Deputy Secretary's Speech

Remarks by Deputy Commerce Secretary David A. Sampson
U.S. House Science Committee

Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. I'm delighted to join my colleagues to talk about the President's R&D budget request and the critical matter of American competitiveness.

Like my colleagues, I'd also like to make a few brief comments and ask that my written testimony be made part of the hearing record.

Let me say at the outset that American companies and American workers are the most competitive and innovative in the world. And we have the strongest, most diversified economy to prove it.

Over the past four years, the U.S. has experienced faster growth than any other major industrialized nation and our unemployment rate, at 4.7 percent, is one of the lowest. Payrolls are growing in almost every single state (47 out of 50 in December).

One of the major reasons for our success is the enormous improvement in worker productivity. In fact, U.S. productivity has had one of the fastest five-year periods of growth in almost 40 years. And the reason for that is we are a nation of innovators. We have a reputation for coming up with new technologies that make us more productive.

The challenge is this: How do we maintain our leadership role in an increasingly competitive global economy? We need to attack this problem on a number of fronts, as outlined in President Bush's new and very ambitious American Competitiveness Initiative.

His initiative reflects many of the issues that were raised in December at a National Summit on Competitiveness that we hosted at the Commerce Department. Chairman Boehlert and Subcommittee Chairman Ehlers, among others, were very supportive of the Summit, for which we are very grateful. It was a highly successful meeting, with over 50 CEOs and university leaders joining officials from virtually every federal research agency.

At the core of the President's competitiveness initiative are major increases in federal R&D funding over the next ten years.

Let me focus on what we're proposing at the Commerce Department for fiscal 2007.

First, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the President's budget calls for a 24 percent increase in funding, over $104 million, for our core laboratory programs and the facilities to support them.

This funding will allow scientists at NIST--who have won three Nobel Prizes in recent years--to advance research in promising fields. For example, $72 million would go for cutting-edge efforts in areas such as nanotechnology, hydrogen fuels, and quantum information. These initiatives might lead to new cancer therapies, fuel cells for pollution-free cars, or unbreakable codes to protect electronic transactions.

We're planning to invest in critical national assets, notably the Center for Neutron Research. And we're also seeking $32 million to maintain and upgrade our labs, including the aging facilities in Boulder, Colorado.

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we're requesting a $345 million increase to our base programs in order to continue improving key predictions and warnings for a variety of weather, climate, and water conditions, working toward sustainable fisheries, and supporting safe and efficient transportation.

We're seeking increases in several high priority areas, including:

• $112 million for the next generation of weather satellites
• $108 million for ecosystem management, including $20 million for fisheries activities in the Gulf of Mexico
• $46 million for weather and water information (including $12 million to operate the tsunami warning program)
• And $24 million for climate services to better predict and better inform the public about droughts

Mr. Chairman, President Bush, the Commerce Department and this Administration are committed to maintaining America's leadership in the global economy. One of the best ways to do that is by creating an environment that encourages innovation and risk-taking, and that focuses R&D spending on the most promising and productive fields. We believe our R&D budget achieves those goals.

I look forward to working with the Committee as we move forward on what I believe is one of the most crucial issues we face as a nation.

Thank you. I would be pleased to answer any questions you might have.