Issue Position: Technology and Innovation

Issue Position

America is the world leader in innovation and creativity. Indeed, many of our nation's Founders were inventors and authors. Perhaps that is one of the reasons they had the incredible foresight to include incentives for innovation in the text of the Constitution. America's geniuses such as Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel Morse, George Washington Carver, and many others have made brilliant use of those incentives and have delivered some of the world's greatest products and services.

More recently, the explosion of the Internet and the boom of small businesses and entrepreneurs that have sprung up utilizing this tremendous medium have ushered in an exciting new era of advancement for business, science, and communications. Technologies, like broadband, are important to creating a bright future. Broadband has the potential to provide affordable, fast access to the Internet for consumers and small businesses. Broadband is particularly important to those in rural communities, like the Sixth District, because it providesbusinesses and consumers with access to markets and services all over the world. I believe that technology and innovation will continue to create new jobs and opportunities and will lead America out of its current economic distress. Technology will also help us solve many of the pressing problems our nation currently faces. We need to make sure that the federal government's efforts are focused on creating incentives that encourage innovation and eliminating unnecessary red tape and regulation as well as excessive taxation and other policies that hinder innovation.

In addition, we need to protect our nation against cyber attacks, so that individuals and businesses alike continue to have confidence to rely on the Internet for doing business.

Actions

*I serve as the chairman of the House Republican Technology Working Group (HRTWG), which keeps Members of Congress informed about the latest developments affecting the technology industry and provides advice to congressional leaders on technology policy.

*I serve as co-chairman of the Congressional Internet Caucus, which is dedicated to educating Members of Congress about policies affecting the functioning, protection and advancement of the Internet.

*I introduced H.R. 9, the Innovation Act, to address the ever increasing problem of abusive patent litigation.

*I am also the sponsor of the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, H.R. 235, which would permanently keep Internet access tax-free. This bipartisan legislation passed the House by voice vote.

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