mr. norman? >> top that for clarity by the way. >> i'll try to add clarity myself. the issue is enormous. i can speak on behalf of form pharmaceutical firms that spend billions every year doing research and development. as we move forward and try to develop new lifesaving medicines, we continually build kmem cal platforms and pharmaceutical platforms in hopes of reaching a site where we can apply for patents. what we're seeing are numerous instances where interlopers are stepping in and trying to steal our trade secrets on our formula prior to the time we can reduce those into a patent application. very often may take two or three or perhaps longer -- two or three or longer years to do enough research to get to the single molecule that we'll be able to carry on into clinical trials. if we lose the trade secrets, and all of that formula, prior to the time we can reduce that to a patent application, the loss is ir revokable. we may spend 10, 20, $30 million building a chemical platform, rich divers

mr. norman? >> top that for clarity by the way. >> i'll try to add clarity myself. the issue is enormous. i can speak on behalf of form pharmaceutical firms that spend billions every year doing research and development. as we move forward and try to develop new lifesaving medicines, we continually build kmem cal platforms and pharmaceutical platforms in hopes of reaching a site where we can apply for patents. what we're seeing are numerous instances where interlopers are stepping in and trying to steal our trade secrets on our formula prior to the time we can reduce those into a patent application. very often may take two or three or perhaps longer -- two or three or longer years to do enough research to get to the single molecule that we'll be able to carry on into clinical trials. if we lose the trade secrets, and all of that formula, prior to the time we can reduce that to a patent application the loss is ir revokable. we may spend 10 20, $30 million building a chemical platform rich diversity

mr. norman and mr. hoffman, how will changes that would make in u.s. law have an impact either positive or negative on what other countries are doing in this area? and we need to be careful here? mr. norman, you can go first. >> sure. thank you. again for the legislation is introduced your we greatly appreciate it. we greatly appreciate your leadership. the instances of what it would do on a positive standpoint is that we believe the legislation to obtain a federal trade secret remedy, particularly the ability to seek and export a seizure of stolen materials -- ex parte, for the disclosure or divestment of that information broadly would be a very positive gold standard for future discussions on harmonization and trade secret laws around the world with our major trading partners. it's important i believe to get beyond the state trade secrets laws which are often a bit unwieldy and difficult to enforce across state lines simply because the procedures are not always set up to work very well along those lines. but with a federal standard with the appropria

mr. norman ornstein, in preparing for this hearing, to coin a phrase, my conclusion was, it is worse than i thought. we've got a report just yesterday from the lesley ann and media project was it as interesting project which does not try to track contributions but tracks ads on television all over the country and it sure beats a value to them based upon -- an estimated value based upon the air time in the media market of course it is on the air time, it is not production or other cost. the startling thing, this is spending by nondisclosure groups cycled today. in other words, to april 209th , yesterday, what struck me as the gigantic growth in these independent expenditures which is what i meant in my opening statement. this is not a incremental change but a revolutionary change. the same thing goes -- this is nondisclosure money cycled today. this is outside spending cycled today. these are the off-year elections. you can see, between 2010 and 2014 and enormous growth, almost ten times more. would you say that this is an accelerating problem, and that is one of the reasons we should have

mr. norman ornstein. >> thank you so much, mr. chairman, and it is really a pleasure to be here to talk about this issue. i want to miss part by commending senator ted cruz for his full- skirted support of disclosure. i look forward to his vote for the disclose act when it comes up in the senate. >> i wrote that down myself. [laughter] >> i also want to thank senator roberts for putting up the text of the first amendment which i read and reread as i have done so many times. i am still looking for the word money in the first amendment. i just have to say that, if money is defined as speech then the rights of citizens as equals in this process to participate simply gets blown away. those who have lots of money have lots of speech. those who have little money have very little or no speech. having said that, i want to really talk about to larger concerns that are generated by the multiple recent moves that i believe have knock the pins out from under the regulatory regime that has long operated in american politics. i wrote my testimo

norman lumkin. thank you. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, for five minutes. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. many of you may not be aware but this week is national nurses week. and i am honored to be able to stand on the floor of this great institution to talk about the nursing profession, what nurses mean to our health care industry, and what nurses mean to each and every one of us when a family member is being treated at a time when we need the most compassion, we need the best care, and a nurse is the one who steps into that room and offers that compassion and offers that care on a daily basis. i have a special place if my heart for nurses because my wife, shannon, is a nurse. somebody who not only has served patients in their home, on the hospital floor, at the beginning of life and at the end of life, she's also helped teach the next generation of nurses. we in washington hear constantly about a nursing shortage in this country, and we in washington need to remember that it's up to us to enact policies and programs that are goi

mr. donald f mcgahn, previously he was commissioner and chairman of the fec. he served as general counsel for the national republican congressional committee for 10 years. second is norman ornstein resident scholar at the american , enterprise institute. well-known columnist and frequent commenter on campaign-finance issues. third is trevor potter, previously he was commissioner and chair of the fec and served as general counsel to john mccain's 2008 presidential campaign. ms. ann ravel, former chair of the california fair political practices commission and currently vice chair of the fec. neil reiff, founding member of his law firm and former deputy general counsel for the democratic national committee. thank you for joining us today and i welcome your opening statements. if you have more lengthy statements, they can be submitted for the record. we look forward to hearing from you and then we will discuss these issues. mr. mcgahn? >> chairman king, ranking member roberts, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. it is an honor and privilege. i submitted written testimony with neil reiff, we are practitioners in the area of campa

mr. donald f previously he was commissioner and chairman of the fec. he served as general counsel for the national republican congressional committee for 10 years. second is norman or is in, resident scholar at the american enterprise institute. well-known columnist and onquent commenter campaign-finance issues. third is trevor potter, previously he was commissioner and chair of the fec and served as general counsel to john mccain's 2008 presidential campaign. , former chair of the california fair political practices commission and currently vice chair of the fec. reiff, founding member of his law firm and former deputy general counsel for the democratic national committee. todayyou for joining us and i welcome your opening statements. if you have more lengthy statements, they can be submitted for the record. we look forward to hearing from you and then we will discuss these issues. mr. mcgahn? >> chairman king, ranking member robert's, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. for the committee's request, i submitted written testimony with neil reiff, we are practitioners in the area of campaign finance her and our views