President Outlines Plan to Drive Innovation; Now is the Time for Action

by Semiconductor Industry Association

During tonight’s State of the Union Address, President Obama outlined a plan to create jobs and accelerate America’s economic recovery. As a bellwether of the U.S. economy, the semiconductor industry was particularly encouraged to hear the President call on Congress to support funding for scientific research, fix America’s high-skilled immigration system, and reform the corporate tax code. These are common sense initiatives that will help boost America’s economic strength, national security and global competitiveness.

We also appreciate the President’s focus on revitalizing American manufacturing, which is essential to creating the jobs and products that drive our economy. Semiconductor technology – itself an example of a highly advanced form of design and manufacturing – has helped ensure that today’s advanced manufacturing systems are safe, efficient, fluid and highly precise.

We live in a technology-driven world, and our competitors are catching up to us by implementing policies and incentives to attract the world’s top innovators and job-creators. To remain at the forefront of innovation, America must rise to this challenge by investing in basic research, welcoming top scientific minds from around the world, and creating a tenable tax environment for businesses to grow, invest and hire new workers.

The President’s speech tonight marks an important step in the right direction. But now is the time for action. Policymakers must set aside partisan differences and work together to enact policies that remove barriers to innovation and boost American competitiveness. It’s time for real leadership on these critical issues.

SIA’s 2013 Policy Roadmap is available here.