Date: 2008-06-23
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 6344. the Responsive Government Act of 2008. and urge my colleagues to adopt it today. There are three major components to the bill. First. the legislation authorizes Federal courts to toll or otherwise delay deadlines outside of their statutorily defined geographic domains during times of emergency. The text is identical to that of H.R. 3729 from the 109th Congress. passed on July 17. 2006. by a voice vote under suspension of the rules. The need for this legislation became apparent following the terrorist attacks of Septdffiber 11. 2001. and the impact that these disasters had on court operations. in particular in New York City. In emergency conditions. a Federal court facility in an adjoining district or circuit might be more readily and safely available to court personnel. to litigants. to jurors. and the public. than a facility -at a place of holding court within the district. This is particularly true in major metropolitan areas. such as New York. Washington. DC. Dallas. and Kansas City. where the metropolitan areas include part of more than one judicial district. This reform is also needed to address natural disasters. The impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Federal courts in Louisiana. Alabama. and. Mississippi once again demonstrated the importance of congressional action on this proposal. Where court operations cannot be transferred to other divisions within the affected judicial district due to widespread flooding or other destruction. judges must be empowered to shift court proceedings temporarily into a neighboring judicial district. The advent of electronic court record systems will facilitate implementation of this authority by providing judges. court staff. and attorneys with remote access to case documents. Secondly. the bill allows the PTO director to waive various patent and trademark filing requirements during emergencies. This text is identical to that of H.R. 4742 from the 109th Congress. passed on December 5. 2006. by voice vote under suspension of the rules. The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the gulf region affected the ability of applicants. patentees. trademark holders. and other interested parties to do business with the Patent and Trademark Office. Despite its best efforts to date. the PTO needs additional authority to provide individuals and businesses with relief from certain statutory deadlines. especially those pertaining to the maintenance of patents and trademarks. Pursuant to the bill. the PTO may waive statutory provisions governing the filing. processing. renewal. and maintenance of patents. trademarks. and applications to the extent the director deems necessary to protect the rights and privileges of applicants and other persons affected by an emergency or major disaster. Third. the bill grants the PTO director discretionary authority to accept a latefiled application for patent term extension in certain cases if the application is filed not later than 3 business days after statutory deadline and the applicant files a petition within 5 business days of the deadline that shows that the delay was unintentional. This provision is similar to legislation. H.R. 5120. which passed the House by voice vote under suspension of the rules as part of S. 1785. the Vessel Hull Design Protection Amendments of 2005. That passed on December 6. 2006. Madam Speaker. this is a good bill. It helps Federal litigants. inventors. trademark holders. and other interested parties to maintain their rights under adverse conditions. I urge Members to support the bill. but I am intrigued by the name of the bill. the Responsive Government Act of- 2008. .One would think that this government could be responsive to the tremendous problem we have with high energy costs in this country. not just gas prices. but home heating oil. the cost of electricity. natural gas. So with just one week left before the July 4 break. we would hope that the Democrat majority would be willing to bring a bill to the floor. something that is meaningful to provide some solutions to increase the supply of Americanmade energy and lower gas prices. Perhaps next time we wont leave town if the price of gasolineis $5 a gallon. The way its going. that may be the cas6. We shouldnt wait for that. We should act now. So we should have another Responsive Government Act of 2008. one that responds to the needs and concerns of the American people. Americans are paying. all Americans are paying. on average. about $1.74 more for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline than they were on the day that the Democrats look over this House. promising a new. commonsense. approach to energy that would not only stop increases. but bring it down. Unfortunately. just the reverse has been the case. Perhaps we could work together somehow. agreeing that America has never been afraid of the future. America has always embraced the future and America has used technology here in the United States to surmount obstacles. It seems strange that we would have American technology now being used in waters off of Brazil to explore where they have just found the largest single oil find in the last 25 years. There are some that suggest that Brazil will now be energyindependent. They .wont even have to use the ethanol they produce from their sugar because of this find. 4f1 the Congress of the United States had controlled Brazil. they wouldnt have been able to find it. because its offshore. Last week. I remind my colleagues. the Democrat leadership had time to schedule legislation to prohibit the interstate sale and transfer of monkeys. but they apparently didnt have enough time to listen to the large.majority of Americans who support more U.S. energy production. The new Fox News poll shows that 76 percent of Americans support immediate efforts to drill more in the United States in order to boost American energy production and help lower record prices. Theres only onething standing in the way of this Congress. If we are to be truly responsive. in addition to this fine bill that we are voting on today. ought we not also respond to the most immediate concern of Americans in every- State. in every congressional district. and do something about the supply of Americanmade energy and lower gas prices. The response is not. as my friend on the other side said. all we need to do is sue a little bit more. If we can have a few more people and a few more courts. and sue. that will somehow solve the problem. No. The answer is increase the supply of Americanmade energy and lower gas prices right now. That is what the American people are asking for. So as I rise in support of the Responsive Government Act of 2008. I would hope we would have another Responsive Government Act. one that will be responsive to the concerns expressed by the American people. With that. I would yield back the balance of my time.