Washington, Nov 4, 2005 -

Today, the House of Representatives passed the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2006, H.R. 3057. U.S. Representative John R. Carter (TX-31) voted in favor of the legislation, which included report language Carter had added that would fully fund the intellectual property protection programs abroad through the Department of State’s office of International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement.

“This country prides itself on the creation of intellectual property,” said Carter. “Today, we did our part to make sure that the future of intellectual property is protected in foreign markets.”

Today the copyright industry represents six percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Intellectual property is a critical asset that needs to be appropriately protected. This legislation will give the Administration the tools it needs to achieve this goal, including the ability to offer capacity building assistance to governments who demonstrate a desire to improve their efforts but who may lack certain resources necessary to succeed.