Steven Holt: “We learned last week that April was the fourth consecutive month of job growth in the United States. The tax cuts and…”

“We learned last week that April was the fourth consecutive month of job growth in the United States. The tax cuts and investments made by the Recovery Act are turning the economy around. Funding for scientific research and infrastructure in that act has put to work scientists and construction workers and others. But after years of underinvestment in research, this part of the Recovery Act, $22 billion, was merely a down payment on our future economic competitiveness. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act in the House this week will build on these successes, among other things, by authorizing funding levels to continue to double the budgets of our basic research agencies. These investments will pay big dividends as recoveries and innovations lead to new industries, like Google and Cisco and Genentech, that will keep our Nation competitive. If we intend to lead the global economy, we cannot afford to neglect innovation and the infrastructure that produces that innovation and that has produced these economic powerhouses. As a member of the Congressional Task Force on Competitiveness, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.”