H. Con. Res. 230
Agreed to December 22, 2005
One Hundred Ninth Congress
of the
United States of America 
AT THE FIRST SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 
the fourth day of January, two thousand and five 
Concurrent Resolution
Whereas the protection of intellectual property is critical to the 
Nation’s economic competitiveness in the 21st century; 
Whereas Russia remains on the Special 301 Priority Watch List 
compiled by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), 
and the Congress is gravely concerned about the failure of the 
Russian Federation to live up to international standards in the 
protection of intellectual property rights, a core American asset; 
Whereas the Congress wants to ensure that the Russian Federation 
redoubles its efforts to adopt and enforce aggressive laws, policies, 
and practices in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting; 
Whereas the Congress is particularly concerned that the Russian 
Federation is, in the words of Senate Concurrent Resolution 28, 
a place where ‘‘piracy that is open and notorious is permitted 
to operate without meaningful hindrance from the government’’; 
Whereas, according to USTR, enforcement of intellectual property 
rights in Russia ‘‘remains weak and caused substantial losses 
for the U.S. copyright, trademark, and patent industries in the 
last year. Piracy in all copyright sectors continues unabated, 
and the U.S. copyright industry estimated losses of $1.7 billion 
in 2004.’’; 
Whereas the Russian Federation must understand that failure to 
adequately protect and enforce intellectual property rights will 
have political and economic ramifications for its relationship with 
the United States; 
Whereas accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) rep-
resents an agreement to conform one’s practices to the rule of 
law, and to international standards in the WTO Agreement on 
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); 
Whereas notwithstanding some recent legislative improvements, 
Russia’s regime to protect intellectual property rights does not 
conform with TRIPS standards; 
Whereas the United States can ill afford deterioration of the world 
trading system by permitting the entry of a country into the 
WTO that has not demonstrated its willingness and ability to 
conform its practices to the requirements of the TRIPS; and 
Whereas the leaders of the G–8, including President Putin of the 
Russian Federation, recently pledged to reduce intellectual prop-
erty piracy through more effective enforcement: Now, therefore, 
be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concur-
ring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
H. Con. Res. 230—2
(1) the Russian Federation should provide adequate and 
effective protection of intellectual property rights, or it risks 
losing its eligibility to participate in the Generalized System 
of Preferences (GSP) program; and 
(2) as part of its effort to accede to the World Trade 
Organization, the Russian Federation must ensure that intellec-
tual property is securely protected in law and in practice, 
by demonstrating that the country is willing and able to meet 
its international obligations in this respect. 
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.