[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 163 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6588-S6590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION

                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. CORNYN:
  S. 2771. A bill to designate the community-based outpatient clinic of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Angelo, Texas, as the 
``Colonel Charles and JoAnne Powell Department of Veterans Affairs 
Clinic''; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print my bill 
for introduction in the Congressional Record. The bill's purpose is to 
designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs in San Angelo, Texas, as the ``Colonel Charles and 
JoAnne Powell Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic''.

                                S. 2771

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

        Congress finds the following:
       (1) Colonel Charles Powell and his wife, Mrs. JoAnne 
     Powell, served the community of San Angelo, Texas, with 
     character and dignity.
       (2) Colonel Powell served as the base commander of 
     Goodfellow Air Force Base from 1980 to 1984.
       (3) When the Powells moved to San Angelo, Charles was 
     ordered to help Goodfellow avoid closure and the displacement 
     of many members of the Armed Forces from the community they 
     had grown to love.
       (4) The impact of Charles' career can still be felt today 
     at Goodfellow Air Force Base, as it serves as a training 
     school for thousands of members from every Armed Force to 
     train in cryptology, intelligence, and firefighting.
       (5) JoAnne assisted thousands of constituents in the 
     district offices of Representatives Tom Loeffler, Lamar 
     Smith, K. Michael Conaway, and August Pfluger.
       (6) One of the several duties JoAnne spearheaded was the 
     annual process of nominations to the military service 
     academies, which was always a year-round process for her.
       (7) With JoAnne's assistance, many of the young men and 
     women of the 11th congressional district of Texas went on to 
     serve the United States and attend one of the military 
     service academies.
       (8) In addition, JoAnne was a fierce advocate of veterans 
     and helped thousands of individuals gain access to the 
     veterans benefits they rightfully earned.
       (9) JoAnne's compassion and dedication helped make the 
     Concho Valley a better place.

     SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF COMMUNITY-BASED OUTPATIENT CLINIC OF 
                   DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS IN SAN ANGELO, 
                   TEXAS.

       (a) Designation.--The community-based outpatient clinic of 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Angelo, Texas, 
     shall after the date of the enactment of this Act be known 
     and designated as the ``Colonel Charles and JoAnne Powell 
     Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic'' or the ``Colonel 
     Charles and JoAnne Powell VA Clinic''.

[[Page S6589]]

       (b) Reference.--Any reference in any law, regulation, map, 
     document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
     community-based outpatient clinic referred to in subsection 
     (a) shall be considered to be a reference to the Colonel 
     Charles and JoAnne Powell Department of Veterans Affairs 
     Clinic.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. Tillis):
  S. 2773. A bill to amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to 
address satellite offices of the United States Patent and Trademark 
Office, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, innovation is the lifeblood of the American 
economy. Thanks to our Founders, our Constitution anticipated the power 
of innovation and enshrined the basic idea that inventors should be 
given the incentive to do what they do best. The intellectual property 
clause has pushed the United States to be the longstanding global 
leader in innovation. Unfortunately, like too many other aspects of our 
society, the benefits of our innovation ecosystem have not been equally 
felt by Americans from all backgrounds. Today, I am proud to introduce 
the bipartisan Unleashing American Innovators Act, legislation that 
will make the patent system more accessible to Americans from all 
backgrounds and ensure that we do more to harness the untapped 
potential that exists in our country.
  The Unleashing American Innovators Act builds on a legacy of 
broadening access to the patent system that I am particularly proud of. 
Ten years ago last week, Congress passed the Leahy-Smith America 
Invents Act, which was the most significant update to our patent laws 
in nearly sixty years. Under the Leahy-Smith Act, we created a network 
of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) satellite offices around the 
country, bringing the PTO closer to where Americans actually innovate. 
We lowered fees for small businesses and created a new micro-entity 
status to lower fees even further. We also created a Patent Pro Bono 
program to help make legal resources more accessible to prospective 
inventors.
  Now is the time to build on that success. The Unleashing American 
Innovators Act will further boost access to the patent system for 
underrepresented groups by explicitly directing existing PTO satellite 
offices to reach out to those who are underrepresented in in patent 
filings. A recent PTO study found that only twenty-two percent of U.S. 
patents list a woman as an inventor, even though women make up more 
than fifty percent of our population. Other studies have found that 
African Americans apply for patents at about half the rate of white 
Americans. We need to boost participation from inventors in rural areas 
like Vermont as well. Congress must do more to ensure that these and 
other underrepresented groups have the opportunity to participate in 
the system.
  This bill will go further than our efforts ten years ago by requiring 
the PTO to study whether additional satellite offices are needed to 
increase participation in the system by women, people of color, 
military veterans, individual inventors, and any other groups that are 
currently underrepresented. It will also create a network of smaller 
community outreach offices, which will do the hard work of meeting 
prospective innovators where they live. These offices will partner with 
local community organizations to create community-based programs to 
educate Americans about the patent system and the benefits of 
innovation and entrepreneurship. One such office will be located in 
northern New England so that it can help provide assistance to 
inventors in Vermont.
  The Unleashing American Innovators Act will also establish a 
patentability assessment pilot program to assist first-time prospective 
inventors in determining whether an idea they have is likely to meet 
the threshold for patentability. It will give the PTO study the 
efficacy of the Patent Pro Bono Program to ensure that it is meeting 
the needs of underrepresented groups. Finally, it will further reduce 
application fees for small businesses and micro entities to reduce the 
costs of obtaining a patent.
  By building on the structures we put in place in the Leahy-Smith Act 
ten years ago, we can ensure that the next generation of innovators in 
America reflect the full potential of our greatest natural resource--
the genius of the American people. I am proud to partner with Senator 
Tillis on this important piece of legislation. Expanding access to the 
patent system is not a partisan issue; it is an issue of maintaining 
American competitiveness and extending opportunity to all Americans, no 
matter their background, economic status, or location. I urge the 
Senate to act swiftly to pass this bill.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. Tillis):
  S. 2774. A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to address 
patent ownership, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President. One of the fundamental underpinning of the 
patent system is transparency. In exchange for obtaining limited 
exclusive rights over their inventions, inventors disclose those 
inventions to the public, making transparent something that might 
otherwise remain secret. This transparency has tremendous benefits for 
our society by accelerating innovation, and the patent system as a 
whole helps to drive our economy. I have fought for many years to bring 
even more transparency into the patent system to further benefit the 
public, particularly by pushing for public disclosure of who actually 
owns a patent.
  I am proud today to continue my partnership with Senator Tillis on 
intellectual property issues by introducing the bipartisan Pride in 
Patent Ownership Act, which requires patent owners to disclose their 
true identity when a patent is issued and when it is sold. I have long 
supported efforts in the Senate to achieve this goal and am excited to 
spearhead this effort now.
  The American people--any of whom may be charged with infringing a 
given patent--have a right to know who owns a patent, which often 
changes hands after being issued to the initial inventor. Currently, to 
know who owns a patent, you have to engage in costly, time-consuming 
litigation to uncover that information. That simply shouldn't be the 
case. This bill helps to ensure a fair innovation system for small 
businesses, non-profits, and independent entrepreneurs who lack the 
resources to engage in costly litigation just to discover who possesses 
exclusive patent rights over a particular invention.
  Transparency in patent ownership will also help us better understand 
how we are doing in the global competition for innovation. Currently, a 
whopping 52% of U.S. patents are issued to foreign applicants. But 
there is no systematic way to track ownership of U.S patents, including 
when patents are sold to foreign entities. And Chinese companies like 
Huawei--which often serve as proxies for the Chinese Communist Party--
are wielding patent portfolios of unknown size and scope in the United 
States.
  Although we do not know what specific patents Huawei owns, in the 
last two years, it claims to have received an estimated $1.2 to $1.3 
billion in patent licensing fees, and it is likely that most of those 
licensing fees come from Americans, based on U.S. patents. Furthermore, 
Huawei's patents cover fundamental technologies that will power our 
global future, such as the 50 mobile network. Its dominance over these 
cutting-edge technologies unquestionably advantages China and 
disadvantages America. It is imperative, both for our innovation 
economy and national security, to know who owns what patents and who is 
profiting.
  Senator Tillis and I feel strongly about transparency in patent 
ownership. We initially proposed this bill as an amendment to the U.S. 
Innovation and Competition Act earlier this Congress, and it was 
cleared by the Chair and Ranking Member of the full Judiciary Committee 
for inclusion in that bill's manager's package that ultimately failed. 
We have since received feedback from a wide spectrum of stakeholders, 
whose input we have worked hard to incorporate. As Chairman of the 
Senate's Intellectual Property Subcommittee, I will continue to utilize 
all of our Subcommittee's tools along with Ranking Member Tillis to 
improve transparency around patent ownership. This bill is an essential 
next step in that process, and I urge the Senate to act swiftly to pass 
it.

[[Page S6590]]

  

                          ____________________