It has been a dramatic change, one of the largest changes arguably in human history in terms of the direction of our country; and it has been shifted towards a new economy, based primarily on technology and information. And one of the most important challenges that we in this body will face in the years ahead is adjusting to that, is figuring out how to understand how our economy has changed and, as a consequence, how we need to change to embrace that. 

One of the biggest arguments that I want to make off the start is this is not an option. The new economy is not something that we can choose to opt in or opt out of. It is a fact of life, and we need to be prepared to adjust to it. And there are some policies that we can adopt. 

But, more than anything, right up front we need to increase our knowledge as policymakers, I urge all Members of Congress to do this, of the changes that have occurred in our economy that have moved it more toward a high-tech economy, and what changes do we need to make as policymakers to address that. 

I would like to lay out five broad categories today and just say that, as a member of the New Democratic Coalition on the Democratic side of the House, we are working very closely on these issues, working with leaders in the technology field, leaders in the education field to try to make the policy changes that are necessary because I think it is critical that we address those. 

The biggest one, of course, is education. We need to shift our education systems from K-12 to beyond to embrace the idea of life-long learning and the importance of technology. The three R's are still absolutely necessary. But if they do not have some knowledge in there about computers as well, they are going to be left behind in the new economy, and we need to make sure that that is included. 

We need to make sure that people understand that the world has changed, they are not simply going to be able to get through high school and then move into a job and never have to update their skills. They are going to have to be willing to constantly update their skills, and we in government are going to have to provide the access to the updating of those skills, whether it is Voc, higher education of any kind, retraining on the job. We need to create those incentives. 

But at the beginning, at the front, before we get to that, we need to change our K-12 system to make it more aware of the needs of technology and of the need of teaching kids how to learn and how to learn for life. 

Secondly, we have to invest in research and we have to give our companies in this country the incentive to make those investments. 

An important issue is going to come through Congress at some point this session that would permanently extend the R&D tax credit. That will have a critical impact on our economy. Research and development is absolutely necessary to keep up with the break-through technologies that seem to be happening on a daily basis. We need to give our companies the incentives to make those investments. 

Currently, we only offer the R&D tax credit for one year and then we play this game of roulette in the next year as to whether or not we are going to let it go on from there. Companies cannot plan in that sort of an environment. They do not know whether or not they are going to have the money to do the research over the long haul. We need to make that permanent. 

Third, we need to build the technology structure. This is about broad-band communication, giving people access to the Internet. The Internet has the ability to be the greatest equalizer of all time in terms of knowledge. It is not going to divide us. It is going to give anybody with a PC and a link to their phone line to get to the Internet the ability to gather knowledge which they never would have had access to before. But we have got to give companies the incentive to build that infrastructure so that people will get that access. 

This means deregulation and allowing that competition to flow so that we will build the infrastructure and get access to the Internet beyond just the urban areas which have it now and out into the rural and suburban areas where it is desperately needed. 

Fourth, we need to leave the Internet alone. Overregulating the Internet can potentially strangle its ability to get that information out there and help companies grow. Too much regulation would be a very bad thing, and we need to leave the Internet alone and not overregulate it. 

Lastly, we need to increase exports. We need to get access to more markets. Ninety-six percent of the people in the world live someplace other than the United States. If we are going to increase markets for all goods, we are going to have to do it overseas. 

I want to emphasize that this is not limited to certain technology areas, the Silicon Valley or Seattle or the research triangle or Boston. Any company one can think of is affected by technology. 

We just heard today that we had another 4 percent increase in productivity this last quarter. That is driven almost exclusively by advances in technology and helps grow the economy everywhere. Regardless of what business you are in, technology can help make that business more productive, help make our economy stronger and, most importantly, help people get and keep good jobs that will enable them to raise their family and take care of their bills and obligations. We must embrace the new economy and the high-tech economy so that we can prepare for the future.