WASHINGTON, D.C. – Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) president Dennis Slater issued the following statement in support of the American Innovation and Jobs Act, introduced by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). The legislation will restore incentives for long-term research and development (R&D) investment by ensuring that companies can continue to fully deduct R&D expenses each year and expand eligibility for the refundable R&D tax credit so that more startups and new businesses can use it.

“Equipment manufacturers applaud Senators Hassan and Young, along with their colleagues Sens. Cortez Masto, Portman, and Sasse, for their leadership to ensure that the United States is the premier place in the world for innovation and for introducing bipartisan legislation that will restore immediate deductions for investments in research and development,” said Dennis Slater, president of AEM. “The $288 billion equipment manufacturing industry’s ability to innovate leads to investments in our people, groundbreaking advances in our industry, productivity gains for our customers, the spreading of beneficial technologies to other sectors, and new and improved products and processes. Research and development is the lifeblood of the more than 1,000 equipment manufacturers in the United States, driving economic growth and creating family-sustaining jobs, and we look forward to working with the co-sponsors and other lawmakers to advance this important legislation.”

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AEM is the North American-based international trade group representing off-road equipment manufacturers and suppliers, with more than 1,000 companies and more than 200 product lines in the agriculture and construction-related industry sectors worldwide. The equipment manufacturing industry supports 2.8 million jobs in the U.S. Equipment manufacturers also contribute $288 billion a year to the U.S. economy.