Political Quotes

“Thank you, Madam President. Proponents of the first-to-file argue that the rest of the world follows this system and making this change will harmonize our system with theirs, and that is true. But under our first-to-invent system, our Nation has been by far the leader in the field of innovation, the leader in the field of new patents, new discoveries, new inventions. The other first-to-file countries have been playing catchup with our technological advances. I wouldn't trade our record of innovation for any of theirs, and I doubt many Members of this body disagree with me if they really think about it. Think about the history of innovation. What sets America apart is so many of our great inventions start out in small garages and labs, with driven, inspired people who have great ideas, develop them, and then they take off. I mentioned companies that have started this way yesterday, including Hewlett Packard, Apple, and Google, and there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of others. They started from humble beginnings, and they grew spectacularly, creating jobs for millions of Americans and lifting up our economy and standard of living. I know an inventor who invented Skyy vodka. The vodka he drank disturbed his stomach, so he figured out biologically and chemically what it was, and he invented a vodka called Skyy vodka--a small inventor. I think that company was subsequently sold for a great deal of money. But it started with one man who had a stomachache from drinking vodka.…”