BIO Comments on “The American Jobs Act”
Washington, D.C. (September 9, 2011) – Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood released the following statement on President Obama’s speech to Congress last night on “The American Jobs Act”:
“BIO supports the overarching goals of President Obama’s ‘American Jobs Act,’ namely, to put Americans back to work and help jumpstart our economy. The proposal includes several ideas worthy of careful deliberation and consideration.
“We were extremely pleased to hear the President express continued support for the development of advanced biofuels. A strong domestic advanced biofuels sector will create high-wage jobs, increase national security and improve our nation’s environmental health. The ‘incentives and support’ the President referenced in his speech also should include support for a strong Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) along with tax credits and other incentives to help the sector continue to move toward broad commercialization.
“As the Administration and Congress continue to consider measures to revive our nation’s economy, we encourage them to include proposals that will help drive overall biotechnology innovation. The biotechnology industry has long been an engine for economic development and job creation across the country and our sector is working to add more high-wage high-skilled jobs to our workforce. Currently the biotech sector supports a total of 8 million jobs nationwide, directly employing 1.42 million workers while sustaining an additional 6.6 million jobs across the country.
“We look forward to working with the President and Congress to advance science for the betterment of man, as well as our nation’s economy. Mankind’s need for the promise of biotechnology to cure disease, to combat hunger, to discover new forms of energy and combat bioterrorism has never been more urgent. Indeed, our recent national survey found that during the current economic slowdown, while our nation's leaders are making hard choices about our national economic policies, a majority (53%) of American voters believe the federal government should support the biotechnology industry through either tax policies or direct funding.
“We must continue to work to ensure that government policies are conducive to enable our industry to most effectively meet these challenges, grow our economy and create jobs.
“With this in mind, BIO recently released Unleashing the Promise of Biotechnology, a summary of legislative proposals to reform the investment and regulatory environment to help foster biotech innovation. As Congress begins consideration of the ‘American Jobs Act’ and other legislative proposals aimed at driving job growth, we will work with the Administration and members of Congress from both parties to encourage support for our Unleashing the Promise proposals to help create jobs here in America, develop cures and continue our nation’s global leadership in innovation. ”
Upcoming BIO Events
BIO India International Partnering Conference
September 21-22, 2011
Hyderabad, India
BIO China International Conference
October 12-13, 2011
Shanghai, China
10th Annual BIO Investor Forum
October 25-26, 2011
San Francisco, Calif.
BIO-Europe 2011
October 31-November 2, 2011
Duesseldorf, Germany
BioMalaysia 2011 Conference & Exhibition/
2011 Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy
November 21-23, 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia