[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5904-5905]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. Grassley):
  S. 927. A bill to allow acceleration certificates awarded under the 
Patents for Humanity Program to be transferable; to the Committee on 
the Judiciary.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, tomorrow, April 26, is World Intellectual 
Property Day, an opportunity for people around the world to appreciate 
and learn about the role of intellectual property rights in promoting 
innovation. Our Founders believed that the right to enjoy the benefit 
of one's own inventions was so important to the progress of science 
that they included it in the Constitution. More than 200 years later, 
limited exclusive rights for inventors continue to incentivize the 
research and development and make the United States the global leader 
in innovation.
  In the spirit of this year's theme, ``Innovation--Improving Lives,'' 
I am proud to partner with Senator Grassley to reintroduce the Patents 
for Humanity Program Improvement Act. Patents for Humanity is a perfect 
example of how intellectual property rights encourage inventors to 
develop creative solutions to some of the world's most pressing 
humanitarian challenges.
  Since 2012, the Patents for Humanity Program of the U.S. Patent and 
Trademark Office, PTO, has honored patent holders whose inventions 
apply cutting-edge technology to meet global challenges in medicine, 
nutrition, sanitation, energy, and living standards. The winning 
inventors receive a certificate to accelerate future PTO processes, 
such as a reexamination or additional patent applications. The Patents 
for Humanity Program provides an important incentive for talented 
innovators to use their expertise and intellect to enhance the public 
good.
  The winners of the Patents for Humanity Program have addressed some 
of the toughest challenges in the developing world. One lab developed a 
vaccine cooler that has been used in the fight against the Ebola virus. 
A nonprofit organization created a strand of rice enriched with vitamin 
A to prevent a nutritional deficiency that is the leading killer of 
children globally. A social enterprise made a low-cost solar light that 
can replace dangerous kerosene lamps in areas without electricity. 
These life saving inventions are exactly the kind of innovations that 
our intellectual property system should incentivize.
  In 2012, the Director of the PTO testified before the Judiciary 
Committee that Patents for Humanity would attract even more innovators 
if the winners could transfer their acceleration certificates to a 
third party. Frequently, successful small businesses and individual 
inventors are unable to continue their projects or are prevented from 
taking advantage of the accelerated process because of acquisitions and 
reorganizations. Transferability of the award certificates would 
increase the incentive for these small businesses and individuals to 
develop innovative technologies that would benefit the public and 
international development.
  This bipartisan legislation would allow Patents for Humanity winners 
to

[[Page 5905]]

transfer their acceleration certificates. This straightforward, common 
sense reform to the Patents for Humanity Program passed the Senate by 
unanimous consent last Congress. I am hopeful that it will again this 
Congress and that we can finally enact into law this simple improvement 
to a successful program. We should take every opportunity we can to 
encourage and support enterprising Americans with bright ideas that 
will benefit both our country and the world.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Paul, 
        and Mr. Lee):
  S. 932. A bill to amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to 
provide that any estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office 
or the Joint Committee on Taxation shall include costs relating to 
servicing the public debt, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
the Budget.
  Mr. DAINES. 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. 932

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Budgetary Accuracy in 
     Scoring Interest Costs Act of 2017'' or the ``BASIC Act''.

     SEC. 2. CBO AND JCT ESTIMATES TO INCLUDE DEBT SERVICING 
                   COSTS.

       (a) In General.--The Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
     Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amended by 
     inserting after section 402 the following:


              ``estimates to include debt servicing costs

       ``Sec. 403. Any estimate prepared by the Congressional 
     Budget Office under section 402, and any estimate prepared by 
     the Joint Committee on Taxation, shall include, to the extent 
     practicable, the costs (if any) of servicing the public 
     debt.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act 
     is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
     402 the following:

``403. Estimates to include debt servicing costs.''.

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