Sec. 3. Sense of Congress
268 words·~1 min read·
/bill/117/hr/7430/ih/section-3·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the sense of Congress that— the United States should continue to act as a global leader to help contain and end the COVID–19 pandemic at home and abroad; innovators in the United States are already heroes for their breakthrough work in developing and producing COVID–19 vaccines; it should be a priority of the global community, with the assistance of the United States, to efficiently and quickly manufacture and distribute COVID–19 vaccines around the world, and in particular to those countries that are most vulnerable; current impediments to further vaccination efforts are due to— the technically difficult manufacturing requirements for vaccines; the need to appropriately ensure that vaccines are high-quality, safe, and effective; raw material constraints; and difficulties in distribution; intellectual property protections for COVID–19 vaccines have not impeded vaccination efforts for COVID–19; intellectual property protections in fact help ensure the safe and efficient manufacturing of COVID–19 vaccines; waiving intellectual property protections could lead to the production of substandard, ineffective, and potentially unsafe COVID–19 vaccines; the Trade Representative must consult with Congress before taking a position on the current TRIPS Agreement waiver proposal before the WTO and any further proposals to waive or weaken intellectual property obligations under the TRIPS Agreement;
Congress and the people of the United States are entitled to comprehensive expert analysis regarding the implications of a waiver to the TRIPS Agreement for jobs, economic growth, public health, and national security in the United States; and the United States must oppose any waiver to intellectual property obligations under the TRIPS Agreement for the response to the COVID–19 pandemic until those implications are fully analyzed.