Washington – Twenty-two senators scored above 80 percent on tech and
innovation votes during the second session of the 110th Congress, which
ended earlier this year. In the House, 32 members scored in the top
tier with a score of over 84 percent. The Computer & Communications
Industry Association released its annual High-Tech Scorecard Wednesday
in conjunction with CCIA’s Washington Caucus May 6 at the Newseum.
The
scorecard ranks House and Senate members according to their votes cast
on core issues CCIA monitors, including innovation, U.S.
competitiveness and increased access to a free, open Internet.
Sen.
Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., were named
“High-Tech Defenders” of their representative chambers not just for
their stellar voting records, but also for their leadership roles on
key technology issues. Senator Wyden, who scored a perfect 100 percent
CCIA’s scorecard, was joined at the top of the Senate scorecard by
Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Charles Schumer, D-NY. Rep. Lofgren,
who finished the session with a score of 95 percent, outdistanced her
closest scoring House colleagues by six percent.
“It
comes as no surprise that Senator Wyden and Representative Lofgren
finished on top of our high-tech scorecard,” said Ed Black, President
& CEO of CCIA. “Not only do Senator Wyden and Representative
Lofgren have stellar voting records, they are the ones leading
legislation that grows the innovation economy. They are proposing
forward-looking legislation, raising the prominence of technology
issues in the press and pushing hard to get high-tech issues included
in the often cramped legislative agendas of their respective chambers.”
The top tier scorecard included four presidential
candidates – Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., as
well as former Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
The
economic stimulus package Congress passed this year was an opportunity
to fund increased broadband deployment and some measures approved in
the 110th Congress that were highlighted in CCIA’s scorecard, including
parts of the America Competes Act.
“The tech sector has
the bandwidth and innovators to grow the economy at a time when it’s
really needed. During the recent election and the economic crisis many
members have spoken of the need to increase economic activity and of
their support for the tech industry to do that. These votes show their
understanding of what is needed to empower, or at least not block, tech
companies and their commitment to keeping tools for growing the
economy, like the Internet, open and free,” said Black.
“Many
issues critical to the innovation economy like patent reform stalled
last year due to the election. We are optimistic about getting a vote
on those reforms this year,” Black said. “Another good sign is that all
seven of the new Democrats in the senate recognized the importance of
maintaining a free, open Internet and made supporting net neutrality a
campaign issue. We hope that added support leads to measures to keep
the Internet content neutral.”
Contact:
Heather Greenfield
202-783-0070 ext 113
Ed Black
202-783-0070 ext 110
