mr. coble: i thank my distinguished friend from north carolina, mr. price, and appreciate that. you indicated where mel is going to be leaving. i hope he won't ignore us when he meets his on the streets or in these halls but mel watt and i have shared several counties in north carolina for nearly two decades. we've both sat as members of the house judiciary committee fo two decades. mel, we wish you and your family the best wishes and i yield back to mr. price. mr. price: i thank the gentleman and i want to make note of the fact that mel's wife is in the gallery tonight on behalf of my wife, lisa, and myself, we have considered the watts good friends, colleagues, shared many experiences together and we're going to miss them both a great deal. although we take some solace in the thought that they're not going too far. and that we will have chances assumes ether as mel this new -- this new rule. mel watt is a legislator's legislator. we sometimes say that about colleagues. if there was any doubt about that, it would have been dispeled by what we just heard in the committee room th

mr. coble: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3626 to extend the undetectable firearms act of 1988 for 10 years. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3626, a bill to extend the undetectable firearms act of 1988 for 10 years. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble, and the gentleman -- therginia, mr. scott, ouse will be in order. pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble, and the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. coble: i thank the speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. coble: mr. speaker, today i rise in support of h.r. 3626, a bill to extend the undetectable firearms act of 1988 for 10 years. in 1988 congress passed the original law that makes it illegal to manufacture,

the chair: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for one minute. 7 mr. coble: i support the goodlatte bill and -- this is a commonsense provision that cures ne of the patent troll abuses. against targeting the wrong people. patent ownership should sue the people that made the product not the retailer who sold it or a customer who used it. how is the owner of a coffee shop supposed to now how a router works? i don't know. why would we expect someone who didn't build it to defend a claim it infringes. or this reason a deli in connecticut sports this legislation. aim not sure any patent bill before the congress has won the support of a deli can it'sian. this one does. chairman goodlatte's bill addresses it. i support the bill and oppose the amendment. yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. massie: section 5 remains overly broad. the former director of the united states patent and trademark office told me as early as yesterday that we are playing with fire with section 5. that's why i urge my colleagues to

the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble, for five minutes. mr. coble: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, on the 13th of june of this year, i introduced a bill, h.r. 2357, to provide that members must complete 12 years of credible service to become vested into the retirement system. now, i'm not professing to be no expert on pensions, mr. speaker, but five years appears to be very generous, so in my bill i extended that from the five-year time frame to 12 years. taxpayers subsidize this plan, and i believe by increasing the minimum time frame i think it would obviously result in considerable savings. i have conducted a survey -- no survey to support but that common sense tells me that. in fact, this is a commonsense proposal. for example, mr. speaker, a member of congress now must complete only five years of credible service to become vested. now, i know of no plan other would be one that invested in five years. my bill would have you complete 12 years of service prior to becoming vested. i figure by now i would have -- strike that -- i figure af