Speeches
Pelosi -- America COMPETES Act Asserts America’s Global Economic Leadership
08/02/2007
“What an exciting day for the Congress. Some of you are too young to know this, but
you’ve read about it in history books. I
remember when President Kennedy came forward in 1961 and said that he was going
to inaugurate a program that would send a man to the moon and back safely
within 10 years.
“Now, for those of you who weren’t born yet and just read
about it in history books, you have to know that sending a man to the moon was
such an impossible idea at that time. It
would almost be like a magician cutting somebody in half and then putting him
together again. How could this possibly
happen, that somebody would go into the sky, to the moon, and then come
back?
“In his remarks, President Kennedy made the following
statement: ‘The vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we are first, and
therefore, we intend to be first. Our
leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our
obligations to our selves as well as others, all require us to make this
effort.’
“This is our Innovation Agenda which is reflected in the
innovation legislation before us today.
In answering President Kennedy’s call at that time, to put a man on the
moon,
“Today, Congress has the opportunity to make a decision for
the future.
“Nearly two years ago, House Democrats created our
Innovation Agenda, in a bipartisan way, which guarantees our national security
and economic prosperity, expands markets for American products, and asserts our
leadership throughout the world in the decades to come.
“Already this year, the New Direction Congress has led the
way in promoting innovation in investments in education, science, and research
and development.
“Today, with the America COMPETES Act, we have bipartisan,
bicameral legislation that implements much of the Innovation Agenda.
“The COMPETES Act focuses on four key areas: education,
research and development, energy independence, and small business.
“In education, the COMPETES Act recognizes that
“What I love about this bill is that it’s market-oriented,
public–private, entrepreneurial-partnership, to keep us number one.
“We know that independent scientific research provides,
innovation begins in the classroom and that scientific research provides the
foundation for innovation and future technologies. The COMPETES Act makes a sustained commitment
to research and development by putting us on a path to doubling funding for the
National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Standards and
Technology, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
“I heard Congressman Wamp with great enthusiasm talk about
the ARPA for energy, I’m excited about it as well. To help achieve energy independence, the
COMPETES Act focuses on energy research and innovation by creating a new
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E).
“This new initiative will provide talent and resources for
high-risk, high-reward energy research and technology development, and attract
investment for the next generation of revolutionary technologies.
“And finally, the America COMPETES Act recognizes that small
businesses are often the catalysts for technological innovation, and the
backbone of a strong economy. It puts
us on a path to doubling the funding for the Manufacturing Extension
Partnership, and creates a new initiative, the Technology Innovation Program,
to support high-risk, high-reward, pre-competitive technology for small and
medium size companies.
“Because this bill is a decision in favor of future jobs,
and future economic strength, it has earned the endorsement of the Chamber of
Commerce, many university Presidents, ITI, TechNet, and the National
Association of Manufacturers, among others.
“I urge all of my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to
support it. And before I close I want to
acknowledge the great leadership of Science and Technology Chairman Bart
Gordon, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, and Congressman George
Miller who is the chair of our policy committee, for the work they did in
bringing people together, Democrats and Republicans, entrepreneurs, high-tech,
bio-tech, academics, people in the work-force, students, venture capitalists.
Meetings were held all over the country to put together the Innovation Agenda,
which is reflected in this legislation.
“In passing this bill, we’re asserting global economic
leadership, create new business ventures and jobs and give future generations
the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.
“I began my remarks, Mr. Speaker, by quoting President
Kennedy, who is an inspiration to so many of us of a certain generation who are
active in public service today. He
harkened back to our founders and our vows to our nation, and I want to hearken
back to that place too, because our founders were among the earliest American
entrepreneurs. They were magnificent
disrupters, they thought in new and fresh and different ways.
“They came together, imagine the confidence they had; they
declared their independence from the great Naval power in existence at the
time, did so in a declaration that asserted the quality of all people, and then
went forward to win the Revolutionary War, write a Constitution that made us the
freest people in the world. And when
they did so, they designed the great seal of the United States. And on that great seal it says ‘Novus Ordo
Seclorum.’ These people, with all that
revolutionary spirit, with all that disruption of that status quo, had so much
confidence in what they were doing, so much faith in themselves, faith in this
country to be, and faith in God, that they said what they were establishing was
for the century, for the ages. Seclorum. Those of you who know Latin know that that means
‘forever.’ And it was that optimism,
that confidence that built America.
“It is in that spirit, of disruption of change, of doing something different, of having a big goal of aspiring to greatness that we as President Kennedy said: ‘Do honor the vows of our nation,’ and this legislation is in their pioneer and entrepreneurial spirit.”