[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 35 (Thursday, March 18, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H1279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 OFFSHORING AND ITS IMPACT ON U.S. JOBS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I want to take just a few minutes to talk 
about the issue of offshoring, which is hotly debated and oft discussed 
as we focus on the question of jobs. It really comes down to two 
choices that we have here in the United States: We can try to isolate 
ourselves from the rest of the world or we can continue, as has been 
the case throughout recent history, to innovate and create better and 
better jobs for Americans right here in the United States.
  After decades of American global economic leadership successfully 
competing in the worldwide marketplace and producing cutting-edge 
technologies and business practices, the economic isolationism option 
is clearly no option at all because of the success that we have 
enjoyed.
  That leaves us with only one choice, Mr. Speaker, and that is to 
allow Americans to continue to innovate, grow, and create better jobs 
right here. In fact, innovation has always been the key to our global 
economic leadership. Our culture of creativity, independence and free 
thinking has created what the CEO of an Indian high-tech company 
recently called a, quote, ``unique crucible for innovation.''
  He shared this anecdote in the New York Times recently talking about 
the very powerful force of innovation here in the United States. He 
said, ``I was in Europe the other day and they were commiserating about 
the 400,000 European knowledge workers who have gone to live in the 
United States because of the innovative environment there. The whole 
process where people get an idea and put together a team, raise the 
capital, create a product and mainstream it, that can only be done in 
the United States of America,'' this Indian high-tech executive said.
  Mr. Speaker, our longstanding position as the leading global 
innovator continues to be very strong. For example, the United States 
is by far the world's leader in producing new patents. In recent years, 
an average of 185,000 new patents have been granted here in the United 
States compared to 120,000 in Japan and only 45,000 in the entire 
European Union of all those countries combined.
  Mr. Speaker, we also lead the world in research and development by a 
huge margin. The U.S. spends over a quarter of a trillion dollars on 
research and development every single year, while Britain spends about 
a tenth of that amount, Germany spends less than a fifth of the U.S. 
total, and France spent about an eighth.
  Our growing investments in research and development have led to 
steady growth in the number of intervention disclosures and patent 
applications by academic and nonprofit research organizations as well. 
In 2002 these grew by 15 percent and they continue to increase.
  These same institutions also are increasingly licensing their work in 
partnering with U.S. companies, primarily small- and medium-sized 
businesses, to apply their discoveries and innovations to our 
marketplace and to the global marketplace. This increased research and 
licensing lead has led to major breakthroughs in fields such as health 
care, including issues that are near and dear to virtually everyone 
here, cancer and Alzheimer's treatment, along with electronics with 
applications like improved cellular voice quality and computer monitors 
that create less stress on users' eyes, and even a new type of electric 
generator that can produce electricity with environmental-friendly 
hydrogen fuel at a fraction of the cost of current power plants.
  Mr. Speaker, venture capital, by providing the resources necessary to 
turn ideas into new goods and services, is also a key component of our 
ability to innovate. Once again, the U.S. is the global leader. 
Business and individual investors provided over $21 billion in venture 
capital in 2002 compared to just $8 billion in European Union. That 
constitutes a 600 percent increase in U.S. venture capital over the 
past decade. This environment, Mr. Speaker, is the cornerstone of 
American prosperity.

                              {time}  1500

  It gives individuals the freedom to develop new ideas and concepts 
and encourages creativity and risk-taking. It has unparalleled 
financial markets and a venture capital system that are constantly 
helping Americans turn their dreams into reality. It has given American 
companies and individuals the power to invest, grow and create new jobs 
in cutting-edge fields, and it is our best answer to those who see 
offshoring as a reason to retreat behind the walls of economic 
isolationism.
  We should not be trying to isolate ourselves from the worldwide 
market which would actually stifle our innovative environment and cede 
our position as the global leader. Instead, we should continue to allow 
our spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship to empower Americans as 
we lead the world and create better and better jobs right here in the 
United States.

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