Dana Rohrabacher: “In the words of my former boss, President Reagan, Well, here we go again. Over the last 25 years, I and a small band of…”

“In the words of my former boss, President Reagan, Well, here we go again. Over the last 25 years, I and a small band of ``just refuse to go along and get along'' types here in Congress have engaged in a constant fight to maintain the intellectual property of American inventors. The intellectual property rights of our inventors is something that has been a great treasure to our country. Our Founding Fathers felt so strongly about technology and freedom--and, yes, with the profit motive--that that was the formula that would uplift human kind, and they believed in it so much that they wrote that into our Constitution. Article I, section 8, clause 8 of the Constitution: The Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. I might add that this is the only place in the body of the Constitution in which the word ``right'' is used. The Bill of Rights comes in during the amendment process of the Constitution, but our Founding Fathers thought so highly of technology and technology advancement that the right of inventors was included in the body of the Constitution. This provision has served America well. It has led to general prosperity that we would not have had otherwise.…”