Political Quotes

“earlier this week, I wrote President Bush urging him to boldly triple the innovation budget--federal basic research and development--over the next decade. America today finds herself at a crossroads when it comes to leading the world in science and innovation. We can continue down the current path, as other nations continue to narrow the gap, or we can take bold, dramatic steps to ensure U.S. economic leadership in the 21st century and a rising standard of living for all Americans. Our current levels of investment in innovative research and development are not enough to keep us at the forefront. Countries such as China and India are quickly gaining ground on the United States and few people realize it. The United States faces stiff competition in sheer volume because our population is a fraction of that of China and India. In 2000, Asian universities accounted for almost 1.2 million of the world's science and engineering degrees and European universities accounted for 850,000. North American universities accounted for only about 500,000. Additionally, according to the National Science Foundation, the United States has a smaller share of the worldwide total of science and engineering doctoral degrees awarded than either Asia or Europe. This is most alarming when you consider that since 1980, the number of science and engineering positions in the United States have grown at five times the rate of positions in the civilian workforce as a whole.…”