act
The Internet Association commends Senator Feinstein's
introduction of the Patent Fee Integrity Act, which would
provide the Patent and Trademark Office with adequate funding
and resources to improve overall patent quality. Improving
patent quality is an essential step in improving the entire
patent ecosystem by shutting off the supply of low-quality
patents that fuel litigation by patent trolls. That is why
The Internet Association also supports an expanded review of
the covered business method patent program to eliminate
patents that never been granted in the first instance. An
expanded review program, coupled with strong fee shifting and
discovery provisions, make up the necessary components of a
meaningful response to the patent troll epidemic. We look
forward to working with Senator Feinstein and Members of the
Senate Judiciary Committee as they prepare to address these
important issues in the coming weeks.
About The Internet Association
The Internet Association, the unified voice of the Internet
economy, represents the interests of the leading Internet
companies including Airbnb, Amazon, AOL, eBay, Expedia,
Facebook, Gilt, Google, IAC, Linkedln, Lyft, Monster
Worldwide, Netflix, Practice Fusion, Rackspace, reddit,
Salesforce.com, SurveyMonkey, TripAdvisor, Twitter, Uber
Technologies, Inc., Yelp, Yahoo!, and Zynga. The Internet
Association is dedicated to advancing public policy solutions
to strengthen and protect Internet freedom, foster innovation
and economic growth, and empower users. http://
www.internetassociation.org.
____________________