John Kerry on Technology Jr Senator (MA), Democratic nominee for President

Reallocate spectrum for wireless phone networks

Empower Americans by making Internet access universal

Invest in high-speed commuter rail & double-dip benefits

Member of "Digital Dozen" of tech-savvy legislators

We can get enormous multiple payoff by investing in the technological infrastructure of our information age:
• Making permanent the federal tax credit for research and development that helped supply much of the capital for the tech boom of the 1990s
• Expand high-speed Internet access to insure that inner cities and rural areas become fully wired and to expand e-commerce
• A tax credit for companies that set up broadband networks in inner cities, just as I earlier sponsored the e-rate law that finances the wiring of inner-city schools for the Internet
• Enact digital signature legislation that makes it possible to execute secure and private authorizations of e-commerce transactions.

Voted YES on Internet sales tax moratorium.

Voted YES on telecomm deregulation.

Chief information officer to digitize federal government.

Performance-Based Government
The strong anti-government sentiments of the early 1990s have subsided, but most Americans still think government is too bureaucratic, too centralized, and too inefficient.

In Washington and around the country, a second round of “reinventing government” initiatives should be launched to transform public agencies into performance-based organizations focused on bottom-line results. Many public services can be delivered on a competitive basis among public and private entities with accountability for results. Public-private partnerships should become the rule, not the exception, in delivering services. Civic and voluntary groups, including faith-based organizations, should play a larger role in addressing America’s social problems.

When the federal government provides grants to states and localities to perform public services, it should give the broadest possible administrative flexibility while demanding and rewarding specific results. Government information and services at every level should be thoroughly “digitized,” enabling citizens to conduct business with public agencies online.

Goals for 2010
• Require public agencies to measure results and publish information on performance.
• Consolidate narrow federal-state grants into broad performance-based grants that offer greater flexibility in return for greater accountability for results.
• Make it possible for citizens to conduct all business with government online.
• Create a chief information officer to drive the digitization of the federal government.

Promote internet via Congressional Internet Caucus.

Founded in the spring of 1996, the Congressional Internet Caucus is a bipartisan group of over 150 members of the House and Senate working to educate their colleagues about the promise and potential of the Internet. The Caucus also encourages Members to utilize the Internet in communications with constituents and supports efforts to put more government documents online. The Internet Caucus Advisory Committee and the Internet Education Foundation host regular events and forums for policymakers, the press, and the public to discuss important Internet-related policy issues.

Membership in the Congressional Internet Caucus is open to any Member of Congress who pledges support for the following goals:
• Promoting growth and advancement of the Internet
• Providing a bicameral, bipartisan forum for Internet concerns to be raised
• Promoting the education of Members of Congress and their staffs about the Internet
• Promoting commerce and free flow of information on the Internet
• Advancing the United States' world leadership in the digital world
• Maximizing the openness of and participation in government by the people.

$500 tax credit for each employee who telecommutes.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit to employers of up to $500 annually for each employee participating in an employer-sponsored telework arrangement. Allows a tax credit for telework equipment expenses.

Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to conduct a pilot program promoting telecommuting among small business employers, with special outreach to individuals with disabilities.

Fund nanotechnology research & development.

Requires the President to implement a National Nanotechnology Program to:
1. establish the goals, priorities, and metrics for evaluation for Federal nanotechnology research, development, and other activities;
2. invest in Federal research and development programs in nanotechnology and related sciences to achieve those goals; and
3. provide for interagency coordination of Federal nanotechnology activities undertaken pursuant to the Program.

Let companies share Y2K plans with no risk of lawsuits.

An act to encourage the disclosure and exchange of information about computer processing problems, solutions, test practices and test results, and related matters in connection with the transition to the year 2000.

Provides that no Year 2000 (Y2K problem) readiness disclosure (a statement concerning Year 2000 computer compliance information) shall be admissible in any civil action arising under Federal or State law against the maker of the disclosure to prove the accuracy or truth of any year 2000 statement in such disclosure, except: (1) as the basis for a claim for anticipatory breach or repudiation or a similar claim against the maker; and (2) when a court determines that the maker's disclosure amounts to bad faith or fraud or is otherwise unreasonable.

Corresponding House bill is H.R.4455. Became Public Law No: 105-271.