On the recordJune 22, 2011
As founder and chairman of the Constitution Caucus, I applaud the opportunity to debate the constitutionality of this bill. This is the first of what I hope will be many more instances to discuss the constitutionality of legislation considered on this floor. What this bill does is change the U.S. patent system from one which allows the moment of invention to determine who is entitled to a patent to one which confers this power to a government agency. Such a change would violate the intellectual property clause of the Constitution. Why is that? Because the Founders rejected the idea that rights are bestowed to the people by the government in favor of the revolutionary principle that men are born with natural rights. Our Constitution instituted a government that secures only these natural and preexisting rights. So inventions created by the fruits of intellectual labor are the property of the inventor. These and only these first and true inventors then are entitled to public protection of their rightful property. To remain true to the principles of liberty, we must preserve a system that protects the true and first inventor.
