LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Silicon Valley companies are ratching up pressure on the House of Representatives to pass a proposed rejected 700-billion-dollar bailout bill which lawmakers rejected on Monday to rescue the U.S. financial system.
The revised bailout legislation, passed by the Senate on Wednesday, contains sweeteners of keen interest to Silicon Valley: tax credits for renewable energy and for corporate research and development, as well as relief from the alternativeminimum tax.
"If Congress were to leave town without getting this done, it would be the height of stupidity," Randall Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association, said on Thursday.
Congress, Swisher said, should encourage new renewable energy businesses. He said 41 factories making wind industry products have opened in the United States in the past 18 months.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the renewable energy tax credits "will create tens of thousands of jobs right away."
The House defeated the legislation by a 228-205 vote Monday. The surprise defeat sent stock markets into their deepest dive in more than two decades. The House is expected to vote again on the revised bill on Friday.
While stocks have recovered some of their losses, the bill's proponents emphasize that credit markets remain tight, squeezing day-to-day commerce and heightening anxiety over an economy that thrives on credit.
Among those urging passage are valley giants Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems and Google, and interest groups such as the Sierra Club.
"Should a package not be adopted, and soon, there will be a complete freeze in the already tight capital markets. This will have a catastrophic impact on the region's economy and downsizing and layoffs will be inevitable," said the San Francisco Bay Area Council, representing numerous businesses in the region.
Carl Guardino, president of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, said the credit crisis is having a behind-the-scenes impact on the region's tech economy. Valley CEOs, Guardino said, have told him privately that the financial uncertainty has already led to canceled sales orders, and one multi-million-dollar acquisition deal is in limbo.
TechNet, the tech lobbying group based in the Silicon Valley, is working "fast and furious" for passage of the bill, spokesman Jim Hock said.
Tech industry advocates in Washington said they were encouraged by the Senate's addition of coveted tax incentives to the bill. Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said his organization is targeting 80 House bailout opponents who have a significant solar industry presence in their districts.
Until Tuesday, Resch said he was pessimistic about winning passage for the eight-year extension of tax credits for renewable energies. "Ironically, the failure of the bailout Monday in the House gave us a new lease on life to get this done," he said. "This is an opportunity we can't lose."
Resch called the tax-credit extension, which also would allow utilities to take advantage of the credits, "a game-changer" that will dramatically boost the solar industry and help create new business models.
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