    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [August 9, 2007]
    [Pages 1064-1065]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the America COMPETES Act
    August 9, 2007

        Today I signed into law H.R. 2272, the ``America Creating
    Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology,
    Education, and Science Act.'' This legislation shares many of the goals
    of my American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). ACI is one of my most
    important domestic priorities because it provides a comprehensive
    strategy to help keep America the most innovative nation in the world by
    strengthening our scientific education and research, improving our
    technological enterprise, and providing 21st-century job training.
        Since I announced ACI in January 2006, Congress has risen to the
    competitiveness challenge in a bipartisan way. House and Senate
    appropriators started the funding for ACI basic research programs in
    fiscal year 2007, and so far in this year's appropriations process, they
    are fully funding my fiscal year 2008 budget request for the National
    Science Foundation, the Office of Science in the Department of Energy,
    and the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the Department
    of Commerce.
        This bipartisan spirit of cooperation continues with the legislation
    I signed. This legislation supports our efforts to double funding for
    basic research in the physical sciences. And the bill authorizes most of
    the education programs I called for in ACI, including the Math Now
    proposal that improves instruction in mathematics and the Advanced
    Placement program that increases the number of teachers and students
    participating in AP and International Baccalaureate classes.
        I am, however, disappointed that Congress failed to authorize my
    Adjunct Teacher Corps program to encourage math and science
    professionals to teach in our schools. I am also disappointed that the
    legislation includes excessive authorizations and expansion of
    Government. In total, the bill creates over 30 new programs that are
    mostly duplicative or counterproductive--including a new Department of
    Energy agency to fund late-stage technology development more
    appropriately left to the private sector--and also provides excessive
    authorizations for existing programs. These new programs, additional
    requirements and reports, and excessive authorizations will divert
    resources and focus from priority activities aimed at strengthening the
    basic research that has given our Nation such a competitive advantage in
    the world economy. Accordingly, I will request funding in my 2009 budget
    for those authorizations that support the focused priorities of the ACI,
    but will not propose excessive or duplicative funding based on
    authorizations in this bill.
        While this legislation includes many unnecessary and misguided
    programs, in many

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    important ways it heeds my call to action of nearly 2 years ago to take
    steps to ensure the ongoing competitiveness of our Nation. Congress,
    however, still has more work to do to improve our Nation's
    competitiveness. In addition to giving priority to full ACI funding in
    this year's appropriations bills, I call on Congress to complete work on
    the remaining components of ACI, including modernizing and making
    permanent the research and development tax credit, authorizing the
    Adjunct Teacher Corps program, and increasing our ability to attract and
    retain the best and brightest high-skilled workers from around the
    world.
        I thank members of both parties in Congress who worked on this
    legislation, and I appreciate the willingness of members to remove or
    otherwise address several of the administration's serious concerns
    associated with this legislation. I will continue to work with the
    Congress to ensure that we keep America competitive through appropriate
    and strong support for science and technology.

    Note: H.R. 2272, approved August 9, was assigned Public Law No. 110-69.