Political Quotes

“I again thank the Chair and thank the Senator from South Carolina. There are some who will say that this problem of a lack of availability of funding results from the fact that individuals are putting more money today into mutual funds. Those assets have increased dramatically. And they are displacing banks and venture capital as major sources of investment capital, and that creates a problem, which is mutual funds have shorter time horizons. They have to show a quick return, and as a result, they invest primarily in publicly traded securities instead of taking that chance that at an early stage of development will produce the very successful critical technology company of the future. So that is the problem, and it is a problem that we have seen over the years. We have suffered from it. Some of the great American universities and research laboratories have been and remain the best in the world. And this is a litany that has been said over and over on this floor, which I will repeat briefly, and it is a perception that is generally shared. Too often, in the past--happening less today--the great idea of American laboratories and research facilities has been converted into a commercial product in another country, particularly in Asia--Japan, Taiwan--because they have taken the funds and invested them at that early stage of development in trying to take the bright idea and convert it to a commercial success. And we also cite here the VCR, the fax machine.…”