U.S. Rep. Brad Miller Cosponsors Legislation to Strengthen U.S. Economic Competitiveness Through Investments in Science, Innovat

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Rep. Brad Miller (NC13) cosponsored The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, H.R. 5116, that will strengthen U.S. scientific and economic leadership, support employers, and create jobs through investments in science, innovation, and education. The bill is expected to pass in the House today.

“Before this recession, the industries that North Carolinians traditionally relied upon--textiles, tobacco, furniture-- suffered one loss after another,” Miller said. “Now unemployment in North Carolina is more than 14% in some parts. Most of those traditional jobs are not coming back. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that new jobs are going to come from science and research. New jobs are created by the development and adoption of new technologies and America must be leading the way.”

The workers who are going to produce these new technologies must be the most skilled workforce in the world.

“Plain and simple, this bill will create jobs. It provides loans to allow small and mid-size businesses to keep their current employees and hire more. The Research Triangle Park, a leader in advanced energy, will greatly benefit from provisions that will create regional economies around existing areas of expertise, or innovation hubs,” Miller added.

In the short-term, COMPETES authorizes programs like Innovative Technology Federal Loan Guarantees which will address the immediate need of small- and medium-sized manufacturers to access capital to become more efficient and stay competitive. In the mid-term, the bill will strengthen regional economies through programs like Regional Innovation Clusters. To ensure scientific and technological leadership now and long into the future, the bill makes investments in basic research by putting basic research programs—the Department of Energy Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology labs—on a path to double authorized funding over ten years, based on the 2007 appropriated funding levels.

The bill also includes authorization of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy and Energy Innovation Hubs to help advance the U.S.’s transition to a clean energy economy and to support the growth of new sectors of the economy—and the jobs that come with them.

More than 140 organizations have endorsed the legislation including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Business Roundtable, the Council on Competitiveness, the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the National Venture Capital Association, TechAmerica, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the American Chemical Society.

About the America COMPETES Act

The America COMPETES Act was based on the 2005 National Academies’ report Rising Above the Gathering Storm. The report found that “the scientific and technological building blocks critical to our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength.” COMPETES incorporated the science, technology and STEM education recommendations from the report and was signed into law with broad bipartisan support in 2007. It expires at the end of this fiscal year. The reauthorization passed the House Science and Technology Committee with bipartisan support on April 28th.

Transcript of Rep. Miller’s remarks on the House floor today in support of The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 below:

Madame Speaker, I rise today in support of the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act. If the next generation of Americans is to be as prosperous as ours, we must regain our edge in technology, innovation, and education. This bill will do just that.

Before this recession, the industries that North Carolinians traditionally relied upon--textiles, tobacco, furniture-- suffered one loss after another. Now unemployment in North Carolina is more than 11% and in some parts of my district it is more than 14%. We lost most of those jobs before the Great Recession, and most of those jobs are not coming back.

North Carolinians know that new jobs will either come from science and research, or they won’t come at all.

New technologies create new jobs and America must lead the way in developing new technologies, and we must lead the way in bringing those technologies to the marketplace. That will require the most agile, innovative economy in the world, and it will required the most skilled workforce.

Plain and simple, this bill will create American jobs. It provides loans to allow small and mid-size businesses to keep their current employees and hire more. Universities and private companies in my district are already leaders in many emerging technologies, including advanced energy technologies, and will greatly benefit from provisions that will create regional economies around existing areas of expertise, or innovation hubs.

Finally, this bill’s investment in basic research will create jobs that we cannot even yet imagine. On behalf of North Carolinians, I would like to thank Chairman Gordon for his tireless work on this bill.

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