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Think of helium, and we think birthday balloons and silly high-pitched voices. But helium plays a number of critical roles in our economy – from health care to high-tech manufacturing. Helium is a key component in MRI machines, for instance, and we couldn’t make the semiconductors for our computers and other electronics without it. That’s why a looming cut-off of helium sales is so concerning, and [...]
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The President’s nominee to be the next U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew, testified at the Senate Finance Committee today and faced questions from Democratic and Republican Senators on the importance of corporate tax reform to job creation. (You can watch the archived hearing on the committee’s site.) Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., set the tone with his opening statement, underscoring that the [...]
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Last night’s State of the Union (SOTU) Address was packed with policy ideas and key issues that President Obama hopes to work on in his second term. There was a renewed focus on job creation and economic growth. Immigration reform, among other pro-growth policies, was singled out as one way to achieve both these objectives. The link between immigration reform and economic revitalization is the reason [...]
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In his State of the Union address this evening, President Obama called on Congress to support creation of a network of at least fifteen manufacturing innovation institutes that would bring together industry, universities, community colleges, federal agencies, and states to accelerate innovation by investing in industrially relevant manufacturing technologies with broad applications. The first institute [...]
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In his State of the Union Address, President Obama announced that he has signed an executive order (EO) designed to advance critical infrastructure (CI) cybersecurity. The President’s framework is a downpayment on the challenging task of protecting America’s citizens, critical assets, and infrastructures from ever-evolving cyber threats. As the White House developed this EO, we and other stakeholders [...]
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As they analyze the two speeches tonight – the President’s State of the Union Address and Senator Marco Rubio’s Republican response, pundits are focused on the evening's political theater. Who applauded when? Was the tone fair or fractious? But those questions ignore the ones that are most important: What are the areas of agreement? And how do we get them done? When there is bipartisan agreement, [...]
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This op/ed was originally published by the Mercury News. The recent jobs report and the decline in fourth quarter GDP growth reinforce that the U.S. economy is teetering on the edge of stalling. The policy decisions made in 2013 will be critical in determining our fate. To ensure a future of renewed prosperity and innovation, we should move quickly to advance immigration reform. As an immigrant who [...]
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“My fellow Americans, the skills mismatch in our country is large, and it continues to grow. Countries that invest in their children -- countries like India and China -- are innovating and growing. Each day that we fail to adequately prepare our students to face tomorrow’s challenges is a wasted day. We must shrink the skills gap.” That’s exactly how I would kickoff Tuesday’s State of the Union [...]
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If jobs and the economy are the focus of the President’s State of the Union Address and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s Republican response, then trade and exports should receive prime-time attention. Senior Administration officials recently have said the President will use his Tuesday night’s speech to zero in on jobs and the economy. In fact, the President told the House Democratic caucus late last [...]
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On Tuesday night, political spectacle meets policy substance as President Barack Obama delivers the annual State of the Union Address and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida offers the Republican response. The State of the Union represents a moment of opportunity for our nation’s policy leaders to set the priorities for the year ahead. This year, despite clear differences of opinion between the two [...]
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