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| 'Competitiveness' Focus in State of Union Praised
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February 1, 2006
Washington, D.C. - In response to the State of the Union address, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), a nonprofit advocacy organization that works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship, praised President George W. Bush for his focus on strengthening U.S. competitiveness.
"Affordable health coverage, tax certainty and a modern and flexible education system are most definitely key areas that impact our nation's vibrancy and innovative capacity," said SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan.
"Our hope is that the Congress, with the help of the President, also works on modernizing our nation's regulatory system and encourages our global competitors to enforce intellectual property (IP) rights and foster a culture of respect for IP. U.S. prosperity, entrepreneurship and economic growth hinge on these issues as well," she added.
As a long-time proponent of health savings accounts (HSAs) -- the SBE Council led the 10-year drive to advance their enactment into law - Kerrigan said that improving access to this more affordable and consumer-friendly health insurance option will bring more Americans into the ranks of the insured while helping to make our health care system more efficient, price sensitive and consumer oriented.
"The power of the HSA is proven in the marketplace. The HSA option is more affordable, and the account component gives consumers more control and flexibility with respect to choosing doctors. Increasing access to HSAs by simply creating tax parity, as the President proposes to do, is only fair and makes sense," according to Kerrigan, who chaired the HSA Coalition for seven years.
The SBE Council will also push for making key provisions of the Bush tax relief packages permanent. According to the group, tax certainty will allow small firms and entrepreneurs to better plan for their investment needs. More importantly, keeping resources in the hands of the entrepreneurial sector is critical to sustained economic growth, while lower tax rates in general keep our nation competitive.
The SBE Council will continue to encourage that the Congress and the White House advance measures that improve and modernize our regulatory system, as these costs are particularly burdensome to small firms and hurt our competitiveness internationally. At the same time, the group said that the U.S. must keep pressure on trading partners and other countries to enforce IP laws and educate their citizens about the importance of IP.
"What good is it to have the best educated citizenry and be the most hospitable place on the globe to do business when other countries steal our ideas? All that work will be for not if we don't find ways to put pressure on other countries to respect IP," added Kerrigan.
Finally, on the issue of energy, Kerrigan took issue with our "addiction to oil" as characterized by President Bush in his speech.
"I appreciate his policy platform with respect to making our nation more efficient and clean when it comes to energy use. However, I don't see our use of oil as a sinful habit. While it is necessary that we encourage investment in technology and alternative fuels, the fastest way to decrease our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas is to increase exploration and development at home. Congress and the President can make that happen rather quickly by removing restrictive regulations that prohibit access to the vast natural resources we have been blessed with as a nation," added Kerrigan.
For 12 years the SBE Council has been working to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit: http://www.sbecouncil.org/.
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