2008 HIGH TECH PRIORITIES

Improve America's Quality of Life

• Provide patients with access to life-saving health information technology. Urge Congress to pass health IT legislation that enables patients and providers to access critical patient information using secure, industry-wide, interoperability standards.
• Help protect personal information. Support technology-neutral, federal policies that encourage market-driven solutions to prevent identity theft, medical fraud and other criminal actions.
• Empower families and businesses to save on energy costs. Encourage Congress to create incentives in the marketplace for the development and use of green and energy-efficient technology and to enact policies that promote effective power management practices.
• Enable consumers to benefit from a vibrant online commerce marketplace. Work with policy makers to develop policies that will facilitate growth within the e-commerce sector; and urge Congress to avoid creating discriminatory taxes, discriminatory reporting and discriminatory penalties for online transactions.
• Increase access to the benefits of high speed broadband. Press Congress and the Administration to minimize regulation on advanced broadband technologies and innovative new Internet services; promote incentives for broadband deployment; and allocate additional spectrum for broadband and other new services.

Strengthen the U.S. Workforce

• Create jobs in the U.S. by attracting the best and brightest global talent. Persuade policy makers to reform highly educated employee and student visa programs to enable American businesses to attract and retain the most talented scientists and engineers worldwide.
• Encourage researchers to produce the next break-through technology or innovative solution. Urge Congress to increase funding for basic research at universities, government institutions, and public-private partnerships.
• Empower American workers to thrive in the economy. Encourage Congress to reform U.S. job retraining programs to more effectively focus resources on programs that truly enhance the current skills of U.S. workers.
• Prepare today’s students for tomorrow's innovative workforce. Promote legislation that increases the number of students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Legislation, such as the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and No Child Left Behind, should compliment these STEM goals by strengthening student achievement and provide additional incentives to teachers and other professionals for obtaining advanced training.

Improve the Strength and Competitiveness of the U.S. Economy

• Ensure U.S. companies can compete in international markets. Eliminate trade barriers to IT, telecom and media products bilaterally, regionally and through the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations; promote passage of bilateral and regional free trade agreements; support renewal of Trade Promotion Authority; reduce regulatory barriers to trade; and ensure technical standards promote rather than distort trade.
• Press our international competitors to uphold the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). Prevent our trading partners from rolling back gains in innovation and productivity generated by the tariff-free status provided to IT products covered by the ITA.
• Promote efforts to safeguard U.S. intellectual property. Urge Congress to pass a patent reform bill that addresses both litigation reform and patent quality; and promote stronger intellectual property rights protection and enforcement around the world.
• Help American workers compete in the global economy by expanding Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). Broaden the TAA program to include service workers to help the U.S. workforce thrive in the global economy.
• Facilitate growth through sound tax policy. Promote continued expansion and permanency of the R&D tax credit; and advocate tax policies that will stimulate the technology sector, including a reexamination of national and international tax structure.
• Ensure U.S. export policy enhances U.S. security and economic interests. Support export policies that facilitate our cooperation with international partners and allies, and focus finite regulatory and corporate resources on protecting truly sensitive exports.