Political Quotes

“I thank and acknowledge the work of Chairman Wolf and our Ranking Member Fattah for their exhaustive work on this appropriations bill. Madam Chair, in an effort to drive innovation and regional collaboration, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 established a Regional Innovation Program within the Economic Development Administration. This program is intended to encourage and support the development of regional innovation strategies, including regional innovation clusters and science and research parks. For the past few years, the President has consistently requested $25 million to fund the Regional Innovation Strategies Program. The program was provided $10 million in funding in the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill passed by this Chamber a few months ago. Funding for the Regional Innovation Program supports the Economic Development Agency's interagency effort to build regional innovation clusters, including the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge and the Make It In America challenge. This program helps to ensure we build a cohesive, competitive economy by aggregating existing investments and technical assistance from multiple Federal agencies to develop a network of interconnected firms and institutions. Together, this network and other regional stakeholders can use this funding to accelerate job growth, spur business formation and expansion, encourage innovation, invest in workforce training, and support small business development.…”