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Company/Organization R&D Credit Coalition Letter

October __ , 2009

The Honorable XXXX XXXX
United States Senate/ U. S. House of Representatives
XXX XXX XXX Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 / 20515

Dear _________________:

The undersigned, representing a broad cross section of the U.S. business community and hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs, urge Congress to pass a permanent and strengthened R&D tax credit as proposed by H.R. 422, introduced by Representatives Meek and Brady, and S. 1203, introduced by Senators Baucus and Hatch. The credit is set to expire at year end.

The R&D tax credit encourages businesses of all sizes to undertake cutting-edge research projects in the United States. R&D is the very lifeblood of our knowledge economy. At a time when the American economy is weak, research and development across industry sectors makes it possible to create and maintain good, high-paying jobs at home and sharpens the ability of companies to compete in the global marketplace.

Failure to enact a permanent and strengthened credit will have significant negative consequences for the U.S. economy and threatens investments we need to make in important areas of the economy such as renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, health care, biotechnology, manufacturing processes, and information and communications technologies. Now is not the time to back away from the spirit of invention. Now is the time to embrace it wholeheartedly. Businesses need certainty to make long-term, high risk investments in the U.S. Furthermore, a strengthened credit will be more competitive with incentives provided by other countries that are vying for research investment dollars.

We respectfully urge you to approve legislation to strengthen and make permanent the R&D tax credit as soon as possible.

Sincerely,