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Pastimes : It's the Economy- Stupid -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ztect who wrote (4)	6/26/2000 11:36:00 PM
From: ztect	Respond to of 65

From: georgewbush.com RE: High Tech georgewbush.com Issues - High Technology Issues Governor Bush's Plan As President, George W. Bush will set three main goals in the high technology area: Lift barriers to innovation and fight efforts in the United States and overseas to impose new obstacles; Help our nation develop and maintain a workforce prepared to seize the opportunities of the high technology economy; and Establish a stable environment that encourages research and innovation in the private sector and the military. Lift barriers to innovation and fight efforts in the United States and overseas to impose new obstacles. George W. Bush is committed to reducing the threat of massive, unnecessary litigation by fighting to achieve meaningful, real tort reform. Governor Bush understands that many of the most innovative technology companies are startups and small businesses that are particularly vulnerable to frivolous and junk lawsuits. As President, George W. Bush will fight to achieve what he did in Texas: meaningful, real tort reform. He is committed to ending the stream of frivolous and junk lawsuits that clog our courts, threaten our economy and delay justice for the deserving. An assault on high technology companies by trial lawyers could have a disastrous impact on the nation?s high tech industries and the American economy as a whole. Governor Bush strongly supported the legislation limiting Y2K liability that passed the House and Senate with wide, bipartisan majorities. After years of strong opposition, the Administration belatedly supported Y2K litigation reform only after key provisions were stripped from the bill. From the start, George W. Bush viewed this issue as a test of our commitment to technological innovation and as a way to prevent trial lawyers from chasing the biggest ambulance of the millennium. Pursue an international agenda that supports America?s high technology companies. Governor Bush understands that to be prosperous we must embrace free trade. As President, he will fight to tear down the international barriers to innovation that have already been raised, and work to ensure that new ones are not erected. Among other things, he will work to: Make the Internet a duty and tariff-free zone worldwide; Fight to tear down non-tariff barriers to trade in information technology; Step up efforts to combat piracy of American ideas and intellectual property; and Promote the development of internationally compatible standards for e-commerce. Develop a tough-minded, common sense export control system that safeguards military technology, while allowing American companies to sell technology that is readily available in the commercial market. The current system of export controls is broken. Too often it penalizes our high tech companies by controlling technology that is widely available from other countries, while failing to prevent unique technology from falling into dangerous hands. Moreover, controls often lag behind technological developments. And because the international regime for coordinating export controls was disbanded under the Clinton-Gore Administration, the United States now frequently finds itself trying to single-handedly prevent diversion of sensitive technology. Governor Bush believes that what is needed is a tough-minded, common sense export policy ? a policy that places a priority on safeguarding our national security, while recognizing that the competitiveness of our high technology sector is itself a critical component of that security. Such a policy must consist of several key elements: First and foremost, we must strengthen America?s intelligence and counterintelligence capabilities to staunch the theft of sensitive military technology at home, and identify threats abroad before they arise. Second, we must allow American companies to sell products in the international marketplace when those products are readily available from their foreign competitors. That means easing export controls on computers and encryption products that can already be purchased on the open market. At the same time, as the use of encryption programs increases, American law enforcement must always have the resources to stay ahead of the criminal use of that technology. Third, as the Cox Report recommends, the United States must lead its allies in establishing new, binding rules to prevent the export of sensitive military technology. The United States must no longer be alone in keeping dangerous technologies and products away from those who do not wish us well. Help our nation develop and maintain a workforce prepared to seize the opportunities of the high technology economy. Maintain the competitiveness of our high technology companies by allowing them to recruit more workers with special skills through an increase in the current limit on "H-1B" visas. Temporary highly-skilled workers are admitted under H-1B visas, which are limited to 115,000 per year. In FY 2000, this number is expected to be reached by the middle of the year, creating a backlog in demand that could hurt high tech industries that are currently facing a shortage of computer engineers, software programmers and technicians. Reform schools that do not work and will not change by eliminating oligopolies, raising standards, measuring progress, and blowing the whistle on failure. The long-term solution to a shortage of prepared workers is not immigration. It is education. Governor Bush believes in the power of high standards and high hopes. As President, George W. Bush will give more flexibility and authority to states ? but encourage local authorities to measure results for every child. If schools fail, we must be bold enough to challenge the status quo. Establish a stable environment that encourages research and innovation in the private sector and the military. Support a permanent tax credit for research and development. The Research and Experimentation Tax Credit encourages long-term investment in research by high technology companies and thereby strengthens America?s technological leadership. Since its inception in 1981, the benefits of the credit were dampened by the temporary, on-again, off-again nature of this credit which confused and disrupted corporate planning. This year, Congress took a step in the right direction by passing a five-year extension of the credit. As President, George W. Bush will lead the Congress to make the credit a permanent part of our tax code. Strengthen research and development in the military. A substantially greater emphasis on research and development will be required to ensure that our military is fully prepared to meet future challenges and to realize fully the promise of new technology. As President, Governor Bush will increase the defense R&D budget by $20 billion from FY2002-FY2006 and will direct the Secretary of Defense to earmark at least 20 per cent of the total procurement budget for acquisitions programs that propel America generations ahead in military technology.