Legacy of the 106th Congress

A high-tech industry group urges Congress to take prompt action on key legislation before the clock ticks down on its final hour. But some things can wait for a new White House Administration and 107th Congress to embark on revamped Internet legislation and policies. All that remains at the end of the day is a singular taxing issue for U.S. legislators of the 106th Congress.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
— Groucho Marx (1895-1977)

by Patricia Fusco
of internetnews.com

Congress returns to work this week with less than 20 business days remaining before the fall elections change the names and faces of legislators toiling away in the House and Senate.

Congress produced more than 50 Internet related bills during this session that could be cast at the bureaucratic wayside while legislator's hustle to complete major appropriations bills.

As the 106th Congress draws to a close, high-tech lobbying groups are calling on lawmakers to take prompt action on essential pending legislation.

AEA argues
The California-based American Electronics Association is a trade group that represents more than 3,000 technology companies in the U.S.

The organization asked that Congress focus their lawmaking abilities on several high-priority tech issues that remain snarled in red tape. William Archey, AEA president and chief executive officer said time is running short for Congress to act.

"With the election season now upon us expeditious action is paramount," Archey said. "Legislation that will open up China and help alleviate shortages of high-skilled workers is essential to the continuing vitality of the high-tech industry."

Archey reckons that the high-tech industry has been largely responsible for driving the U.S economy to record prosperity and that legislator's should take care of industry concerns essential to the nations economic interests.

AEA identified the following legislation that it said should receive the highest priority for action from Congress:

China

[S 2115] PNTR for China — AEA stresses that the Senate should grant permanent normal trade relations with China absent of any amendments to the bill originally introduced by Sen. Max Baucus in February.

The group fears that legislators may impose unilateral sanctions on China concerning weapons proliferation, as proposed by Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN), that could threaten the benefits that PNTR could offer the nation's high-tech firms. For AEA, the bill is all about opening new markets for high-tech firms to peddle their goods and services.

The U.S. Government has managed to become one of Vietnam's largest trading partners, a country it was at war with just 28 years ago. But Communistic governments in China and Cuba, countries with which America fought ideological wars, remain the pariahs of free trade with the U.S.

Hypocrisy is the lubricant of politics.

Congress will not budge on the issue unless something happens that would decrease opposition from organized labor and human rights groups. Chances are good that new executive leadership will address trade issues with China and Cuba.

A Gore Administration would likely follow President Clinton's lead in conducting foreign policy, although one can expect a few key differences. If elected, Gore could be expected to conduct an active foreign policy campaign in line with his vision of the United States' place in the world.

"America has a mission to prove to men and women throughout this world that people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, of all faiths and creeds, cannot only work and live together, but can enrich and ennoble both themselves and our common purpose." Part of this mission, in Gore's mind, would be to resume normal trade relations with China and potentially Cuba.

George W. Bush is generally skeptical about U.S. involvement in international agreements. On the stump, he maintains that the Clinton administration has been too soft toward China and Russia. On the economic front, Bush, like Gore, is a strong believer in globalization and immigration, but he wants it to happen on America's terms.

Both Bush and Gore advocate so-called free trade and a national economic policy that responds to the global nature of the new economy. Voters who find fault with those views may find a friendly face donned by Reform Party candidate Patrick J. Buchanan.

Buchanan condemns economic globalism and trade deals he believes are unfair to the U.S. In his "America First" campaign pitch Buchanan rages against the "elitist architects" of trade deals like NAFTA and GATT, laments the nation's expected $300 billion trade deficit in 2000, and blames long-running government economic policies for American workers' decline in real wages. If Buchanan is in, trade with China is out.

Technology visas
H-1B Visas — AEA said that a shortage of high-skilled workers continues to shortchange the American economy by limiting the capacity of high-tech firms to grow, innovate and prosper. To help alleviate skilled-worker shortages, AEA called on Congress to enact legislation that would lift the H-1B visa cap on the number of foreign professionals that high-tech companies could hire.

The same type of initiative is also a key element to Republican Presidential Candidate George W. Bush's high-tech policy plans. Governor Bush contends that entrepreneurs created the new economy, not government. Businesses should be unencumbered by federal immigration limitations.

Texas, which according to campaign literature leads the nation in high-tech job growth, is Bush's test bed for government's ability to create an environment in which entrepreneurs flourish. Even though there is a skilled worker deficit worldwide, Bush would move quickly to open the doors of America to high-tech workers, should he take office.

Vice President Al Gore walks a fine line in addressing labor shortages while protecting U.S. workers. He supports providing additional resources to educate and train U.S. workers, while increasing the number of H-1B visas to 200,000 for each of the next three years. Gore contends that the provisions would work together to help address short-term shortages of highly skilled labor while preparing old economy American workers for the new economy jobs.

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