Tony Thurmond: “I rise as a cosponsor and in support of the second degree amendment offered by Senator Hatch. The underlying Pryor first…”

“I rise as a cosponsor and in support of the second degree amendment offered by Senator Hatch. The underlying Pryor first degree amendment concerns the complex interrelationship among the GATT Treaty, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and the Patent Code. We considered this very issue last December on the Senate floor when Senator Pryor attempted to have this matter attached to the bill to ban partial-birth abortions. The Senate voted at that time to have the Judiciary Committee--that is the Committee with proper jurisdiction--to consider this important issue. The Judiciary Committee held a comprehensive hearing on this matter on February 27 of this year and Senator Pryor testified at that time. Mr. President, following the hearing in the Judiciary Committee, of which I am a member, the committee amended a proposal similar to Senator Pryor's amendment with a bipartisan compromise. The Judiciary Committee approved the compromise. This bill will be available for Senate floor consideration in due course. It would be most appropriate to consider Senator Pryor's amendment at that time. The Department of Defense authorization bill is not the proper vehicle on which to debate the Pryor amendment. Unfortunately, we are now having to debate this contentious intellectual property issue and I am compelled to support the second degree amendment offered by the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Hatch.”