Political Quotes

“I thank Ms. Johnson for yielding, and I thank her for her leadership on this bill. I rise in support of this bipartisan legislation that will make a significant national commitment to the field of quantum science and engineering, which is critical for our global scientific and technological leadership. While the benefits of quantum technology may still be a ways off, there is fierce international competition in this field, most notably from China, and we can't afford to waste any time. It is through strategic investments like this that we became the world's economic scientific and technology leader, and we can only maintain that position through continuing significant investment in cutting-edge basic research. We already know that other countries are increasing their investments in quantum technology, in some cases guided by long-term strategies, and this bill will make sure that we develop a coherent strategy of our own. This bill is a bright spot in what is otherwise a long, downward trend in Federal R&D funding as a percentage of GDP. Much as today's unbalanced budget leads to future debt problems, today's underinvestment in R&D leads to future innovation deficits. I commend my colleagues from both parties for working together to bring this important bill to the floor, but we want to be clear that this is just a first step. We need to double down on our efforts and to reprioritize Federal research and development.…”