The five issues Congress can tackle in 2015

For the first time in a long time, I feel better about Washington. Perhaps it’s a persistent holiday spirit, or the bipartisanship that produced a budget from Congress in mid-December rather than January. Maybe it’s the excitement surrounding the 2015 International CES® in Las Vegas this week, where more than 150,000 members of the consumer technology industry are gathering to network, explore emerging innovation and see the future firsthand.

{mosads}Whatever the reason, I believe Congress and the president are ready to work together. And as I talk with industry leaders at CES, a handful of issues come up again and again as priorities to help create more and better U.S. jobs via the tech sector – a thriving economic engine and one of our nation’s most dynamic industries:

Immigration Reform
Bitter feelings toward President Obama’s unilateral immigration action may hobble comprehensive reform, but both parties agree highly-skilled immigrants are vital to our economy. One recent study showed first-generation immigrants or their children played founding roles in more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies. Congress can pass legislation making sure that when we invest in and educate foreign students at American universities in strategic areas like STEM, we allow them to become productive members of our economy.

Patent Troll Legislation
Patent abuse drains $1.5 billion from the U.S. economy each week. American entrepreneurs should be spending their time and money on jobs, products and services rather than on lawyers and lawsuits from trolls who bully U.S. innovators. Bipartisan legislation easily passed the House of Representatives in 2013, and President Obama said he would sign it.Under incoming Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Senate can pick up the torch carried by the House and pass meaningful patent reform.

A Trade Deal
In 2014, the international accounting network UHY rated the U.S. behind China and the European Union due to taxes which reduce the incentive for businesses. Lowering the barriers to global trade and opening new markets for U.S.-made goods will spur innovation, grow wealth and create jobs. The 114th Congress can fix this by giving the next president trade promotion authority, authorizing the negotiation of new trade agreements while retaining the right to vote for or against these agreements.

Tax Reform
We have the third-highest corporate tax rate in the world. At 39.1 percent, our general top marginal corporate income tax rate is 16.5 percentage points higher than the worldwide average. Leaders from both parties have said they’re ready to revamp the tax code to create simpler, more predictable and fairer rates so American employers can create jobs. I hope and expect that loopholes will close, business taxes will become competitive globally and companies of all kinds – not just those in technology industries – will be encouraged to invest in American facilities and jobs. 

Address Our Infrastructure
New infrastructure work will create construction jobs and be a gift to our children. And we can make smart investments by requiring federally-funded roads to be safer and smarter, with beacons on top and broadband pipes below. A modest gas tax increase –especially now, with gasoline prices are so low – or a tax deal on repatriating the more than $1 trillion dollars currently parked overseas would free up billions for investment in infrastructure. One proposal would invest $1.2 trillion in new infrastructure over five years, creating 27 million jobs. Emerging technologies like driverless cars promise to make transportation faster, cheaper and safer. Better infrastructure will literally pave the way for progress.

Addressing each of these proposals will help U.S. businesses create and support valuable jobs – the underpinning of a strong economy. More, these policies are consistent with thefour primary goals of No Labels, a fast-growing bipartisan group uniting legislators of both parties seeking to solve America’s biggest problems.

Americans want real solutions to problems. That’s what CES is about – innovative uses for technology that enrich and improve our lives. And it’s a lesson that Congress must accept, as well. It’s time for our politicians to work together on meaningful solutions to counter the nation’s biggest challenges – our future generations are counting on it.

Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer electronics companies, and author of the New York Times best-selling books, Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses and The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream. His views are his own. Connect with him on Twitter: @GaryShapiro.