[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1693-1694]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            CUTS TO RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND STEM EDUCATION

  (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I've come to the 
House this evening to talk about the deficit, but it's not our 
budgetary deficit, which is also a concern to many of us, but, rather, 
the deficit of vision that I see reflected in the CR that we will be 
voting on later this week. By that, I mean we have a CR before us this 
week that will do grave damage to our economic competitiveness while 
having a negligible impact on the Nation's budgetary situation.
  It is clear that without a robust, innovative economy, it will be 
next to impossible to ever truly reduce our national budgetary deficit. 
Yet this CR cuts some of the very investments that are needed to 
address the crisis in competitiveness in our country that we are 
confronting now.
  For some time, important leaders in our business and academic 
community have warned us about this crisis. In 2005, the National 
Academies panel, chaired by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine, 
released a report, ``Rising Above the Gathering Storm.'' This report 
warned that without a focused effort by the Federal Government, the 
future of American competitiveness was bleak. It recommended increased 
efforts in science, technology, engineering, and math, and we have 
failed to see this vision.
  The reason for these investments is simple: technological innovation 
leads to jobs. Several studies have estimated that over 50 percent of 
America's economic growth since World War II is a direct result of 
technological innovation. Some studies have suggested that this 
percentage is much higher still.
  This technological innovation coincided with an increased Federal 
investment in research, development and STEM education.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. I urge my colleagues to reject 
the cuts being proposed in the Republican CR.

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