Angie Craig: “for just a few moments, I rise to recognize the work that has been done on H.R. 2419, the Energy and Water Development…”

“for just a few moments, I rise to recognize the work that has been done on H.R. 2419, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2006. For a good number of years, some of us who work on the physical sciences in the Senate--by that I mean on committees that recognize the kind of research dollars that are applied to new technologies beyond health care, but more in the physical sciences--have been increasingly concerned that we have dedicated almost exclusively all research money to health care, medical science, biological sciences, and not to the physical sciences. We had once invested heavily in the space program, and for decades it advanced our country beyond all other countries in technology, in all of the high-tech that has led our economy today and is now leading the world economy. Much of that was a spinoff from the early days of the investment in the space program. When few saw the opportunities or the benefits, some in Congress did, and it was well funded.…”