Technology and the New Economy

Governor Bush understands that hard-working entrepreneurs created the New Economy, not government. But, as he has shown in Texas, which leads the nation in high-tech job growth, government can create an environment in which entrepreneurs flourish: an environment that encourages innovation, rewards risk-taking, and promotes equal opportunity. Thus, as President, he will support the growth of the New Economy by cutting taxes, encouraging investment in R&D, curbing frivolous lawsuits, pursuing free trade and implementing sensible export controls.  To ensure that all Americans share in the benefits of the New Economy, Governor Bush will reform education through high standards and accountability, accelerate e-government, and increase access to assistive technologies for Americans with disabilities.

Governor Bush's Principles

Entrepreneurship: Governor Bush recognizes that our new economy is driven by the hard work and creativity of men and women in the private sector -- and not by Government bureaucrats.

Education and Opportunity: The high tech industry is in great need of highly skilled workers.  Too many Americans are unable to fill these jobs because they lack the necessary skills.  To ensure that every child has a quality education, Governor Bush will close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers, improve math and science instruction, and enhance the use of technology in the classroom.  

Individual Empowerment: Governor Bush understands that just as the Internet is transforming the relationship between customers and businesses, so, too, can it transform the relationship between citizens and government. Thus, he will promote e-government, shifting power from a handful of leaders in Washington to individual citizens.

Promote Independence: Assistive technology is helping many of America’s 54 million people with disabilities function, learn and live independently.  Too often, federal policies often act as a barrier to the development and dissemination of assistive technology. Governor Bush will remove these barriers by increasing funding for research, improving federal coordination, and improving access.


A Comprehensive High Tech Policy

Governor Bush has a comprehensive plan to make government an ally of high technology companies as they work to create jobs and keep our country competitive in the international market.  Governor Bush's high tech plan encourages both growth and opportunity.


GROWTH: To support the continued growth of the New Economy, Governor Bush will:

• Raise the Cap on H-1B: To meet the immediate needs of our competitive high tech economy, Governor Bush supports a dramatic increase in the caps on H-1B visas for temporary, high-skilled workers.

• Enact Comprehensive Legal Reform: Governor Bush understands that the litigation explosion imposes significant costs on high technology companies and small businesses.  Thus, he has offered a comprehensive plan to reduce the threat of junk and frivolous lawsuits, as he has done in Texas.

• Strengthen R&D: To encourage increased investment in research and development, Governor Bush will: enact a permanent extension of the R&D tax credit, increase the military R&D budget by $20 billion, and double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health.

• Promote Growth of Responsible Biotechnology: To promote the growth of responsible biotechnology, Governor Bush will stand firmly for the protection of intellectual property and fight to open markets for our bioagriculture products.

• Extend the Internet Tax Moratorium: Governor Bush will ensure the growth of the Internet and e-Commerce by passing up to a five year extension of the Internet tax moratorium.

• Reform the Export Control Regime: Governor Bush is committed to reforming the current high tech export control system that needlessly penalizes U.S. businesses while failing to strengthen our national security.

• Pursue Free Trade: Governor Bush will work with Congress to restore Presidential trade negotiating authority, which the current Administration has failed to renew. In addition, 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 e-commerce standards.

OPPORTUNITY: To ensure that all Americans share in the benefits of the New Economy, Governor Bush will:

• Implement Comprehensive Education Reform: Governor Bush will reform the nation’s public schools, as he has done in Texas, which is one of two states that have made the greatest recent progress in education.  He will close the achievement gap, set high standards, and focus on results. States will be offered freedom from federal regulation, in exchange for establishing accountability systems.

• Use Technology to Boost Student Achievement: Governor Bush will ensure that education technology is used to boost student achievement, and strengthen math and science education.  Governor Bush has proposed creating a new, flexible $3 billion fund to integrate technology in schools and libraries, and $400 million in new money to help ensure that technology is boosting student achievement.

• Bring Technology into the Community:  Governor Bush will invest $400 million to create and maintain more than 2,000 community technology centers every year.  These centers are providing such services as free Internet access, computer literacy training, and professional skills development.

• Strengthen Federal Investment in Assistive Technology:

• Triple funding for Rehabilitative Engineering Research Centers;

• Create a new “Technology Transfer Fund” to help bring assistive technology to market;

• Increase tenfold the funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase assistive technology;

• Offer $75 million annually in tax incentives and a new $20 million low interest loan program to help people with disabilities telework.

• E-Government: Governor Bush will accelerate e-government by appointing a government-wide Chief Information Officer, and by creating a $100 million fund to support interagency e-government initiatives.
  
  
  Position Proposal

SUMMARY OF GOVERNOR GEORGE W. BUSH’S HIGH TECH 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.

I. To lift barriers to innovation and fight efforts in the United States and
overseas to impose new obstacles, Governor Bush will:

Enact Comprehensive Legal Reform. Governor Bush has offered a comprehensive
plan to reduce the threat of massive, unnecessary litigation. Governor Bush
understands that 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.

Revamp the current export control system. Governor Bush has offered a
comprehensive export control proposal to safeguard military technology, while
allowing American companies to sell technology that is readily available in the
commercial market.

Pursue an international agenda that supports America’s high technology companies.
As President, Governor Bush 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.
¨ Promote the development of internationally compatible standards for e-commerce.

II. To help our nation develop and maintain a workforce prepared to seize the
opportunities of the high technology economy, Governor Bush will:

Increase the current limit on “H-1B” visas. This increase in temporary, high-skilled workers is crucial to the competitiveness of our high technology companies facing a shortage in 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 longterm solution to a shortage of prepared workers is not immigration. It is education.
As President, Governor Bush will give more flexibility and authority to states – but encourage local authorities to measure results for every child.

Expand Education Saving Accounts. Governor Bush will allow families or
individuals with incomes up to $150,000 to contribute up to $5,000 per child into
education savings accounts which parents can withdraw tax-free for educational
purposes.

III. 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. Last 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 the full promise of new technology. As President, Governor Bush will increase the defense R&D budget by
$20 billion from FY 2002-FY2006 and will direct the Secretary of Defense to earmark at least 20 percent of the total procurement budget for acquisitions programs that propel America generations ahead in military technology.

The Texas Record

Governor Bush passed strong measures to end frivolous lawsuits, created incentives for research and development by providing an R&D tax credit, and invested in education technology.  He increased funding for math and science advanced placement programs ten-fold.  In addition, Governor Bush cut the Internet access and data processing taxes to make access to the Internet affordable for everyone. As a result, under Governor Bush’s leadership:

• Texas is 1st in the nation in high tech export growth (1997-1999)  

• Texas ranks 2nd in high tech job growth

• Texas ranks 2nd in high tech employment

• More than 90 percent of Texas public schools now have Internet access, and all 57 community colleges have received state technology grants.  Over 2,300 Texas schools and 562 of 578 rural school districts have received technology grants since the Governor took office.

• Texans saved over $2.9 billion in insurance rate reductions, thanks to comprehensive legal reform to discourage frivolous lawsuits enacted under Governor Bush.

• Texas is now an established biotechnology leader, employing over 50,000 in the industry and receiving $900 million in NIH grants in 1998.

• On July 3, 2000, Texas launched its e-Government Portal, which will enable individuals and businesses to conduct state business online. When fully implemented, the Website will provide businesses and individuals with one-stop Internet access for conducting transactions with state and local governments.