[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 172 (Tuesday, December 21, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10924-S10925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  AMERICA COMPETES REAUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, last Friday the Senate in an act of 
bipartisanship reauthorized the America COMPETES Act, which was first 
signed into law August 9, 2007. It did so this time under unanimous 
consent; the last time it took 3 days of debate. I would like to note 
that this reauthorization continues the strong tradition of 
bipartisanship which augurs well for the ability of our Nation to 
conduct cutting edge research while innovating and competing in our 
global economy. In a time of concern about our budget deficit, the 
passing of this act by unanimous consent is an acknowledgment by the 
Senate as a whole that tax dollars spent on these topics is money well 
spent.
  But behind that simple act of unanimous consent laid almost 2 years 
of hard work at the staff and Member level in the Senate.
  First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the leadership of 
Senator Lamar Alexander. Senator Alexander worked with members of his 
Republican caucus to ensure their views were incorporated into this 
bill. He has kept his unwavering belief that the strength of our 
Nation, its ability to proposer and create good paying jobs, rests on 
the investment we make in educating our children in science and 
education, conducting research at universities and laboratories and 
using a well educated workforce to promote innovation in our global 
economy.
  The America COMPETES Act involved the work of three Senate 
committees: the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; 
the

[[Page S10925]]

Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions, HELP; and the 
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. As before, Matt 
Sonnesyn, who participated in the last America COMPETES effort provided 
a stable and steady push to keep the bill on track. In the Commerce 
Committee, Ann Zulkosky on Senator Rockefeller's staff worked long 
hours through a markup and subsequent staff drafts of the bill while at 
the same time managing to reauthorize NASA. Maryam Khan and Hugh Derr 
on Senator Hutchinson's staff worked with Ann throughout this time; 
Robin Juliano on Senator Harkin's staff on the HELP committee worked 
with Christopher Eyler on Senator Enzi's HELP staff to ensure education 
programs were updated where appropriate; Jonathan Epstein on my Energy 
Committee staff worked tirelessly, as he did on the original bill, and 
along with Isaac Edwards on Senator Murkowski's Energy Committee staff 
worked through energy programs and updated them to account for changes 
since the last COMPETES Act.
  There are other important staff I would like to acknowledge who made 
this effort in the Senate a success: David Cleary on the HELP 
Committee, Adam Rondinone and Neena Imam in Senator Alexander's 
personal office, Ann Begeman, Senator Hutchinson's Commerce Committee 
Staff Director, Ellen Doneski, staff director for the majority and 
Chris Martin, Andrew Ruffin, Bruce Andrews, and Brian Hendricks of the 
Commerce Committee; Trudy Vincent, my legislative director and Peter 
Zamora, my education counsel; Robyn Hiestand on the Budget Committee, 
Rachel Sotsky in Senator Lieberman's personal office, Lula Davis, the 
secretary for the majority, Tim Mitchell on Senator Reid's floor staff, 
Laura Dove the assistant secretary for the minority and Bob Simon, my 
Energy Committee staff director. Finally, I need to give a special 
thanks to the legislative counsels who worked with staff to accurately 
draft the bill--Lloyd Ator on the Commerce Committee, Amy Gaynor who 
drafted the HELP Committee text and Gary Endicott who drafted the 
Energy Committee text.
  As you can see, the America COMPETES Act involved a large number of 
bipartisan staff, all working together for the common goal of promoting 
the ability of our nation to compete in a global economy. I am grateful 
to all of the them for their hard work.
  I am also delighted that today, December 21, the House of 
Representatives passed this bill as well.

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