WASHINGTON – March 14, 2022 – BSA | The Software Alliance today shared a letter with House and Senate leadership sharing suggestions for how policymakers can address important provisions in S. 1260, the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (USICA) and HR 4521, the America COMPETES Act.

“BSA applauds both chambers of Congress for their commitment to fostering scientific research and advancing technological capacity. The USICA and COMPETES Acts rightfully identify cross-border data flow protections, digital economy agreements, STEM workforce growth, and secure supply chains as priorities,” said Brandon Consolvo, Director, Legislative Strategy at BSA | The Software Alliance. “As this bill moves through the conference process, we hope it retains provisions that will support technology development and job growth. Specifically, we hope that the final bill retains the USICA provisions relating to the negotiation of digital economy agreements, cross-border data policy and the Generalized System of Preferences, CHIPS Act funding, the inclusion of the Other Transaction Authority, exempting STEM Ph.D. graduates from numerical limits on immigrant visas, funding for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, and the creation of a Supply Chain Resiliency and Crisis Response program within the Department of Commerce. We are eager to work with policymakers on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate to address these priorities in the final product of the USICA/COMPETES conference process.”

To read BSA’s full letter on the USICA/COMPETES Act, visit: https://www.bsa.org/policy-filings/us-bsa-letter-on-the-usicacompetes-act