42 senators support strong intellectual property rights in climate change talks

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Related Documents Industry Document "Letter to The President" presented on 11/2/2009 Industry Document "U.S. Chamber Applauds Senate Action Supporting IP Rights in Climate Change Negotiations" presented on 11/4/2009

Related Articles 11/3/2009 Republicans boycott Senate committee markup of cap-and-trade bill

In a bipartisan effort led by Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, 42 senators signed a letter to President Barack Obama Nov. 2 voicing support for preserving strong intellectual property rights in the U.N. climate change talks.

"As you know, some countries have suggested including measures to weaken intellectual property rights in the negotiations. We would oppose any such measures vigorously," the letter said.

The Democratic and Republican senators thanked Obama for standing "with American workers, manufacturers, and innovators in making clear that your administration does not support measures to weaken intellectual property rights" in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations. They contended that intellectual property rights allow innovators to attract the investment needed to develop and market their ideas, thereby promoting economic growth and creating high-value American jobs.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauded the senators for supporting U.S. workers, manufacturers and innovators. "This letter clearly demonstrates the Senate's commitment to American workers and the intellectual property system that protects innovation and its role in addressing global challenges," Mark Esper, executive vice president of the chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center, said in a Nov. 4 news release. "There is a consensus among both Democrats and Republicans that in order to successfully address our environmental and energy goals, IP must be protected, and this position should be reflected in U.S. priorities going into Copenhagen. If there is going to be any agreement, it must not contain language that weakens IP."

Republicans continue boycott of Kerry-Boxer markup

The bipartisan letter emerged even as Senate Republicans continued for a second day to boycott the Senate Environment and Public Work Committee's scheduled markup of the Kerry-Boxer cap-and-trade bill. Republicans began their boycott of the markup Nov. 3. Boxer told fellow Democrats that the urgency of global warming requires moving ahead with the markup, with or without Republicans present. "We need to act now to ensure that America is the world's leader in clean energy technology," she said.

The committee's ranking member, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., appeared briefly in the meeting room on the morning of Nov. 4, where the chairs of Republican committee members have sat empty for two days save for a brief appearance by Voinovich on Nov. 3 to explain the reasons for the boycott.

Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., welcomed Inhofe to the meeting table warmly, taking his hand and saying, "Let the record show we're holding hands here!"

"We want to mark up this bill," Inhofe said, emphasizing the point made the previous day by Voinovich, namely, that committee Republicans are staying away from the markup until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency performs full modeling runs on the costs of the Kerry-Boxer bill.

"EPA can start today to complete this analysis. But Madam Chairman, the way we see it, you are standing in the way. So I'm asking you this morning to work with us; let EPA do its analysis so we can get to a markup. It's really that simple," Inhofe said. "Madam Chairman, choosing the other course would be unwise."

Inhofe pointed to an earlier bipartisan experience in working on the Clear Skies legislation under Republican leadership of the committee. "Despite our differences on the legislation, at no time did the majority ignore the committee rules and overrule the objections of the minority. In fact, the markup was delayed three times to accommodate the requests of Democrats seeking more time," he said.

Boxer argued that the EPA already has performed an unprecedented amount of analysis on cap-and-trade bills, particularly the House-passed Waxman-Markey bill. She also said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will request a full-blown EPA analysis of the Kerry-Boxer bill after the various Senate committees with jurisdiction over pieces of the climate change legislation report their bills and the overall bill is assembled. That five-week analysis would be performed before the complete bill is brought to the Senate floor for debate.