Letter to President Bush Supporting S. 3325, the "Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008"
October 2, 2008
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, strongly supports S. 3325, the "Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008," which the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent on September 26, 2008 and the House subsequently passed by a vote of 381-41 on September 28, 2008.
Protecting intellectual property (IP) is critical to America's future competitiveness and economic security. IP plays a central role in the success of a broad range of U.S. industries and will become increasingly important as the economy continues to evolve. Unfortunately, counterfeiting and piracy of IP is a growing problem that costs U.S. businesses nearly $250 billion in revenue each year, has already caused the loss of an estimated 750,000 American jobs, and poses a severe health and safety risk to consumers.
The Chamber applauds your Administration's recognition of the threat posed by counterfeiting and piracy and corresponding efforts to confront it, particularly through the STOP! Initiative. However, this initiative lacks statutory permanence and future administrations may discontinue these efforts to make effective IP enforcement a priority. To counter the growth in size, scale, and sophistication of the criminal enterprises engaged in counterfeiting and piracy, the Chamber believes that the government must have a permanent long-term strategy, improved interagency coordination, more resources focused on IP enforcement, and additional legal tools at its disposal. S. 3325 addresses the government's needs in each of these areas.
The Chamber urges you to sign S. 3325 into law, because it will reduce businesses' annual revenue losses from IP theft, produce more jobs for U.S. workers, yield higher tax revenues for federal, state and local governments, and increase public safety.
Sincerely,
R. Bruce Josten