Bush has helped high-tech industries grow, Ensign says

Kirsten Searer

Thursday, Aug. 5, 2004 | 10:02 a.m.

Standing in a growing Las Vegas high-tech business, Sen. John Ensign touted President Bush's work to help new industries grow and said that John Kerry would force the nation to take a step back.

The business, Switch-Advanced Communications Group, is a warehouse of computers that provide offsite backups for telecommunication carriers. If a system for a company such as SBC, Qwest or Sprint goes down, the Las Vegas site acts as a backup.

More businesses like this one could be lured by Nevada's high quality of life and favorable tax climate if a federal administration continues to nurture small business growth, Ensign said.

Switch-Advanced Communications group has thrived in the past few years partly because of Bush's economic policies, Chief Executive Officer Rob Roy said.

"We have the correct political push at this time," Roy said.

Kerry's campaign counters that the Democrat has a background in small business and has promised to cultivate more small businesses by giving 99 percent of them a tax cut and providing more opportunities for loans and tax credits.

Kerry also wants to invest in research and development in research institutions and universities that would benefit broad sectors of the economy, Kerry spokesman Sean Smith said.

But Ensign argued that Bush's tax cuts have specifically nurtured high-tech businesses such as Switch-Advanced Communications, and he said the media has downplayed economic growth in the area.

"The tax cuts are largely responsible for why the economy is doing so well," Ensign said.

Bush's tax credits for research and development have spurred research that will continue to create jobs, he said. Even as business spending has slowed, spending on research has kept up, he said.

"Without the tax credits, they would still do research but they wouldn't do it to the extent they do today," he said.

Bush is working to gain federal land rights to continue a national broadband system, said Ensign, who said the United States is behind other countries in national broadband networks.

Bush also increased funding for nanotechnology by 83 percent, Ensign said.