As a life-long resident of Silicon Valley, I've had a front row seat to the birth and expansion of the internet age. The digital world, as it exists today, is a direct result of investments that Americans made decades ago. Today's technologies — the Internet, GPS, satellite communications — have their roots in projects and efforts begun in the post-World War II era. For our nation to remain at the forefront of the global economy, we must continue to make the kinds of serious and committed investments in research and education that we made in years past.
America cannot rest on its laurels. We need a strategy to stay at the top. South Korea, Singapore, China, and India are investing unprecedented amounts to educate and train a new generation of engineers, mathematicians, scientists, and innovators. At the same time, America has under-invested in education for the last 30 years. Shortchanging future innovators undermines not only our intellectual infrastructure, but also our ability to grow our economy and maintain our global position.
In 2005, with Speaker Pelosi and a handful of others, I helped draft the Innovation Agenda, a Commitment to Competitiveness. This program, which emphasizes math, science, engineering, and technology education and a renewed commitment to basic research, was the first blueprint for House Democrats in our innovation/prosperity program.
Last year, I joined a bipartisan group of legislators in passing the America COMPETES Act, which seeks to double government funding for science over the next decade. But we still have much to do. While federal research funding has grown in dollar terms, it has fallen as a share of our gross domestic product. It is now less than half of what it was in 1970. This deficit is also evident in our trade. From 1980 to 2003, U.S. exports of high-tech products declined from 31 percent to 16 percent of the world share.
I support making the R&D tax credit permanent, which will help private industry make its own investments in innovation. I also support expanding tax credits for companies innovating in renewable energy technologies and expanding access to advanced broadband communications which will help foster the dissemination of new ideas and the. I support net neutrality so that internet users may remain free of control by internet access providers.
The time has come for Americans to undertake a determined campaign to rebuild our intellectual infrastructure. With a new administration in the White House and a Congress committed to funding necessary improvements, we can begin investing in the innovators of the future. Our national and economic security depend on it.
