Student Success Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of a modest change to H.R. 5 that would amend relevant portions of the Student Success Act related to technology to include education about the harms of copyright piracy.

This amendment is designed to encourage local educational agencies, teachers, educational staff, and parents to discuss the harms of copyright piracy, as well as the use of technology in a responsible fashion.

In the absence of classroom instruction about the importance of intellectual property, as well as the harms of copyright piracy at the elementary and secondary school level, young people are often unaware of the boundaries established in law to prevent the illegal infringement of copyrighted content.

Research suggests that in order to uphold the societal value of respect for intellectual property, individuals must learn or be introduced to this principle at an early age. This mission, of course, is anchored in the United States constitutional charge to Congress to
protect intellectual property.

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We have an article I responsibility as Members of Congress to insure that creators and innovators are not robbed of the fruits of their labor. Technology, of course, is a wonderful thing, and it is the way of the future.

It is an important tool, and we must ensure that our students are using it in a safe and responsible fashion or, certainly, at least, provide our local educational stakeholders the opportunity to disseminate information in a manner that they see fit.

In the classroom, children are currently taught that plagiarism is an ethical violation of academic honesty. This amendment will hopefully facilitate the extension of this discussion into the digital era.

To that end, we must help our local schools and parents be given the tools necessary to proactively educate, to the extent that they see fit, information about the unforeseen impact on copyright piracy, the importance of intellectual property, and its connection, of course, to the American economy.

A variety of bipartisan stakeholders support this amendment, including the educational organizations such as CreativeFuture, as well as the Copyright Alliance, the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Music Publishers' Association, the Songwriters Guild of America, the Authors Guild, The Association of American Publishers, as well as The Recording Academy.

Intellectual property protection is a foundation of the American economy. Our continued prosperity, at least in part, depends on protecting the innovation and the creative output of artists, musicians, scientists, and engineers and insuring that the next
generation of creators could flourish as well.

Thus, it is important to recognize the vital role that education can play in helping the future leaders of America understand the value of the American creative community and protect the significant sector for future generations.

For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this modest amendment.

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