America COMPETES Reauthorizaton Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act.

Over the course of our nation's history, one of our greatest strengths has been our ability to innovate. We have led the world in scientific discovery, expanding the boundaries of knowledge and thinking creatively about difficult problems. However, in recent years, we have seen our technological edge diminish as other countries increase their investment in research and development.

In 2005, the National Academies released ``Rising Above the Gathering Storm,'' warning that unless the United States made a serious commitment to science and technology, it would lose its competitive edge in the world economy.

We responded in a bipartisan way in 2007 with the original America COMPETES Act, a comprehensive investment in education, research, and small business. Today's bill continues and improves upon that approach. It invests in the American innovation economy, providing the resources necessary to create good, sustainable jobs at home and ensure that the United States remains at the forefront of discovery.

Importantly, this bill will double funding for basic research at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Office of Science, and the labs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, over 10 years. This funding provides the cornerstone of our nation's research and development efforts. It is vital that we have a stable, sustainable authorization path and that we fund it reliably so that our nation's researchers know that they have dependable support for long-term projects.

The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act will continue to assist our nation's manufacturers and businesses by strengthening the Manufacturing Extension Partnership at NIST, providing innovative technology federal loan guarantees for small- and medium-sized manufacturers, and coordinating with community colleges to ensure that there are good, regional pipelines of workers with the skills necessary to keep business moving. The Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Department of Commerce will assist businesses with commercializing the results of research to speed market application of new products.

The legislation also creates a new program to develop Regional Innovation Clusters, which will build up regional economies working within a given field by bolstering scientific collaboration between businesses and other entities. We will track the progress of these clusters to determine best practices for other regions.

And finally, this bill continues to recognize that our nation's long term success is dependent on the strength of our education system. It coordinates science, technology, engineering, and math, STEM, education efforts across the federal government, invests in grants and scholarships for college students pursuing STEM careers, and provides resources to diversify our future STEM workforce.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the House Committee on Science and Technology and its Chairman, Bart Gordon, for their excellent work on this issue. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this important legislation.

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