Tech group calls on Congress to act on priorities

The U.S. Congress needs to act on the IT industry’s priorities instead of just talking about them, an advocacy group representing tech chief executive officers said Thursday.

Most of the items on the Technology CEO Council’s list of “seven for ’07” legislative priorities seem to enjoy broad support from members of Congress, but that support hasn’t translated into passed legislation, said Bruce Mehlman, executive director of the group. “There’s been wonderful lip service. There needs to be legislation and money brought to bear,” Mehlman said.

The council is working to educate members of Congress and presidential candidates about the issues important to the group, Mehlman said. The council has already set up meetings between tech CEOs and 2008 presidential hopefuls, he added.

Issues important to the tech industry seemed to get put in the backburner during the last two years while Congress debated more controversial issues, Mehlman said. “The high tech community is frustrated,” he said. “CEOs come to town and can’t figure out how they hear Republicans and Democrats all agree with them on their issues, but then nothing gets done.”

The tech industry will be watching lawmakers who have talked a good fight but haven’t delivered, he added. “It’s a significant year to either put up or shut up,” he said.

At least two of the council’s seven priorities have faced opposition in the past. The council called on Congress to pass immigration reform, including a higher cap for H-1B skilled worker visas and a revamp of the permanent resident green card program. Earlier this month, the 65,000-visa cap on H-1Bs for 2008 was exceeded on the first day companies could apply for the visas.

But U.S.-based tech worker groups such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA (IEEE-USA) have opposed a higher H-1B cap, saying companies use the program to hire foreign workers for less money than U.S. workers would receive. Some companies also abuse the system by giving preference to lower-wage H-1B workers, IEEE-USA has charged.

Mehlman argued that abuse is “isolated,” even though two U.S. senators introduced a bill earlier this month that would prohibit companies from giving preference to H-1B hires.

U.S. companies need access to the top computer scientists and engineers in the world, he added. “Our companies … succeed when we get the best and brightest to work here,” he said.

The council also called for patent reform that would limit “unjustified” lawsuits against alleged infringers and improve patent quality. Small inventors and pharmaceutical companies have resisted efforts to weaken patent lawsuit remedies, saying lawsuits are one of the few ways small inventors can stop infringers.

The other five council priorities:

— Increase funding for programs and incentives for recruiting qualified math teachers for U.S. schools.

— Double basic research budgets at four U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense and National Science Foundation.

— Renew presidential trade promotion authority, giving U.S. President George Bush power to submit trade agreements to Congress on an up-or-down vote, without amendment.

— Pass legislation that would help accelerate the use of IT in the health-care industry.

— Strengthen and make permanent a research and development tax credit.

The council’s members include the CEOs of Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., and Dell Inc.