FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 22, 2010

TIA Praises Senate Commerce Committee for Action on America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010

Washington, D.C. - Following this afternoon's action by the Senate Commerce Committee which reported favorably S. 3605, "The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010" TIA released the following statement:

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), which represents information and communications technology (ICT) industry manufacturers of broadband equipment, products and services, praised the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee its action on S. 3605, "The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010."

"R&D is the backbone of the communications industry, a building block for the development of advanced communications products and services, thus, the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act is essential to our industry and to the nation," said TIA President Grant Seiffert. "We thank the leadership of the Commerce Committee for recognizing the need to build upon the momentum created by the original COMPETES Act. The funding of this important legislation keeps America competitive globally, and we ask the full Senate to act quickly to pass this bill."

TIA supports the three-year reauthorization of this bill for its continued commitment to double the nation's basic science budget. In order to maintain the competitiveness and leadership of the United States in research and development, especially in ICT, the U.S. Government's investment in basic research needs to be sustained for the long term.

"Basic R&D in science and technology was essential in establishing America as the world leader of the ICT industry," said Seiffert. "America COMPETES is crucial to ensure that we don't fall behind in the industry's hyper-competitive global competition."

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About TIA
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) represents the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry through standards development, advocacy, tradeshows, business opportunities, market intelligence and world-wide environmental regulatory analysis. Since 1924, TIA has been enhancing the business environment for broadband, mobile wireless, information technology, networks, cable, satellite and unified communications. Members' products and services empower communications in every industry and market, including healthcare, education, security, public safety, transportation, government, the military, the environment and entertainment.

TIA is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Visit tiaonline.org.

TIA's Board of Directors from includes senior-level executives from ADTRAN, Alcatel-Lucent, ANDA Networks, AttivaCorp, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Inc., GENBAND, Inc., Henkels & McCoy, ILS Technology, Intel Corporation, Intersect, Inc., LGE, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, OneChip Photonics, Openwave, Inc., Panasonic Computer Solutions Co., Powerwave Technologies, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave Corporation, Tellabs, Tyco Electronics, Ulticom, Inc., Walker & Associates and WirefreeCom, Inc. Advisors to the Board include FAL Associates and Telcordia Technologies.

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