[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[July 7, 2006]
[Pages 1354-1355]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at Cabot Microelectronics Corporation in Aurora, Illinois
July 7, 2006

    The President. Listen, thank you. Thanks for the tour. The 
Speaker and I really enjoyed coming. 
Bill, appreciate you.
    William P. Noglows. It's an honor.
    The President. It is an honor to be here.
    This is an innovative company that is a sign of the times that are 
coming. This is a company that strives upon our country's greatest 
asset, which happens to be the brainpower of our citizens. And what's 
amazing as you walk through the labs and meet the people working here, 
you say, ``What's your degree in?'' Let me just say, there wasn't a lot 
of history majors: physicists, chemists, Ph.D.s, people with advanced 
degrees. It is clear that in order for this country of ours to be 
competitive in the future, we've got to understand the nature of the 
jobs of the future, and these jobs are going to require people who have 
got math and science skills.
    And so one way to make sure this country is competitive is to 
enhance math and science in early grades and encourage people to take 
math and science in the later years. And there's all kinds of ways to do 
that. One is to encourage Advanced Placement programs in our Nation's 
schools and help train 30,000 teachers in Advanced Placement. Another is 
to get people from institutions like this to go into our middle schools 
and high schools and say, ``It's okay

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to be a scientist,'' you know, ``Math and science will be important for 
your future.'' In other words, try to inspire people. We call that an 
adjunct professor program.
    We've got a role at the Federal Government to make sure that we're 
research-oriented in a technology-driven economy, and that is to spend 
your money on basic research, so that, for example, nanotechnology is a 
really important part of the economy--an important growing part of the 
economy. And I believe and the Speaker 
believes--as a matter of fact, the House of Representatives believes 
that it makes sense to double the basic research budget of our Federal 
Government to help companies like this stay on the leading edge of 
change.
    And so we're here because we want our fellow citizens to understand 
that we've got some really innovative people here in our country, and 
that in order for us to be competitive in the future, we've got to 
emphasize math and science and research and technology.
    And so I want to congratulate you for running a good company.
    Mr. Noglows. Thank you.
    The President. I want to thank the people who work here for making 
you look good. And I thank--I want to thank the Speaker for getting a bill out of the House that funds the 
American Competitiveness Initiative that I sent up to Congress. The 
Speaker did good work on that. I call upon the Senate to get it done. 
This will be a commitment to our Nation's future, so that people won't 
have to fear the future because we intend to shape the future.
    Anyway, thanks for letting us come by. Proud to be here. You're a 
great company. Thanks for the good work you do. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 2:12 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
William P. Noglows, chairman and chief executive officer, Cabot 
Microelectronics Corp.