[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7941]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          DOUBLING THE BUDGETS OF OUR BASIC RESEARCH AGENCIES

  (Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, we learned last week that April was the fourth 
consecutive month of job growth in the United States. The tax cuts and 
investments made by the Recovery Act are turning the economy around. 
Funding for scientific research and infrastructure in that act has put 
to work scientists and construction workers and others.
  But after years of underinvestment in research, this part of the 
Recovery Act, $22 billion, was merely a down payment on our future 
economic competitiveness. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act in 
the House this week will build on these successes, among other things, 
by authorizing funding levels to continue to double the budgets of our 
basic research agencies. These investments will pay big dividends as 
recoveries and innovations lead to new industries, like Google and 
Cisco and Genentech, that will keep our Nation competitive. If we 
intend to lead the global economy, we cannot afford to neglect 
innovation and the infrastructure that produces that innovation and 
that has produced these economic powerhouses.
  As a member of the Congressional Task Force on Competitiveness, I 
urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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