[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 135 (Wednesday, September 23, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H9874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE INNOVATION ECONOMY OF THE FUTURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, on Monday I had the distinguished honor of 
hosting President Barack Obama to New York's 21st Congressional 
District that I represent when he paid a visit to Hudson Valley 
Community College in the city of Troy.
  I want to extend my sincerest thanks to the President for recognizing 
that New York's Capital Region has become a leader in advanced 
technologies, has the ingredients to lead in the clean energy sector, 
and, most of all, for delivering a message that was full of inspiration 
and full of hope for a better future.
  Why did the President come to New York's Capital Region to deliver an 
address on developing an innovation economy? Because we are 
transforming a rusty manufacturing center that had fallen on hard times 
into a center for advanced technologies that will soon rival the 
Silicon Valley and Boston. That is being done with a combination of 
public and private investment in close partnership with many 
universities and community colleges throughout the area.
  The President touched on a few points that I have been talking about 
for years: an innovation economy built around three dynamics: upgraded 
human capital, infrastructure investments, and financial tools. We must 
retrain our workers to develop the energy and innovation economy of the 
future and leverage public funds with private investments to do so. If 
we are successful, this will lead to jobs such as wind engineers, 
advanced photovoltaic mechanics, fuel cell electricians, geothermal 
plumbers, technically trained teachers, clean room technicians, and 
many more.
  In Albany we have built a nanotechnology research center and college 
that have earned a worldwide reputation, which is already a precursor 
to products in a wide range of economic sectors, from health care to 
low-emission engines. In Schenectady, General Electric Global Research 
Center and Wind Energy Institute are leading an army of smaller 
companies and entrepreneurs in alternative energy development. GE also 
just committed to building an advanced battery plant in Schenectady 
that will add 350 jobs and create a new energy storage system for 
locomotives that will save millions of dollars on fuel and dramatically 
reduce air pollution. And just to the north of my district, in my 
colleague Congressman Scott Murphy's district, Global Foundries is 
constructing the most advanced chip fabrication plant in the world.
  Smart investments in research and development are leading to 
innovations that are creating new jobs that will lead to future growth, 
and that's a vision I share with President Obama for our entire Nation. 
We are engaged in a clean energy race, much like the space race of the 
1960s. The nation that wins that race to develop clean, affordable, 
renewable energy and emerging technologies will achieve economic 
security and a broad base of jobs for generations to come that are 
higher-salaried jobs.
  And that brings us to Hudson Valley Community College, where programs 
have been created to train the area's workforce in semiconductor 
manufacturing, photovoltaic, geothermal, and wind energy. Community 
colleges like Hudson Valley Community College and the others in my 
district, Fulton-Montgomery Community College and Schenectady Community 
College, that will become the vital link between the innovations that 
will drive our new economy and the great-paying jobs that will lead to 
economic security for workers now and into the future. Community 
colleges will be where we train and retrain workers for the jobs of the 
future. The White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a recent 
report that in the near future, a degree from a community college will 
be in higher demand than 4-year degrees.
  But this effort doesn't start with college. We need to educate 
today's children for the jobs that will be there when they become 
adults. The Capital Region is ripe to offer a regional approach to 
technological training, starting from grade school all the way up. In 
fact, in the Capital Region of New York State, we have established a 
Tech Valley High School; and Hudson Valley Community College, working 
with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is 
building a resource for training and educating the future semiconductor 
manufacturing workforce. We must use the tools at our disposal in our 
region to instill a sense of excitement and passion toward learning, 
especially in the disciplines of science, of technology, of 
engineering, and, yes, of mathematics.
  In Congress we are already laying the groundwork for our innovation 
economy, first through the Recovery Act, then through legislation such 
as the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Just last week we passed 
in this House the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which will 
make college affordable for millions more Americans and help build a 
world-class community college system.
  Our future economy depends on our ability to educate and innovate. 
The challenges to lessen our dependence on foreign fossil fuels is an 
opportunity to create new industries, new jobs, and new economic 
security for all Americans, a vision that I share with our President 
and many of my colleagues.
  Our President's vision of an innovation economy is ripe in the 21st 
Congressional District.

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