Conference Report on H.R. 2272, America Competes Act

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2272, AMERICA COMPETES ACT -- (House of Representatives - August 02, 2007)

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, in 2005, the National Academies released a report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm. Its authors, a team of scientists, academic leaders, and business executives, gave Congress a strong warning--unless we take comprehensive action, America will lose its competitive edge in the world economy.

Today, I am proud to join my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to respond to that call to action with the 21st Century Competitiveness Act. This bill addresses this century's challenges with new investments in education, research, and small businesses. It is a comprehensive way to ensure that America remains at the forefront of discovery and innovation.

We recognize the need to foster student potential and encourage them to enter the fields of science, math, technology and engineering. This bill invests in 25,000 new teachers, helping them pay for school and training them to enter our nation's classrooms and engage students in math and science. It increases the number of teachers who can teach Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes and push our students to work with more challenging curricula. It puts new science and math teachers in high-needs schools so we can reach more students. And it establishes public-private partnerships so business and community leaders can identify high-needs fields and help students pursue innovative careers.

We recognize the need to push the boundaries of current research, explore new ideas, and foster innovation. This bill puts us on a path to double funding for our research institutions--the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy's Office of Science. Our scientists at these institutions are engaged in remarkable, ground-breaking work, and we must redouble our support to ensure that America continues to be a leader in scientific advances. This bill will also provide grants to young researchers at the early stages of their careers to allow them to pursue their ideas and encourage them to continue their study in U.S. institutions. And, recognizing the importance of research into new energy technology as we work to combat global warming and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, this bill creates a new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy.

Finally, we recognize the importance of small businesses and entrepreneurial success in the development of our economy. This bill will double funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership over 10 years and will create a Technology Innovation Program to support revolutionary technology development at small and medium sized companies.

Mr. Speaker, we must take proactive steps to secure America's place in an era of global economic and scientific competition. This bill, by increasing the number of students entering STEM fields and stimulating exciting research at our national scientific institutions and in our business community, will do just that. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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