Kevin Brady: “I thank the chairman for bringing this important bill, the American Research and Competitiveness Act, to the House…”

“I thank the chairman for bringing this important bill, the American Research and Competitiveness Act, to the House floor. This is a bipartisan bill. I am glad not only to be the lead sponsor, but to be working with my friend, a Democrat, John Larson from Connecticut, on this important bill. We follow in the footsteps of two other bipartisan leaders, Chairman Dave Camp and Ranking Member Sandy Levin, who carried this bill together in a bipartisan way with strong support from Republicans and Democrats. In the day and age where we look at our smart phone or our tablet and we see sort of the impact of technology on our lives, many of us have family members and parents for whom medical breakthroughs have saved lives, lengthened lives, given back quality of life. We see people who are disabled through technology now able to live full lives and work full lives because America is innovative. This is about jobs, but it is about people as well. America used to lead the world in research incentives, but today we have fallen to 27th. China, Russia, and other global competitors are quickly surpassing us in their share of the economy devoted to research. If we don't permanently commit to encouraging new innovation in technology, in manufacturing, in energy, in medical breakthroughs, over time we will lose our place as the largest economy in the world.…”