Marcy Kaptur: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in obvious strong opposition to H.R. 400. If this bill were so wonderful, then why are America's…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in obvious strong opposition to H.R. 400. If this bill were so wonderful, then why are America's preeminent inventors opposed to it? Dr. Raymond Damadian, inventor of magnetic resonance scanning, Dr. Wilson Greatbatch, inventor of the cardiac pacemaker, Dr. Stephanie Kwolick, inventor of Kevlar, Dr. Jay Forrester, inventor of core memory, the first practical RAM. If this is such a great idea, then why are the people who have created America's future opposing it? I have to say this bill is about a whole lot more than just arcane patent law. It is about what our Constitution guaranteed, and that is the property rights of our inventors. I hear all this concern about foreign countries and putting us on an equal footing with foreign countries. The facts are, we are the leader in the world. Why should we want to dumb down our system or make it easier for others to tap into the inventions that our people produce? Why should we ask our inventors to have a greater burden of proof? Why should we make them be forced to get into this reexamination system? Why should we do this to the people who have built the greatest industrial and agricultural power on the face of the Earth?”