TechNet Applauds President Obama's Call for Greater Support for Innovation to Fuel America's Economic Growth

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- TechNet, the bipartisan political network of CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, today applauded President Barack Obama for emphasizing the vital role that competitiveness and innovation must play in tonight's State of the Union speech. What follows is a statement from TechNet President and CEO Rey Ramsey about tonight's speech:

"Tonight, President Obama laid out a clear, rational narrative that for America to win the future we must build a foundation of investments and policies that ensure our country's leadership in the global economy.  We applaud the President's call for smart policies such as improved investments in research and development, education, clean energy and sensible tax reform to make our businesses more competitive.  

"Certainly, today's budgetary environments are a challenge – and many worthy programs will have to tighten their belts. But we cannot abandon our responsibilities to the next generation. We must continue to carefully and intelligently invest in those areas that will help drive today's economic recovery and tomorrow's economic prowess. We stand ready to work with the Administration and Congress to ensure that America remains the leader in the world economy for generations to come and seizes on this "Sputnik moment."

TechNet has long advocated policies and investments that can return huge rewards for all Americans. Specifically, TechNet has called for:

• Improvements to the nation's science and mathematics education programs to prepare today's students for tomorrow's jobs;
• A national commitment to long-term basic scientific research that can help fuel the advances and innovations that can change our world;
• A system that attracts, develops and retains the brightest students, scientists and engineers from within the United States and throughout the world; and
• An environment that makes the U.S. a premier place in the world to innovate by investing in downstream activities such as manufacturing; realigning tax policies to encourage innovation and modernizing infrastructure.

About TechNet:

TechNet is the national, bipartisan network of CEOs that promotes the growth of technology industries and the economy by building long-term relationships between technology leaders and policymakers and by advocating a targeted policy agenda. TechNet's members represent more than one million employees in the fields of information technology, biotechnology, e-commerce and finance. TechNet has offices in Washington, DC, Palo Alto, Sacramento, Seattle, Boston and Austin. Web address: www.technet.org. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @technetupdate.

SOURCE TechNet