[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1572-H1573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TECH TRENDS 2000, AN HISTORIC EVENT TO TAKE PLACE ON APRIL 6 AND 7 IN 
                              PHILADELPHIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Military Research and Development and a senior member 
of the Committee on Science, I am extremely concerned about our 
Nation's investment of public money into research and development and 
new technologies.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, the R&D accounts for defense are expected to 
decline by about 14 percent. Part of my goal in this session of 
Congress is to make the need for research and technology real for all 
of our colleagues, for our staff, as well as for the American people. 
To that end, an historic event will take place on April 6 and 7 of this 
year in Philadelphia at the brand new convention center.
  Working with Mayor Ed Rendell and the entire delegations of the four 
States of New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland, all 41 House 
Members and 8 Senators, we have assembled what in fact will be the 
largest technology conference of its type in the history of America.
  For the 2 days of April 6 and 7, every Federal agency that spends 
research money in America will be in attendance. They will exhibit the 
kinds of technologies that they are buying today and will give us a 
look at the kinds of technologies and research that they expect to be 
funding over the next 10 years. This will truly be an opportunity for 
all of America to see where we are investing tax dollars in new 
technologies.
  It will be an opportunity for scientists and academics and young 
people to look at the emerging technologies that we should be funding 
in the future that they perhaps can compete for. For the 2 days in 
Philadelphia, we will have Dr. Neil Lane, the White House's top point 
person on science and technology; from the Department of Defense, Dr. 
John Hamre, Deputy Secretary; we will have Jack Gansler, in charge of 
acquisition and

[[Page H1573]]

research; Frank Fernandez, who heads DARPA; Admiral Lyles, who heads 
missile defense; Admiral Gaffney, who heads naval research. We will 
have Dan Golden, the head of NASA, who will talk about NASA's 
investment. We will have Dr. Varmus, the head of NIH; Jim Baker, the 
head of NOAA. We will have the head of the National Institutes for 
Science and Technology and the deputy director of the National Science 
Foundation.
  Each of these individuals, the top leaders from our government who 
focus on research and technology, will be available to answer questions 
and to present a broad overview of the kinds of technology that America 
needs to focus on in the 21st Century.
  During the 2 days we will also have breakout sessions, approximately 
20 of them, that will be centered around specific technology areas: 
information technology, environmental technology, materials technology, 
technology relative to oceans and outer space, so that young 
scientists, entrepreneurs and academics can get a feel of where we are 
spending America's tax money and how we can better spend that money and 
leverage it to create new opportunities for us to improve our quality 
of life.
  My purpose today is to invite all of our colleagues to come to 
Philadelphia for April 6 and 7, to invite all the staff members from 
the House, as well as the other body, and to invite people and 
companies from all over America to come and look at what we are calling 
Tech Trends 2000, the kind of technology that we expect to be focusing 
on in the next millennium.
  It is our opportunity to show America where their $80 billion a year 
of R&D investment is going and how they can take advantage of that. So 
I encourage our colleagues to invite their university research leaders, 
to invite their companies, to invite students. Students, graduate and 
undergraduate, can come to this entire conference for free. There is a 
small charge for the private companies that would come. It is a golden 
opportunity to see where America is going in terms of technology in the 
21st Century.
  It is a bipartisan opportunity. It is an opportunity where the 
Congress is working hand-in-hand with the White House and all the 
various Federal agencies, so I encourage my colleagues to attend. It is 
called Tech Trends 2000. Contact a Member of Congress any place in 
America, who can get information about this conference and how one can 
take advantage of this golden opportunity.

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