[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 22, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E887-E888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PRINTED CIRCUIT INVESTMENT ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PHILIP M. CRANE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 22, 2001

  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today and join my good friend and 
colleague, Bob Matsui of California, to introduce the Printed Circuit 
Investment Act of 2001. This simple and straightforward bill allows 
manufacturers of printed wiring boards and printed wiring assemblies, 
known as the electronic interconnect industry, to depreciate their 
production equipment in three years rather than the five years in 
current law. Printed wiring boards are those ubiquitous little green 
boards loaded with tiny wires and microchips that are the nerve centers 
of electronic items from television sets to computers to mobile phones 
and electronic organizers.
  The interconnecting industry, like so much of the electronics 
industry, has changed dramatically in just the last decade. This 
industry, which has $44 billion in annual sales, was once dominated by 
large companies. Now it consists overwhelmingly of small firms. The 
rapid pace of technological advancement today makes interconnecting 
manufacturing equipment obsolete in 18 to 36 months. This makes the 
interconnecting industry very capital intensive. In fact, capital 
expenditures last year totaled more than $3 billion and continue to 
grow.
  The depreciation rules found in the tax code have not kept pace with 
the realities of this dynamic market. The industry currently relies on 
tax law passed in the 1980s, that was based on 1970s era electronics 
technology. US competitors in Asia, however, enjoy much more favorable 
tax treatment as well as direct government subsidies,

[[Page E888]]

  The Printed Circuit Investment Act of 2001 will provide necessary tax 
relief to the interconnect industry and the 400,000 Americans whose 
jobs directly rely on the success of this industry. I urge my 
colleagues to join Congressman Matsui and I in supporting this 
important legislation.

                          ____________________