Andre yanku to be director of the u. S. Patent and trademark office, a confirmation vote scheduled for 5 30 eastern this afternoon. Later this week, a shortterm government funding bill to keep federal operations running past thursday is expected to come to the floor. We will have live coverage here on cspan2. O order. The chaplain dr. Barry black will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. O god our rock, we look to you for safety in a chaotic world. Were grateful that you hear our prayers, responding to our requests for help. Be a shield for our senators, protecting them from dangers seen and unseen. As they put their trust in you, fill them with your spirit, giving them confidence in the unfolding of your powerful providence. Lord, remind them that no weapon formed against them will ultimately prosper. Lead them like a shepherd beside still water, as you fill their hearts with your peace. We pray in your great name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer the senator for utah. Mr. Hatch is the senate in a quorum call . The presiding officer it is not. Mr. Hatch then, mr. President , i rise to speak. The presiding officer the senator is recognized. Mr. Hatch thank you. I rise today in support of the nomination of andrei iancu to be under secretary of the commerce for intellectual property and director of the u. S. Patent and trademark office. Uspto is critically important its a critically Important Agency that stands at the crossroads of innovation, technology, and property rights. Its tasked with ensuring that our laws properly compensate ingenuity and invention while at the same time stopping bad actors who seek to game the system. Intellectual property has been a focus of mine throughout my entire senate service. Early in my tenure, i authored the hatchwaxman ability which act which made possible the rise of the modern generic drug industry. Much recently, i played a key role in the american invents act which rebalanced our at that time ent system to ensure highquality patents and reduce abusive legislation litigation. Just last congress i offered to defend the trade secrets act that created a federal private cause of action to prevent trade secret theft and other nefarious activity. Ive also led the charge against patent trolling, a practice of buying up patents shoally for the purpose of bringing solely for the purpose of bringing lawsuits and by form shopping in patent cases, that must not be allowed. I was gratified to see the Supreme Court last year strike a blow against abusive shopping in the t. C. Hartman decision. In my remaining months in this body, i inning tend intend to continue ahead full bore on intellectual property reform. Digital music licensing royalties for ar and are just aw of my intellectual property priorities this year. Given my focus, i take a keen interest in the patent trademark act in our office and in the individual selected to run the office. I have to say i couldnt be more pleased by President Trumps nomination of andre iancu to be the next u. S. P. T. O. Director. Andre has an extensive background in patent litigation. Hes a partner in irel and ma nello, one of the leading intellectual property law firms. For six years he was the managing partner. Andre has represented clients across the spectrum from drug manufactures to aerospace firms. He understands all sides of patent law because hes litigated all sides. In an area fraught with allegiances to particular industries or groups, andrei can bring a neutral unbiased perspective because hes already had to approach issues from so many different angles. Andrei has been named a leader in intellectual property and patent law by chambers u. S. A. Every year for the last 11 years. Hes been named attorney of the year by california lawyer and lawyer of the year by the los angeles business journal. President , i have full confidence that he will make an outstanding p. T. O. Director. Subject matter, eligibility, p. T. A. B. Reform and continued controversies over Forum Shopping are just a handful of the issues that will soon be coming across his desk. There will also be questions about fee setting, fee diversion, and i. T. Modernization. As i move forward on my intellectual property priorities this year, i look forward to working with andrei and his future colleagues to make our patent and trademark system the best it can possibly be. We owe to the American People to ensure that our intellectual property laws keep pace with our rapidly changing world. That has always been one of my chief focuses here in this body and it will continue to be so throughout the rest of my term. Mr. President , i also like to take a couple of minutes to discuss a bill ill be introducing with senators coons, graham, and whitehouse. Its called the clarifying lawful overseas use of data act or the cloud act. Its a tremendously important bill that will help solve the problems that have arisen in recent years with cross border Law Enforcement requests. The rise of email and Cloud Computing has put our privacy laws on a collision course with privacy laws of other countries. Information in emails or in the cloud can be stored on servers virtually anywhere in the world. This means that when Law Enforcement seeks access to such information, the information may be located in another country. This state of affairs causes problems both for Law Enforcement and for email in Cloud Computing providers. It causes problems for Law Enforcement because warrants traditionally stop at the waters edge and because laws in other countries may prohibit disclosures to foreign Law Enforcement. And if causes problems for email it causes problems for email and cloud providers because they find themselves you caught between orders by u. S. Law enforcement to disclose data in other countries and laws in those other countries that may forbid such disclosure. The question of whether warrants issued to u. S. Based providers may require providers to disclose data stored in other countries is currently before the u. S. Supreme court in the United States v. Microsoft case. Oral arguments in the case will be heard later this month. No matter how the court rules, however, problems will remain. Either Law Enforcement either Law Enforcement will lack the ability to obtain in a timely manner email and documents in the cloud that are stored overseas or providers will find themselves caught between conflicting domestic and foreign laws. The cloud act creates a clear workable framework to resolve these problems. The bill has four key componen components. First it authorizes the United States to enter into bilateral data sharing agreements with qualifying countries under which the United States agrees to lift its bar on disclosure to Law Enforcement in a qualifying country if that country similarly agrees to find or to lift any bar it has on disclosure to u. S. Law enforcement. The cloud act sets forth stringent requirements for such agreements in order to ensure privacy and data security. In particular, it provides that any requests by foreign Law Enforcement to u. S. Providers under such an agreement cannot target or request information on u. S. Persons. Second, the cloud act clarifies that a warrant served on a u. S. Provider may reach data stored overseas provided the data is within the providers possession, custody, or control. This will enable u. S. Law enforcement investigating crimes to obtain information stored overseas without having to without having to reason resort to cumbersome diplomatic channels. Third, the cloud act gives email and Cloud Computing providers the ability to challenge a warrant issued for data stored overseas if complying with the warrant would cause the provider to violate the laws of a foreign country. The Court Hearing such a challenge determines whether in the interest of international comity, the warrant should be modified or quashed. Finally, the cloud act authorizes providers to disclose to a Foreign Government the fact that the provider has received a warrant for information stored in that country provided the Foreign Government has entered into a bilateral data sharing agreement previously described. This will enable the Foreign Government to assist compliance with the terms of the agreement and intervene diplomatically if it believes the request is inappropriate. The cloud act has broad support in both the Tech Community and among Law Enforcement. It bridges the divide that sometimes we see between these two groups. The bill is an outgrowth of my International Communications privacy act or icpa coupled with the u. S. U. K. Bilateral framework that many of my colleagues are familiar with. Indeed, the u. S. U. K. Bilateral Framework Agreement outlined in the cloud act is intended as a model for future agreements with the United States and other countries that are committed to privacy, human rights, and Enter National international Law Enforcement cooperation. Expeditiously implementing similar agreements with the European Union and other allies is critical to protecting consumers around the world and facilitating legitimate Law Enforcement investigations. Im pleased to be introducing this very important landmark legislation with my friends from delaware, south carolina, and rhode island and intend to push hard to see it enacted in the very near future. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Schumer mr. President . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer its always a pleasure to hear from my friend, the senator from utah when i agree with him and even when i dont. Thank you. Serious stuff, mr. President. Mr. President , we must pass another extension of government funding by this thursday. There isnt much time to waste. And yet speaker ryan is again considering a cromnibus, a shortterm extension of funding for urgent domestic priorities but a longterm extension and a large increase of funding for defense. To placate the ultraconservatives in his caucus. Of course a cromnibus is merely a reuss designed to slash funding for education and health care, infrastructure, scientific research, all the things that many in the Freedom Caucus dont want the government to support. Thats why 44 Senate Democrats warned our republican colleagues in a letter last year that we wouldnt support a cromnibus and that it could never pass the senate. We want to fund defense, absolutely, but we also want to Fund Programs that help the middle class like education, like infrastructure, like scientific research. Were standing up and say we must do both. Thats how this boat this body works. Different people have different views and we compromise. Maybe there are some on my side who dont want to spend as much on defense as the republican side does, but its a compromise. I for one appreciate that we need probust defense spheng robust defense spending. Now, sending a cromnibus to the senate, one that just funded defense and cut programs crucial to the middle class, would be barreling head first into a dead end. Speaker ryan needs to do whats best for the country and work in a bipartisan way to fund the government, even if not every faction of his caucus will go along. If he lets the Freedom Caucus be the tail that wags the dog, theres no way well reach an agreement that can pass the senate. And it would jeopardize the positive discussions going on right now about the budget, disaster aid, immigration aid immigration and more. Now a word on the republican tax bill. Even as corporations plow tens of billions of dollars into share bybacks and stock repurchasing programs instead of raising wages or hiring more workers, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are doing their best to portray their 1. 5 trillion corporate giveaway as a boost to working americans. Im sure that President Trumps address in ohio today will focus on the few companies that have given bonuses, but i wonder how many of those bonuses delivered around christmas were annual and would have been given any way . I wonder how many of those bonuses were linked to the tax bill and Corporate Press releases to cowry favor with the president even though they would have been given anyway . Well, i bet President Trump wont mention a thing will the slew of layoffs and stock buybacks in the wake of the bill. I bet he wont dare mention that 80 of the benefits of this bill went to the top 1 , that the middle class should have gotten a lot more than theyre getting. And we all know that corporations have spent billions enriching their sharehold erstwhile the middle class is waiting for the trickledown effects that may never come. Imagine if all the money that went into tax breaks for corporations and the super rich went to the middle class instead. If that were the case, then President Trump would actually have something to boast about in ohio today. This weekend speaker ryan showed just how far republicans will strain conjewelty, to claim their tax bill helps working americans. He tweeted that, quote, a secretary at a Public High School in lancaster, pennsylvania, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up 1. 50 a week which will more than cover her costco membership for a year. Someone must have told him how out of touch that was because speaker ryan soon deleted the tweet. As high School Secretaries get 1. 50 a week in savings, the wealthiest. 1 of americans are getting an average of about 3,000 a week. High school secretary, 1. 50. Top. 1 , 3,000 a week. Because of the tax bill, the lancaster secretary may well be able to afford a membership to a big box store, but the top 1 can now afford a new bentley. Is that fair . Is that right . Is that what the American People wanted . No way. No way. And all the propaganda and millions of dollars of ads from the Koch Brothers and all these other rich people, this handful of rich people that have so much say on the republican side, all the ads theyll pay for wont make up for that fact, and the American People see it. The fundamental unfairness at the center of the republican tax bill is this, corporations and the super rich are having a bonanza while American Workers are left with paltry savings. Considering the republicans spent 1. 5 trillion in federal resources to pass their tax bill, the middle class should have gotten a whole lot more, a lot more than 1. 50 a week. When President Trump takes the stump in ohio, we expect to hear about how his tax bill is helping American Workers but every american should know that that reality is different. On friday the Trump Administration declassified and released the contents of the deceptive nunes memo. Its the latest distraction concocted by republicans to protect a president of their party from the conclusions of an independent, a truly independent investigation. Shamefully, its the latest abuse in a long line of partisan broad sides against the f. B. I. , the nations premier Law Enforcement agency. These attacks erode faith in the rule of law. At least the American People can now see the nunes memo for what it truly is, an impotent document of g. O. P. Talking points. Far from being the smoking gun that many republicans, rightwing Media Outlets and russialinked box claimed it would be the nunes memo caused smoke, full of conclusions based on innuendo. It does not vindicate the president ror prove bias at the department of justice. It confirms the steele dossier was not the catalyst debunking a right wing talking point. Let that sink in, the f. B. I. Was concerned about Trump AdministrationCampaign Advisors before let me repeat before the steele dossier existed. So this idea that the steele dossier created all this is just plain wrong and even their own memo admits it. The nunes memo also confirms that a threejudge panel on multiple occasions thought it was in the best interest of our National Security to monitor a Trump Campaign advisor for his troubling links to the kremlin. Seeing as House Republicans