{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-executive-business-meeting-us-patent-and-trademark-office", "Grassley Statement at Executive Business Meeting on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Nominee", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "IA", "Charles Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Prepared Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting December 14, 2017 \u00a0 Good morning. Today, we\u2019re considering several nominees and one bill. \u00a0 The judicial nominees are on the agenda for the first time, and the minority has requested that they be held over, so the following nominees will be held over: \u00a0 Kyle Duncan, 5th CircuitDavid Stras, 8th CircuitFernando Rodriguez, Southern District of Texas \u00a0 Andrei Iancu, who has been nominated to serve as Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, is also on today\u2019s agenda. \u00a0 Mr. Iancu has a proven record in the field of intellectual property law. He has an excellent academic and professional background in intellectual property law. He\u2019s extremely knowledgeable about the patent system. He\u2019s well respected in the legal community. \u00a0 His intellectual property practice has covered a wide array of subject areas and he has represented many different kinds of clients. Mr. Iancu has demonstrated that he\u2019s familiar with the issues that concern the various intellectual property stakeholders. \u00a0 The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office plays a crucial role in fostering innovation and protecting intellectual property rights. Because intellectual property \u2013 patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets \u2013 is so important to our national economy, we need the Office to have a strong and accountable leader. I believe that Mr. Iancu will be a responsible leader and manager, and that he\u2019ll be responsive to the various different IP stakeholders. \u00a0 I\u2019m pleased that Mr. Iancu has pledged to work with us to improve our intellectual property system, enforce the law, and boost intellectual property rights. I support Mr. Iancu\u2019s nomination and I urge my colleagues to support him as well. \u00a0 We will also vote on 5 nominees to be United States Attorneys. \u00a0 S. 2152, the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act is on the agenda for the first time and will be held over at the request of the other side. This is a bipartisan bill introduced by Senator Hatch and cosponsored by me as well as by Senators Feinstein, Cornyn, Klobuchar, Whitehouse, Tillis, and Blumenthal. \u00a0 The bill is named after \u201cAmy,\u201d \u201cVicky,\u201d and \u201cAndy,\u201d victims in some of the most widely distributed child pornography in the world. It also creates a better system for compensating victims of child pornography, and addresses the concerns raised in the Supreme Court\u2019s Paroline \u00addecision in 2014. The Paroline decision came in Amy\u2019s restitution case. \u00a0 The bill will establish more relevant and useful standards for the victims of child pornography who seek restitution from criminal defendants. It gives victims the alternative of a one-time fixed compensation payment from the Crime Victims Fund. The bill also requires appointment of a guardian ad litem for victims and allows them access to the images depicting them, which can be important for victim identification, expert testimony, forensic review, and treatment. I look forward to reporting this bill out of committee at our next executive business meeting. \u00a0 I\u2019ll now turn to Senator Feinstein for her remarks. \u00a0 -30-", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-executive-business-meeting-us-patent-and-trademark-office"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6898969877511263, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}