the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble. mr. coble: i ask our friends in the gallery to join us in the pledge. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas, mr. hall, is recognized for one minute. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i'm honored today to again recognize our guest chaplain, the reverend dr. joe c. pool, pastor of my home church, hometown, first united methodist church of rockwell, texas. he spansd more than 0 years in texas and served in pastor in urban and gainesville prior to serving in my hometown. reverend pool earned a bachelor of arts degree from the southwestern university in georgetown. earned both a master of theology degree and doctor of ministry degree from perkin school of theology at southern met disuniversity. he's been a long time member of the executive board. over the past quarter century reverend pool has led missio

smith: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from from north carolina, mr. coble. the chair: the dean of the north carolina delegation, mr. coble, is recognized for three minutes. mr. coble: i thank the gentleman from texas and it was my belief that diversion had ended. let me make my statement and maybe we can get to this subsequently. a robust patent system is critical to develop a strong economy and it serves this goal by ending diversion of user fees to other agencies. ending diversion is essential to a robust and strong patent system, it seems to me. this is not a new concept. it has been a controversial issue for many years but we are at a point if we aren't doing something, the office will be overwhelmed. i answer, two words, bag log, pendency. the number of pending applications is around 700,000 and average time for an application to be reviewed is 30 months. this is unacceptable and the number of pending claims that should be, approximately 300,000 and the pendency time period should be approximately 20 months or 10 months less of what it is now. patents p

the chair: the dean of the north carolina delegation, mr. coble, is recognized for tee minutes. mr. coble: i thank the gentleman from texas and it was my belief that diversion had ended. let me make my statement and maybe we can get to this subsequently. a robust patent system is critical to devel a strong economy and it serves this goal by ending diversion of user fees to other agencies. ending diversion is essenal to a robust and strong patent system, it seems to me. this is not a new concept. it has been a controversial issue for many years but we are at a point if we aren't doing something, the office will be overwhelmed. i answer, two words, bag log, pendency. the number of pending applications is around 700,000 and average time for an application to be reviewed is 30 months. this is unacceptable and the number of pending claims that should be, approximately 300,000 and the pendency time period should be approximately 20 months or 10 months less of what it is now. tents provide economic incentives for creators and if our system loses, it will be diluted and when inventors decide

. >> mr. coble. >> the private over the road bus provides 750 million passenger trips annually.ow safe is the motor coach industry compared to other modes of transportation? >> is that a question for me? i think we have agreed with many of the other speakers that it is among the safest. we are somewhat limited in our inspection data on the industry at large by virtue of this inspection restriction that the enforcement is currently under, but, yes, generally in terms of the number of crashes, they are very low. >> i realize that accidents are inevitable and going to occur, but do you attribute anything to the recent motor coach access? >> let me clarify again, the vast majority of the industry is operating very effectively and small operators have made safety and profitability have gone hand in hand. in regard to the recent crash again, we are in the midst of the investigation, but at the outset we can see that the facility with which some of the bad actors move equipment and drivers among companies with valid.numbers is one of the loopholes in our perspective. we need stronger l

mr. howard coble is from, this was an editorial a few weeks ago, it says get out. there's a flag draped coffin, transfer case being carried off the plane by soldiers or airmen. so it is time that this congress come together in a bipartisan way and bring our troops home. i see the families down at camp lejeune which is in my district. i talk to and listen to them. they think they have done their job. they think it's time to come home. mr. speaker, as i do all the time on the floor of the house when i'm closing, i ask god to please bless our men and women in uniform. i ask god to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. i ask god in his loving arms to hold the families who have given a child dying for freedom in afghanistan and iraq. i ask god to please bless the house and senate that we will do what is right in the eyes of god for its people and great nation. i ask god to give wisdom, strength, and courage to mr. obama he will do what is right in the eyes of god for this great nation. and i will ask three times, god please, god please, god please c