Committee Democrats and Witnesses Emphasize Importance of Continued Federal Investments in R&D
(Washington, DC) – Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held its first hearing of the 113th Congress. It was entitled, “American Competitiveness: the Role of Research and Development.” Testifying before the Committee were Mr. Richard Templeton, the President and CEO of Texas Instruments; Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and Dr. Charles Vest, the President of the National Academy of Engineering.
Witnesses and Democratic Members stressed the important role that federal investments in research and development (R&D) play in economic growth.
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said in her opening statement, “Without dismissing the value of many other investments we make with our limited discretionary budget, there is probably no single investment we make, other than education, which has done more to ensure our nation’s long-term economic vitality than our investment in R&D…Some specific examples of groundbreaking innovations and companies that would not have been possible without federal R&D investments include the internet, GPS, Google, the iPhone, and barcodes. We could probably spend our entire two-hour hearing reading off such a list.”
Mr. Templeton said, “If I leave you with one message today, it is this: federal funding of fundamental scientific research is critical to our nation’s continued competitiveness, economic growth and workforce development. It will shape our future. It will launch new industries, undergird our scientific and engineering infrastructure, produce our next Nobel Laureates, ensure unparalleled academic excellence of our universities, and provide an economic future for the nation. It is not a switch that can be turned on and off.”
Dr. Vest said, “There is every reason to believe that for American citizens to have a vibrant economy, security, and good health in the 21st century we will be even more dependent on rapid advances in fundamental scientific knowledge, development of new technologies based on these advances, and the ability of our innovation system to competitively deploy these advances into global markets as new or improved products and services.”
Dr. Jackson said, “Perhaps most pressing for you, as Members of Congress, funding for research in these austere times is facing significant challenges. Those nations that educate the next generations, invest in research, and make commitments to building effective innovation ecosystems are poised to become the global leaders of tomorrow. There should be no disagreement about the wisdom of educating our children in science and technology, without compromise. And our commitment, in terms of investment, rhetoric, and vision, should be unmistakable and unshakeable.”
Members and witnesses covered a wide range of topics including STEM education and inspiring students, technology transfer, public-private partnerships for innovative technologies, and the R&D tax credit. Part of the hearing was also spent discussing funding for R&D in general and the impacts of the upcoming sequestration.
“I’d like to say a word about the consequences of sequestration. We would not just be turning off the lights on many groundbreaking research facilities and experiments today, we would be eating our seed corn for tomorrow,” said Ms. Johnson.
She continued, “Our witnesses were asked in their testimony to speculate on what kind of breakthrough technologies we might see in the next 5-20 years. I think if any of us knew the answer to that, we’d be rich. That’s the point – we don’t know what directions our research may take, what unknown applications and innovations will be developed. We cannot afford to overestimate what the private sector is prepared to do on its own. And we cannot afford to underestimate the negative consequences for the nation’s R&D enterprise of letting sequestration go forward.”
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