TechWonk Blog Subsection
TechWonk Blog
-
Sessions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have historically been non-political.聽 There have always been differences among Member States, but, for the most part, disagreements were resolved in a manner that enabled the parties to maintain an emphasis on consensus and collegiality.聽 According to some long-time ITU participants, however, December鈥檚 World Conference on International Telecommunications [...]
-
When it comes to identifying policymakers who will champion bipartisan, constructive approaches to fix our outdated, broken tax system and help U.S. companies to innovate, compete and create jobs, don鈥檛 count Senator Carl Levin among them. For several years, Senator Levin has used his position as Chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to conduct a campaign to embarrass American companies [...]
-
Not long after the introduction of the Senate鈥檚 Gang of 8 (G8) comprehensive immigration reform bill, one of its leading members and voices, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), called the introduced legislation 鈥渁 starting point鈥� and applauded those Americans who have already stepped forward to raise 鈥渓egitimate points and suggestions on how to improve the bill.鈥澛� Today, a collection of 55 national, state [...]
-
The Senate Judiciary Committee鈥檚 work this week on the Gang of 8 (G8) immigration reform bill could include an energetic debate on two competing views about temporary skilled visas 鈥� the H-1B (for those with Bachelor鈥檚 degrees or higher) and the L-1 (for managers, executives and those with specialized knowledge) 鈥� and how they impact U.S. workers and the U.S. economy. These views are represented in [...]
-
When the leader of the free world walks through a door, it is usually the audience that is in a bit of awe.聽 But today, when President Obama visited the Applied Materials campus in Austin, Tex., the tables were turned.聽 After touring the facility and seeing the chip assembly facility and the precision with which the team there works, the president seemed genuinely impressed. 聽 It was incredible.聽 [I [...]
-
Back in July 2011, as the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee marked up and approved S. 1000, the Shaheen/Portman bill on energy efficiency, I couldn't get excited.聽 Why? 聽It was abundantly clear that the bill had no chance of enactment.聽 With the 2012 election already looming, there was no momentum behind bipartisan energy legislation, even in the noncontroversial, low-hanging fruit area of [...]
-
The Senate Judiciary Committee today begins what promises to be an ambitious effort over the next few weeks to review and consider amendments to S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, otherwise known as the bipartisan 鈥淕ang of 8鈥� immigration reform bill.聽 The committee has a webcast of the markup.聽 And here are some other resources that may be helpful [...]
-
Following a 394-1 vote two weeks ago by the House of Representatives to pass the Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act, the Senate began looking at this issue this week with a hearing in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.聽 This is a promising sign for an issue that will affect numerous domestic industries if Congress does not act by the end of this fiscal year.聽 Helium is a [...]
-
As we inch closer to Thursday鈥檚 Senate Judiciary Committee markup of S. 744, the bipartisan Gang of 8 comprehensive immigration reform bill, 91快活林's Dean Garfield tonight talked with CNBC's Larry Kudlow about the link between immigration reform and economic growth.聽 Here are highlights, or you can watch the entire interview here. ..... This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to align our immigration [...]
-
91快活林 is back in Geneva this week to participate in the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP-11) of the Basel Convention -- an international treaty designed to control international shipments of hazardous waste.聽 Governments, civil society, and the private sector are continuing our multi-year effort to construct international guidelines to stop the illegal flow of electronic waste to facilities in the [...]
- ...
- ...