Sherwood Boehlert: “Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by saying if a forensic expert were brought into the Committee on Science and asked to…”

“Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by saying if a forensic expert were brought into the Committee on Science and asked to examine this piece of legislation, he would find on it the fingerprints of just about every single member of the committee, Democrat and Republican alike. The hallmark of this committee, as has been mentioned during this debate, is the inclusion. We want the ideas from everyone on the committee. I am proud to report to my colleagues in the House that this is an engaged committee. People are involved in helping to shape responsible public policy. I am very proud to serve in the capacity of chairman of a committee that is serving with such distinction addressing the needs of the American people. We have just been through 10 years, from March of 1991 to the end of the first quarter of last year, the longest period of sustained growth in modern history for the economy. That growth was largely driven by science, math, engineering, the technical people who are part of this Information Revolution. We had a slight downturn last year, and then we had 9-11, but we are on the rebound now. If we are to experience, to realize, the next era of sustained growth in our economy, we are going to have to be dependent on our own people, our people who are well trained, our universities that teach these very important subjects. We cannot rely on just people from abroad to come rescue us, and that is too often the case now.”