[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3564]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO NATIONAL ENGINEER'S WEEK

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                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 14, 2006

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of National 
Engineer's Week and the fact that we are recognizing the importance of 
engineering in our lives. Too often we forget that engineering gives us 
our Blackberries, computers, cell phones, Ipods, pagers, high 
definition televisions, remote controls, and many other conveniences of 
modern living. For example, a Ford Taurus has 120 computer chips in it, 
giving the Ford Taurus more computing power than the Apollo lunar 
excursion modules.
  I often speak of ``good old American know-how'', the ingenuity that 
created innovations which propelled our Nation to the superpower status 
we enjoy today. Yet, Mr. Speaker, we cannot grow complacent--innovation 
is slowing down, the innovation landscape is changing, and others are 
trying to take the gauntlet from us as I stand here now. We will not 
remain the leader of technological innovation in the world if we do not 
act. Resting on our laurels is not an option. We have done that long 
enough.
  We must lead the Nation forward into the cultural shift required for 
our continued technological dominance. Every action that we take in 
this chamber sends a message to the world. Will we send the message 
that the United States understands the acceleration of technology 
through engineering and that these technologies will fundamentally 
change the structure of society and challenge the vision that we have 
of the future? Will we embrace the challenges that are before us as the 
global economy unfolds and we strive to find our role in it?
  As we celebrate National Engineer's Week, we recognize the abilities 
that engineers have to translate scientific knowledge into innovative 
technologies which fulfill the needs and desires of society. By taking 
time on the floor of the House of Representatives to give commendation 
to engineering and National Engineer's Week, we are telling the Nation 
that engineering IS important to our future. However, celebrating 
engineering is not enough. We must focus resources and increase funding 
into research and development. Without a strong foundation in basic 
research and development, engineering loses the source of knowledge 
which feeds the engineering innovation pipeline.
  Innovation spurs from creative thinking, and engineering benefits 
from the highly trained workforce skilled in the creative endeavor of 
problem solving. The education of our engineering workforce must also 
be a focus of our work for the future of our Nation. We must more 
fervently welcome into the science and engineering workforce 
underrepresented groups, for their unique perspectives and diverse 
background enrich the problem solving environment. We must create an 
educational system that maintains high expectations and intellectually 
challenges each student to find their role in solving the problems that 
we will face as a Nation. This is about our future, our Nation's 
future, and we must act now.

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