[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.

 ____________________