Washington, D.C. -  Today, US Rep. David Price (NC-04) joined House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi at the National Press Club in Washington for the official launch of the “Innovation Agenda,” a legislative package that would make the United States the world leader in business, technology, and science.

Price is one of about a dozen members of the House Democratic Caucus who have hosted local roundtable discussions with businesses, organizations, and educational institutions to address the need to make the US more competitive in our global economy. The input of Price and others formed the basis of the Innovation Agenda, which includes, among other things:

• An educated, skilled workforce in science, math, engineering, and technology;
• Investment in federal research and development;
• Affordable access to broadband technology for all Americans;
• Tools and incentives for small businesses to encourage entrepreneurship

“The spirit Democrats are bringing to this effort today is the same spirit that transformed RTP from tobacco fields to a world-class region for science and development,” said Price. “But since the start of the new millennium, our country has fallen behind in the effort to create a new generation of inventors and retain our competitive edge in today’s global economy. That’s why the Innovation Agenda is so critical: We must make this a bipartisan priority if we want to continue to be the world leader in education, innovation, and technology.”

Price is a longtime advocate for the efforts outlined in the Innovation Agenda package. He helped found and later strengthen the Advanced Technological Education program, which established a grant program at the National Science Foundation for community colleges to train workers for high-tech fields. His Teaching Fellows Act would expand a North Carolina program to recruit and retain good teachers. Throughout the 1990s, he worked to double federal funding for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and in recent years he has worked hard to fight the cuts in that funding proposed by the President and the House Republican leadership.

Visit http://speaker.gov/issues?id=0016 for more details about the Innovation Agenda.