Building Careers and Shaping Public Policy

10 January 2006

The Honorable Daniel Akaka
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Akaka:

On behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-United States of America (IEEE-USA), I am writing to urge you to cosponsor S.2109, the National Innovation Act of 2005. This bipartisan legislation was introduced by Senators John Ensign and Joseph Lieberman and is cosponsored by 23 of your colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The National Innovation Act is an important first step in sustaining the America’s global leadership in science and technology and promoting U.S. competitiveness and innovation.

There is little doubt that America’s leadership in science and technology is facing significant challenges in an increasingly global economy. IEEE-USA concurs with the National Innovation Initiative (NII) assessment in the “Innovate America: Thriving in a World of Challenge and Change” that, “Today, America finds itself at a unique and delicate historical juncture, shaped by two unprecedented shifts -- one in the nature of global competition, the other in the nature of innovation itself.” To prepare itself for this inevitable tectonic shift, the NII report forewarned that, “America must champion and lead a new era of openness and competition -- fueled by agility and constant motion, and enabled by lifelong learning, technological prowess and the infinite creativity of the innovation process itself.” Indeed, the report singles out innovation as the “single most important factor in determining America's success through the 21st century.”

This important legislation has been endorsed by dozens of scientific and engineering organizations. IEEE-USA believes that effective competitiveness and innovation policies will sustain U.S. technological
leadership and encourage the development of the skilled, creative and competitive workforce critical for U.S prosperity. We are encouraged to see that Senators Ensign and Lieberman and other cosponsors of this legislation have heeded the warnings of the National Innovation Initiative and a multitude of other organizations, and have taken positive measures towards addressing these important issues. Please cosponsor and support this legislation.

For more information, please contact Bill Williams at (202) 530-8331 or at bill.williams@ieee.org

Sincerely,

Ralph W. Wyndrum, Jr., Eng.Sc.D.
President, IEEE-USA

(Similar letter was sent to other Senators encouraging them to sign on as
co-sponsors of the National Innovation Act, S.2019.)