Company Urges Permanent Extension of Research Credit

Bryan R. Grummon, GemStone Systems Inc., Beaverton, Ore., has urged the Clinton administration to include a permanent extension of the research credit in its fiscal 1999 budget proposal. Grummon cites widespread support for the credit, noting that it "supports the creation of valuable new, high-skilled jobs for American workers."

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November 13, 1997

The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton

Dear Mr. President:

[1] We urge you to include a permanent extension of the Research and Experimentation tax credit (commonly referred to as the R & D credit) in your Fiscal year 1999 Budget. Your leadership in including and funding an extension of the R & D credit in your FY 1998 Budget was instrumental in achieving the recent extension of the credit in the Taxpayers Relief Act of 1997.

[2] As you know, the R & D credit continues to enjoy broad, bipartisan congressional support. The credit provides companies with a critical, effective, and proven incentive to maintain and increase their investment in U.S.-based research and development. The continued encouragement of private sector R & D in the United States is particularly important in light of the substantial tax and other financial incentives offered by many of our major foreign trade competitors. Moreover, targeted primarily at salaries and wages paid to employees in U.S.-based R & D activities, the credit supports the creation of valuable new, high-skilled jobs for American workers.

[3] For these reasons, we strongly urge you to make an investment in the future economic growth of our country by funding a permanent extension of the R & D credit in your FY 1999 Budget

[4] We thank you for you consideration of our strong interest in a permanent R & D credit and look forward to working with you toward this goal.

Sincerely,

Bryan R. Grummon

cc: The Honorable Robert E. Rubin