John Conyers

Thank you very much.

For me personally, I've long been reluctant to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget, because such an amendment could have a devastating consequence for millions of Americans.

A balanced budget amendment could be used to loot our Nation's savings funded by money taken out of every American's paycheck to pay for other things and to balance the budget.

One of the major contributing factors to the problem of abusive patent litigation is the issuance of ambiguous and poor quality patents.

We should also use this as an opportunity to review the procedures at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Which of these factors is most pressing and what recommendations on substantive solutions can we in Congress work on to help address the homeownership problem hurting African Americans.

We have to by law fund the 1890s, African-American colleges. So we put $95 million in the appropriations hopefully that we will be able to spread over for 5 years at $5 million for each of these universities over that period.

We were hopeful that, for the first time in history, American history, that the Federal Reserve would appoint and hire the very first African American ever to hold the position as a regional president of the Fed, and you all did that.

I refer my colleague, the floor leader on the other side to section 9 of the bill. We have just looked at it. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Barragan).

I just have to add here that H.R. 1215 deeply intrudes on States' sovereignty. In particular, H.R. 1215 preempts State law governing joint and several liability, the availability of damages, the ability to introduce evidence of collateral…

I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch), a distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee.

I resist the notion that the little ones are going to be very grateful to us for being so thorough and fair and concerned.

I feel a little bit uncomfortable, because the little nations, I mean, people say, well, who cares...

I think today's hearing is the beginning of an examination and, for some people a reexamination, of antitrust laws, American antitrust laws.

My greatest concern is whether and to what degree these problematic foreign antitrust enforcement practices impact American jobs.

Over-penalization would be counterproductive and only contribute to our crisis of over-incarceration.

The committee has received a letter from over 65 advocacy organizations opposing the bill.

I am concerned that H.R. 2851 is a well-intentioned but flawed bill and raises several concerns.

I have to tell you that in the 24 years that I've been advising lawyers on legal ethics matters, including 10 years at the State bar of Arizona, as the director of ethics, I've never once heard a consumer complaining about an advertisement.

And as Representative Conyers mentioned in his opening remarks, and Ranking Member Cohen, the First Amendment protects those ads.

Most prescription drugs save lives. Yet, it's also a fact that some result in injury and death.

All of us, public officials, community leaders, and parents, have a special duty to do all we can to provide every opportunity for our children...

Under your leadership, Chairman Goodlatte, we have already worked together to address one aspect of this problem.

The statutes that protect our privacy and regulate government access to our communications were written decades ago

One of the most effective steps we can take in responding to abusive patent litigation is making sure poor quality patents are not issued to begin with.