Press Releases :: January 22, 2007

Gordon Calls on President to Prioritize Science/Math Education, Research, Energy in State of the Union

House Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) issued the following statement today in anticipation of the President’s State of the Union message Tuesday evening:

"As the father of a five year old daughter, I am deeply concerned that our children will be the first generation of Americans not to inherit a better quality of life than their parents.  If we’re serious about making sure our kids grow up in a country whose economic strength is sound and continues to be the envy of the world, then the President should use this State of the Union to revisit his unfulfilled promises from a year ago.

"Key among those unfulfilled promises: work to insure the U.S. remains a leader in the competitive global marketplace.  A year ago, I commended the President’s announcement of his American Competitiveness Initiative, but that initiative’s misplaced priorities were its failure.  The Science and Technology Committee will do our part this Congress to advance the Democrats’ Innovation Agenda and I hope the President will work with us to quickly enact legislation that makes a real commitment to bolstering math and science education and invests in basic research.

"A year ago, the President also vowed to combat this country’s 'addiction to oil,' yet every day our dependence on foreign sources of energy increases.  This dependence is bad for our economic security, it's bad for our national security, it harms our ability to create new, quality jobs, and it harms our ability to maintain our competitive position in the world.  It’s time we think of new ways to approach this problem.  H.R. 6 – which the House passed last week – will make a significant down payment for our energy future.  I hope the President will join with us to develop new technologies and sustainable energy sources that make America energy independent."

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