The recent National Academies report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future," states that "The United States takes deserved pride in the vitality of its economy, which forms the foundation of our quality of life, our national security, and our hope that our children and grandchildren will inherit ever-greater economic opportunities. That vitality is derived in large part from the productivity of well-trained people and the steady stream of scientific and technical innovations they produce. Without high-quality, knowledge-intensive jobs and the innovative enterprises that lead to discovery and new technology, our economy will suffer and our people will face a lower standard of living."
The Gathering Storm report is one of the numerous reports that have come out in recent months encouraging Congress and the Administration to craft and adopt policies that encourage U.S. innovation and competitiveness. Then on January 31, 2006, in his State of the Union address, President Bush announced his American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), which echoed the engineering and scientific community's concern and the immediate urgency of this issue. The President stated: "To keep America competitive, one commitment is necessary above all: We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hard-working, ambitious people and we are going to keep that edge. Tonight, I announce the American Competitiveness Initiative, to encourage innovation throughout our economy, and to give our Nation's children a firm grounding in math and science."
Update: Prior to the State of the Union, the engineering and scientific community had expressed its strong support to the Bush Administration to respond the recommendations laid out in the Gathering Storm report. Due to the short time period remaining in the 109th Congress, the most significant step that could be taken prior to Congressional adjournment would be fully funding the agencies (National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy Office of Science) included in the American Competitiveness Initiative in FY 2007. Congress has supported these increases, but it has yet to enact the appropriations bills that fund such measures. If Congress fails to pass either of these measures, the government may not be able to meet its goal of doubling support for basic research over ten years.
The chart below illustrates how support would be strengthened under the ACI:
ACI Basic Research Investment |
FY 2006 Funding
$ in billions |
ACI Research FY 2007
$ in billions % increase |
ACI Research FY 2016
$ in billions % increase |
|
National Science Foundation |
5.58 |
6.02 7.8 |
11.16 100 |
|
Department of Energy
Office of Science |
3.60 |
4.10 14.0 |
7.19 100 |
|
National Institute of Standards and Technology |
.57* |
.54 -5.8 |
1.14 100 |
Total |
9.75 |
$10.66 9.3% |
$19.49 100% |
* The NIST request for FY 2007 is lower only because it excludes earmarks placed in the FY 2006 appropriations bill.
Source: White House American Competitiveness Page
President’s American Competitiveness Initiative
During his 2006 State of the Union Address, President Bush unveiled plans to provide $136 billion for his American Competitiveness Initiative to boost scientific research over the next 10 years. The American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) will focus on six key areas: research and development; math and science education; university programs for teacher education and new graduates; immigration reform; environment for R&D (tax); and, small business development. Over the next 10 years, ACI would provide for the doubling of the research budgets at NSF, NIST and DOE’s Office of Science. It would provide $50 billion in new research monies, $86 billion in new R&D tax incentives, as well as making the R&D tax credit permanent.
In his FY 2007 budget request, the President will ask for $5.9 billion in new money for research, math and science education and tax incentives and an aggregate increase of 9.3 percent in the NSF, NIST and DOE Office of Science research budgets.
Detailed information on ACI is available at White House's American Competitiveness Initiative page and
the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Hearings on ACI
National Competitiveness Investment Act (S. 3936)
On September 26, Senate Majority Leader William Frist (R-TN) introduced the National Competitiveness Investment Act (NCIA), which is an extensive bill that would authorize major changes in federal support for research and development, and science education. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is a co-sponsor of the bill, along with thirty-eight co-sponsors with almost equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. This is a compromise bill that integrates much of the innovation-related legislation that has been introduced in the Senate this past year, namely the Protection America's Competitive Edge (PACE) Acts and the National Innovation Act (NIA).
The legislation would among other things:
* Authorize a doubling of the funding for basic federal research over the next five years at the National Science Foundation and significantly expand funding for basic research at National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and NASA;
* Recruit and train needed new math and science teachers;
* Create a new Teachers Institute to improve the teaching techniques for math and science;
* Create a DARPA-modeled advanced research projects agency at the Department of Energy dedicated to the goal of increasing innovation and competitive breakthroughs in technology;
* Expand scholarship programs to recruit and train math and science teachers at the K-12 level;
* Encourage more students to take Advanced Placement courses and enter International Baccalaureate programs; and
* Increase funding for “early career” researchers.
More information about the NCIA can be found at: http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=2607&Month=9&Year=2006
Protecting America’s Competitive Edge (PACT) Act (S. 2197, S. 2198, and S. 2199)
On January 25, 2006, Senators Pete Domenici, R-NM, Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, Lamar Alexander, R-TN, and Barbara Mikulski, D-MD, introduced a package of three bills aimed at helping America maintain its leading edge in science and technology. The bills will be collectively titled the Protecting America’s Competitive Edge (PACE) Act (S. 2197, S. 2198, and S. 2199). The PACE Act implements 20 recommendations contained in the aforementioned Gathering Storm report. There are currently over 60 co-sponsors of these bills.
Among the key provisions of the PACE Act are the following:
* Strengthening the nation’s traditional commitment to research through more research opportunities for scientists and engineers, as well as targeted research grants for early career scientists and engineers;
* Improving K-12 science and math education with scholarships for future math and science teachers, specialty math and science high schools and summer academies for teachers;
* Increasing the talent pool by improving higher education through scholarships and fellowships for future scientists and by attracting the brightest foreign students to U.S. universities; and
* Growing the U.S. economy by providing incentives for innovation by doubling the R&D tax credit, creating a tax credit to encourage employers to invest in employees’ education and development of science parks.
To read the press statement coinciding with the introduction of the PACE Acts, visit the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee press release.
A section-by-section breakdown of the PACE Act is available here.
Hearings on PACE Act
Representative Bart Gordon's Innovation and Competitiveness Proposals
On the House side, Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN), Ranking Member of the House Science Committee, has introduced similar legislation (H.R. 4434, H.R. 4435, and H.R. 4596). The Science Committee Democratic staff has compiled a chart comparing the recommendations of the Gathering Storm report to the provisions in Gordon's legislation. Also included are comparisons to PACE Act, the National Innovation Act of 2005, and the American Competitiveness Initiative.
National Innovation Act (S. 2109)
On December 15, 2005, Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) introduced the National Innovation Act (S. 2109), which is based on “Innovate America,” the Council on Competitiveness’ National Innovation Initiative Report released one year earlier. The Act focuses on three primary areas of importance to maintaining and improving United States’ innovation in the 21st Century: research investment, increasing science and technology talent, and developing an innovation infrastructure. There are currently 23 co-sponsors of the bill.
The major provisions of the National Innovation Act include:
* Establishing the President’s Council on Innovation to develop a comprehensive agenda to promote innovation in the public and private sectors;
* Increasing the national commitment to basic research by nearly doubling research funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) by FY 2011;
* Making permanent the Research and Experimentation (R&E) tax credit with modifications expanding eligibility for incentives to a greater number of firms;
* Expanding existing educational programs in the physical sciences and engineering by increasing funding for NSF graduate research fellowship programs as well as Department of Defense science and engineering scholarship programs; and,
* Authorizing the Department of Defense to create a competitive traineeship program for undergraduate and graduate students in defense science and engineering that focuses on multidisciplinary learning and innovation-oriented studies.
Currently 31 science, engineering, and technology organizations have indicated their support of this legislation. For more information about the National Innovation Act, including a section-by-section analysis and a complete list of supporting organizations, please visit Senator Joe Lieberman's National Innovation Act press release.
Hearings on NIA
March 15, 2006: Hearing by Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee on Innovation and Competitiveness Legislation
The Innovation and Competitiveness Act (H.R. 4845)
On March 1, 2006, Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX), who led the Republican High-Tech Working Group (HTWG), were joined by the House Republican Leadership, including Speaker Dennis Hastert, to announce the introduction of legislation that will better prepare and develop workers for the global economy and remove government barriers that stifle innovation. The bill focuses on providing educational incentives for math and science students and reducing "abusive" lawsuits against U.S. businesses, in addition to an R&D tax credit and incentives for health-care facilities to improve their use of information technology.
More information about this bill can be found at Representative Goodlatte and the Republican High-Tech Working Group's Innovation and Competitiveness Act can be found here.
Reports
"Science and Engineering Indicators 2006," National Science Board (February 2006)
"America's Pressing Challenge-Building a Stronger Foundation," National Science Board (February 2006)
"Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future," National Academy of Sciences (Fall 2005)
"Engineering Research and America's Future: Meeting the Challenges of a Global Economy," National Academy of Sciences (July 2005)
"Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?," National Bureau of Economic Research (July 2005)
"Tapping America’s Potential: The Education for Innovation Initiative," Business Roundtable and 14 other Business Organizations (Summer 2005)
Preliminary Report of the National Academy of Engineering Committee to Assess the Capacity of the U.S. Engineering Research Enterprise
Frontiers of Engineering: Leading-Edge Reports from the 10th Annual Symposium, National Academy of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering in the FY06 Budget Request (analysis prepared by Timothy Wei, Ph.D., ASME Board on Government Relations, March 2005)
Nanotechnology in the FY06 Budget Request (analysis prepared by Michael Roco,Ph.D., ASME Fellow, March 2005)
Commitment to America’s Future: Responding to the Crisis in Mathematics and Science Education Losing the Competitive Advantage? The Challenge for Science and Technology in the United States Innovate America, Council on Competitiveness
The Contribution of Skilled Immigration and International Graduate Students to U.S. Innovation Science for the 21st Century
The Technology Industry at an Innovative Crossroads
The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century
The 21st Century at Work: Forces Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States (Rand) |
