[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 40 (Thursday, March 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2889-S2890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      AMERICA COMPETES ACT OF 2007

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, along with the Republican leader, Senator 
McConnell, I have introduced the America COMPETES, Creating 
Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, 
Education, and Science, Act of 2007.
  This legislation is the result of a truly bipartisan effort. Two 
years ago, Senators Bingaman and Alexander asked the National Academies 
to make recommendations on the steps we should take as a nation to 
maintain our competitive advantage. The result was the Augustine 
Report, ``Rising Above the Gathering Storm,'' which provided four 
primary recommendations:
  First, the United States needs to dramatically improve K-12 science 
and mathematics education in order to increase our talent pool. Second, 
we must sustain and strengthen our Nation's traditional commitment to 
long-term basic research. Third, we must make the United States the 
most attractive place to study and perform research. And fourth, we 
need to provide incentives for innovation and long-term investment so 
that the United States is the premier place to innovate.
  The report warned that the Nation's traditional advantages ``are 
eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength,'' and 
that ``decisive action is needed now.''
  America has faced this challenge before.
  In 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik, it caused great panic and 
concern about our ability to maintain our technological superiority. We 
responded to these threats quickly. The following year, Congress passed 
the National Defense Education Act, to keep the United States ahead of 
the Soviets through increased investment in math and science education.
  We trained a whole new generation of engineers and scientists, and 
thus ensured our preeminence in technology and innovation for a 
generation.
  That fact is, Federal investment in the basic sciences and research 
has long been a critical component of America's competitive dominance 
globally. In fact, some economists have estimated that about half of 
the country's economic growth since World War II has been the result of 
technological innovation.
  Today, however, our position of dominance has been lost. We are 
challenged by emerging countries like India and China, where national 
investment in basic research and subject areas such as math and science 
continues to grow at a far greater pace than here in the United States.
  The Augustine panel cited many examples, but some of the statistics 
are striking.
  Consider that in 2005, more than 600,000 engineers graduated from 
institutions of higher education in China, compared to 350,000 in India 
and only 70,000 in the United States. China's population is more than 
three times that of the United States, yet they graduate more than 
eight times the number of engineers.
  The report also found that American 12th graders performed below the 
international average for 21 countries on general knowledge in math and 
science. Another study cited in the report had American 15-year-olds 
ranked 24th out of 40 countries on a math assessment. In my home State 
of Nevada, the situation is equally alarming, with our students ranked 
43rd in the Nation on a 2005 math assessment.
  And even though technological giants like Microsoft, Apple, and Intel 
are American companies, the report indicates that the United States is 
now a net importer of high technology products--a shift from the early 
1990s, when we had a $54 billion surplus in high-tech exports.
  As other countries become more competitive, it is clear we must 
refocus our energies on enhancing the Federal commitment to funding 
basic research and education.
  We must preserve the competitive edge of the United States in science

[[Page S2890]]

and technology by getting kids motivated to study math and science. To 
do this, we need to provide more training for math and science 
teachers, increase the number of students taking advanced placement 
courses, offer grants to establish high schools that specialize in math 
and science, and provide scholarships and fellowships for future 
scientists and engineers.
  The legislation we are introducing today addresses some of these 
concerns. It is, in effect, a downpayment, a modest first step to 
ensuring that America retains its competitive edge.
  I wish to thank Senators Bingaman and Alexander for authorizing the 
Academies Study. This study, along with a number of recent reports and 
books--among them, Tom Friedman's ``The World is Flat,'' which I know 
that many of my colleagues have read--brought a much-needed sense of 
urgency to this issue.
  Many of these provisions were included in the Protecting America's 
Competitive Edge Act, or PACE, which Senators Bingaman and Domenici 
introduced in the last Congress, and I was pleased to cosponsor that 
important legislation.
  I also want to recognize the hard work of a number of my colleagues, 
Senators Inouye, Stevens, Kennedy, Enzi, Lieberman, Ensign, Mikulski, 
Hutchison, and Senator Nelson of Florida, who have been instrumental in 
crafting this legislation.
  The legislation that we are introducing will double the Federal 
investment for the National Science Foundation over the next 4 years, 
and for the Office of Science at the Department of Energy over the next 
decade.
  America COMPETES will create a DARPA-modeled research project at the 
Department of Energy and increase investment for basic research at NASA 
and other science-related Federal agencies.
  The bill provides grants to States in order to better align 
elementary and secondary school curriculum with the knowledge and 
skills needed for the global economy. Nevada is already doing something 
similar, with our State P-16 Council.
  The legislation will strengthen our math and science teaching 
workforce by recruiting and training teachers to teach in high-need 
schools.
  America COMPETES will expand the important Advanced Placement and 
International Baccalaureate, IB, programs by increasing the number of 
math, science, and foreign languages AP and IB courses, and preparing 
more teachers to teach these challenging courses. This is essential for 
States such as Nevada, where only 6 percent of 12th graders took the AP 
calculus exam and only 7 percent took an AP science exam.
  The bill will help develop an infrastructure for innovation by 
establishing a President's Council on Innovation and Competitiveness to 
promote innovation and competitiveness.
  Also, this legislation will help improve math instruction at the 
elementary and middle school level, through Math Now grants.
  If signed into law, our bill will do many of the things that the 
Augustine Report recommended, but the truth is, in years to come, we 
will have even more to do.
  Though we make new and significant investments in research, we still 
must address our tax structure and make sure that we do as much as 
possible to encourage investment in research and development. We should 
start by finally making the R&D tax credit permanent.
  We must also do more in education. This bill strengthens educational 
opportunities in science, technology, engineering, math, and critical 
foreign languages, but this is just a first step. For example, we must 
take a very hard look at our high schools. As Bill Gates has often 
said, our high schools were designed for a 20th century economy and 
often do not address the needs of the 21st century workforce.
  We should also realize that unless our most basic commitments to 
America's students are met--by properly funding title I and No Child 
Left Behind and making a college education accessible and affordable--
these efforts alone cannot prepare our students for the global economy.
  Mr. President, Senator McConnell and I began the 110th Congress by 
promising a new spirit of bipartisanship. Of course we have had our 
differences on some issues, but I hope that, in jointly introducing 
this important legislation, we send a signal that investing in 
America's future is not a partisan issue.
  The America COMPETES Act is an important first step in maintaining 
this Nation's competitive advantage, and I look forward to working with 
my colleagues to ensure that we follow through on the investments we 
are making in this legislation.

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