America COMPETES: Big Picture Perspectives on the Need for Innovation, Investments in R&D and a Commitment to STEM Education
Opening Statement By Chairman Bart Gordon
Good morning. Before we start our hearing, I want to quickly talk about the Committee’s agenda for this year. Members have a draft agenda at their desk. Much of it reflects what we have already discussed, and I welcome your further thoughts.
This morning, we are kicking off one of most important efforts of the year – to reauthorize our committee’s landmark legislation, the America COMPETES Act.
We will also reauthorize NASA this year – setting it on a path for the next 10 to 20 years.
Among our initiatives, I also expect the Committee to take a closer look at advancing several energy technologies including those associated with nuclear energy, carbon capture and sequestration, marine and hydrokinetic energy, as well as energy efficiency and conservation technologies. These technologies not only have the potential to help curb climate change, they are also poised to create new industries and the jobs that go along with them.
Finally, we need to finish the work that we started last year. This Committee passed a total of 37 bills and resolutions out of the House with strong bipartisan support. We are currently working with the Senate to speed up progress on the 21 bills that are still waiting for action in that chamber.
So, this year poses a tall order for this Committee, however I am optimistic that through our bipartisan approach we will be able to produce good legislation for the American people. I look forward to continued good counsel with my friend, Ralph Hall, and the Republican members during this next year.
Thanks to our panelists for being here and for their patience as we took care of some quick housekeeping. Now, we’ll move on to the reason we’re all here this morning – the America COMPETES Act.
As you all know, in 2005 I, along with our former Chairman Sherry Boehlert and Senators Lamar Alexander and Jeff Bingaman, requested that the National Academies conduct a study to assess the state of our nation’s competitiveness, the science and technology infrastructure in the United States and how it would affect future U.S. prosperity. The result was Rising Above the Gathering Storm.
This report included a comprehensive set of recommendations to create jobs and further U.S. competitiveness in an increasingly global marketplace. The Committee used these recommendations to create the America COMPETES Act which was signed into law in August 2007.
COMPETES authorized a total of $33.6 billion over fiscal years 2008-2010 for science, technology, engineering and math education programs across the federal government. The bill also authorized multiple grant programs to help educate current and future teachers in the areas of science and math education, as well as invested in support for young researchers by expanding early career grant programs.
And, the bill also established the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy, better known as ARPA-E. This federal agency has already awarded its first round of $4 to 5 million grants to researchers who are conducting high-risk, high-reward research in the energy field.
The funding process amazed everybody involved – they received a shocking 3,700 concept papers, asked 334 of those to submit full proposals, and eventually selected 37 proposals for funding.
The speed with which this agency was organized and processed these applications seems unprecedented in the federal government. This efficiency is a direct result of the countless hours spent by ARPA-E director, Arun Majumdar and his dedicated staff working to achieve the agency’s mission.
Last month, the ARPA-E announced that it is accepting applications for the second round of funding, and expect to announce those winners “soon.” With this track record, I would not be surprised if “soon” means some time this Spring.
But, federal funding can only go so far. Many of the finalists have projects that are certainly just as deserving of grant funding as the award winners. That’s why I suggested to Secretary Chu and Director Majumdar that they create a fair in which those finalists could display their ideas and meet with potential investors. They agreed, and the first ARPA-E Innovation Summit will be held March 1st-3rd at the Gaylord Convention Center at nearby National Harbor in Maryland.
This morning, however, we are discussing the need to reauthorize the America COMPETES Act which expires at the end of the current fiscal year. As we learned from Gathering Storm, in order to create a sustained, well-educated workforce for an innovative economy, we need to establish sustained funding streams for these programs.
Our witnesses this morning will help us better understand how critical this commitment is to our prosperity and our economic growth. I look forward to hearing from them about how COMPETES has affected or will affect U.S. innovation and the workforce, and how these programs will help them sustain a skilled workforce in the future.
Witnesses
Panel
0 - Mr. John Castellani
President Business Roundtable Business Roundtable
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0 - Mr. Tom Donohue
President and CEO U.S. Chamber of Commerce U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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0 - Governor John Engler
President and CEO National Association of Manufacturers National Association of Manufacturers
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0 - Ms. Deborah Wince-Smith
President and CEO Council on Competitiveness Council on Competitiveness
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