CCIA Congratulates Newly Elected Senators and Representatives

File Under: 2006, CCIA

Nov 8, 2006

Washington, D.C. - The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) congratulates the newly elected Senators and Representatives of the 110th Congress and looks forward to working with them to pass legislation of critical importance to the technology industry, CCIA said in a statement today.

“Many of the defeated incumbents were not great friends of the technology industry,” said Cathy Sloan, CCIA’s Vice President of Government Relations. “In fact, the majority of those members of Congress who will not be returning scored below 50% on CCIA’s High-Tech Scorecard. We look forward to working with the new members of Congress and hope that this new generation of legislators strives to advance this dynamic sector of the U.S. economy.”

“We are excited to work with the newly elected Congress,” said CCIA President and CEO Ed Black. “With the elections now behind us, it is time for Congress to get moving and address the many issues necessary to keep this country competitive.”

Important issues that need to be addressed include:

Patent Reform: If the United States is to remain a high-tech leader, Congress must act swiftly to achieve real patent reform that encourages innovation, not junk patents and frivolous lawsuits.

Privacy: With more and more in our everyday lives moving on-line, legislators must work to instill faith in consumers that their personal information is not being used inappropriately. Safeguards must be erected so people are confident enough use new technology offerings and fully realize the benefits that a high-tech economy confers.

Telecom Reform: Our outdated telecommunications laws must be updated so all Americans can reap the benefits of the Information Revolution. The Universal Service Fund must be streamlined and retargeted to address the needs of the 21st century economy, cable television franchising laws must be harmonized and simplified to facilitate competition in the stagnant video marketplace, and targeted network neutrality safeguards are needed to protect the open nature that has allowed the Internet to thrive.

Immigration Reform: Reform of the skilled legal immigration system is urgently needed to allow U.S. technology companies continued access to talented foreign nationals in science and engineering. The H-1B visa cap and green card backlog must be addressed.

Copyright Reform: Our copyright law requires rebalancing. The current state of over-protection discourages innovation, threatens computer security, obstructs interoperability and undermines competition – particularly in industries entirely unrelated to piracy. Ultimately, Title 17 requires reforms so that the law penalizes pirates, not pioneers.

Trade: We look forward to a return to bipartisan promotion of free trade, with multilateral negotiations at the WTO as the preferred forum, and a renewal of Trade Promotion Authority, provided it is used for agreements that focus on true trade issues, not commercial regulatory issues (such as intellectual property). We also hope the new Congress does not implement broadly drawn unilateral export controls that would place an excessive burden on legitimate export operations.