Douglas Alexander: “today I join with Senators Domenici, Bingaman, Mikulski, and more than 25 other senators, in introducing the Protecting…”

“today I join with Senators Domenici, Bingaman, Mikulski, and more than 25 other senators, in introducing the Protecting America's Competitive Edge (PACE) Act--a package of three bills to enhance American brainpower. America is now playing in a tougher league. China and India are competing for our jobs. The best way to keep those jobs in America is to maintain our brainpower edge in science and technology. The story of this bill really began last May, when Senator Jeff Bingaman and I, with the encouragement of Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, asked the National Academies this question: ``What are the ten top actions, in priority order, that Federal policy makers could take over the next decade to help the United States keep our advantage in science and technology?'' To answer the question, the Academies assembled a distinguished panel of business, government, and university leaders headed by Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, that included three Nobel Prize winners. They took our question seriously. We asked them for 10 recommendations; they gave us 20 when they released their report in October. In October, the Energy Committee held a hearing to learn more about those recommendations from Mr. Augustine and the Academies. It was the first opportunity Congress had to hear the Academies' answer to our question.…”