[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 161 (Tuesday, October 25, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H7019-H7020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1210
                 INVESTING IN INNOVATION AND EDUCATION

  (Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia asked and was given permission to address

[[Page H7020]]

the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, 54 years ago this month, 
Sputnik knocked the United States into second place in the space race. 
America responded with a tremendous investment in the sciences, which 
produced the Apollo program, the personal computer, the Internet, GPS, 
and numerous other technologies; but, sadly, that may be ending.
  Last December, in an OECD ranking, the United States rated only 
``average'' in education. Other nations are outinvesting and 
outeducating us. And the Republican slash-and-burn agenda is making it 
worse. America is now losing education jobs every month and 
disinvesting in R&D and critical infrastructure.
  The President laid out a plan to invest in our educators, innovators, 
and job creators--priorities that used to have bipartisan support. We 
cannot continue to let American performance slide. We are jeopardizing 
our future.
  Mr. Speaker, last century America fell behind, and the Soviet Sputnik 
was the result. It took a decade to catch up. How long will we fall 
behind today before we realize those investments are critical and 
support the President's job program?

                          ____________________