Members of the bipartisan encryption working group – established in March 2016 by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) – today released a year-end report laying out key observations and next steps.
Sudden and sharp increases in the cost of life-saving prescription medications have caused much public outcry, most recently regarding the substantial spike in the price of EpiPen, which is used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions.
Although today's hearing focuses on competition in the markets for a particular set of life-saving drugs -- namely, those that treat opioid addiction -- I hope that there are some broader lessons that we can draw from our discussion today.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
11:00 a.m. Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice
Hearing on: Exploring Federal Diversity Jurisdiction
Witnesses:
- Mr. Charles Cooper, Partner, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
- Ms. Joanna Shepherd, Professor of Law, Emory Law School
- Mr. Ronald Weich, Professor of Law, University of Baltimore
2237 Rayburn House Office Building
1:00 p.m. Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
Hearing on: Oversight of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Witness:
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today provided an update on the progress made by the bipartisan encryption working group:
Today, Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) and Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) along with Congressman Blake Fahrenthold (R-TX) and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced H.R. 5321 the Stop Mass Hacking Act. This is the companion bill to legislation introduced on the Senate side by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY).
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) joined U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) as well as legendary Four Tops founding member, Duke Fakir, T Bone Burnett, Roseanne Cash, and more than three dozen artists and musicians at a press conference in support of H.R. 1733, the Fair Play Fair Pay Act. The legislation would harmonize and modernize the outdated rules that currently govern music licensing for digital and terrestrial radio broadcasts.
Today's hearing gives us an opportunity to study how the International Trade Commission handles patent disputes and whether it sufficiently protects American innovation.
In particular, we should focus on whether the Commission produces fair results to litigants and, most importantly, whether these results are beneficial to the American consumer.
Congress established the Commission as an independent, quasi-judicial federal agency to provide non-partisan counsel to the legislative and executive branches of the government.
Witnesses
Mr. Dominic Bianchi
General Counsel, U.S. International Trade Commission
Ms. Deanna Tanner Okun
Former Chairman, International Trade Commission, Partner, Aducci, Mastriani, & Schaumberg LLP
The House Judiciary Committee today approved by a vote of 28-0 the Email Privacy Act (H.R. 699) to protect Americans' privacy and public safety in the digital age.
I want to begin by thanking you, Chairman Goodlatte, and your staff, for working with us to develop the amendment before us now.
I also want to thank the members of the Digital Due Process Coalition, many of whom are represented here today, for their tireless dedication to the work of modernizing federal statute for the Internet age.
Over the last few weeks, Mr. Chairman, as we have worked out our few remaining differences on this bill, we have crafted what I believe to be an effective compromise.
In 2014, in a unanimous ruling delivered by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court concluded that the police may not search a cellphone without first demonstrating probable cause.
Citing an obvious Fourth Amendment interest in the vast amount of data we store on-and access from-our personal devices, the Court wrote:
The House Judiciary Committee has announced its schedule for the week of April 11-15, 2016.
Wednesday, April 13
10:30 a.m. Full Committee Markup
Encryption a Top Issue for House Judiciary and Energy and Commerce Committees
Witnesses
The Honorable James B. Comey
Director, Federal Bureau of Investigations
Ms. Susan Landau
Professor, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
On Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 1:00 p.m., the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans' Security and Privacy." The House Judiciary Committee previously held member briefings on encryption, which included a briefing from technology companies and a classified briefing from the government.
Witnesses
Ms. Mary Denison
Commissioner for Trademarks, United States Patent and Trademark Office
Ms. Lilliam Escasena
Cuban Property Claimant, Miami, Florida
Witnesses
Ms. Kelly K. Burris
Intellectual Property Attorney, Burris Law, PLLC
Mrs. Pat Felder
Owner, Felder's Collision Parts, Inc.
"As of this morning, the bill has earned 304 cosponsors-191 Republicans, 113 Democrats, and 27 members of the House Judiciary Committee. What do all of these members have in common?
"First, we all agree that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act is outdated and provides unjustifiably inconsistent standards for government access to our stored communications.
"This statute continues to serve as one of the main guarantees of our digital privacy.
"But the law was designed in 1986, when few of us used email, and fewer imagined a world in which we could so freely share information online.
Witnesses
Mr. Chris Calabrese
Vice President, Policy, Center for Democracy and Technology
"The growth of the United States economy relies on the expansion of the global digital economy and efficient cross-border data flow.
"According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, digital trade increased U.S. average wages by nearly 5 percent and spurred the creation of about 2.4 million full time positions in 2011. That same year, digital trade also increased our Nation's annual Gross Domestic Product by 4.8 percent.
"As we hear from today's witnesses, I would like for us to consider the following points.
Witnesses
Mr. Peter Allgeier
Ambassador, President, Coalition of Service Industries
Dr. Robert D. Atkinson
President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law
10:00 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Hearing on:
H.R. 3438, the "Require Evaluation before Implementing Executive Wishlists Act of 2015"
H.R.2631, the "Regulatory Predictability for Business Growth Act of 2015"
Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
1:00 p.m. in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building