As your United States Senator I take great pride helping to make sure we remain ahead of the curve when it comes to education, technology and global competitiveness. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our people. And investing in our people is necessary to remain competitive today and tomorrow. To rest on our laurels now would be foolish and unwise, and I intend on facing this challenge head on.
As co-chair of the Senate’s caucus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, I am troubled that the rest of the world is catching up to America in the areas of math, science, and technology. For example, China produces ten times more engineers than the U.S. each year. Globally, the U.S. ranks 17th in the proportion of college-age population earning science and engineering degrees, down from third place several decades ago. We simply cannot allow these trends to continue and at the same time remain competitive.
COMPETE ACT
In March of 2005, I introduced bipartisan legislation with Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) to help ensure American leadership in human talent and creativity COMPETE Act (Collaborative Opportunities to Mobilize and Promote Education, Technology and Enterprise Act), offers a blueprint to improving our standing in the global economy. This bill extends and expands the research and development (R&D;) tax credit, leverages the resources and expertise of the private sector to math and science education and provides incentive for businesses to get more involved in helping high-need schools to improve in the areas of math and science. I am working to turn key provisions of the COMPETE Act into the law of the land.
PACE ACT
Increasing the number of students entering the study areas of math and science is essential to retaining our position as a global leader. Shifting our efforts into high gear, in January 2006 I joined Senators Domenici, Bingaman, Alexander and Mikulski in introducing three bills relating to U.S. competitiveness in the areas of math, science and technology. These bills, known as Protecting America’s Competitive Edge Act (PACE) are based on a report issued by the National Academies of Science, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” and focus on improving math, science and engineering education and government funding in R&D.; The bills, among other things:
* Authorize grants for mathematics, science, or engineering departments of higher education institutions that join teacher preparation programs
* Authorize the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award scholarships to student who major in math and science and pursue concurrent teacher certification and authorizes the NSF to award $10,000 fellowships to math and science teachers who have a degree in science, engineering, or math.
* Convene a national panel to create clearinghouse for school districts of effective K-12 math and science teaching materials.
American Competitiveness Initiative
Recently, President Bush introduced the American Competitiveness Initiative in which he outlined America’s strategy to reposition itself among the global elite with respect to the world economy. I applaud his vision to prepare our children for the jobs of tomorrow by providing them with the best quality education possible. The President’s plan seeks to double the federal commitment to the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next ten years, train 70,000 high school teachers to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science, and bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms and give early help to students who struggle with math so they have a better chance at good, high-wage jobs. I am pleased that the President shares this vision for enhancing American competitiveness, and that he came to Minnesota and visited 3M right after the speech to tout his proposals.
There are other things we can do to make our economy more competitive. We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil – and we can begin by building on Minnesota’s leadership in the area of renewable fuels. We need to continue working to open foreign markets to American goods and services. We need to reform our legal system, and to make the President’s tax relief permanent.
The United States is a country born from the minds of innovative dreamers and developed as a result of creative thought and a persistent commitment to pushing the technological envelope. The road to competitiveness starts with giving our Nation’s children a firm grounding in math and science. I believe that we are more than capable of maintaining our nation’s global leadership, and I will continue to get things done to make this a reality.
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