House Democrats are committed to creating prosperity through science and innovation, reasserting our economic and technological leadership throughout the world in the decades to come, and giving future generations greater opportunity to achieve the American Dream.

Today, the White House released a report, A Strategy for American Innovation: Securing Our Economic Growth and Prosperity, which is an update to the Administration’s innovation report from September 2009. Along with investing in the building blocks of American innovation, promoting market-based innovation, and catalyzing breakthroughs for national priorities, new innovation initiatives include:

A wireless initiative to help businesses reach 98% of Americans with high-speed wireless access within five years

Patent reform to reduce the enormous backlog of patent applications at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO)

Improving K-12 education with an emphasis on graduating every student from high school ready for college and a career

Accelerating the development of clean energy technologies, with a Clean Energy Standard that will help us reach a goal of delivering 80% of the nation’s electricity from clean sources by 2035

A Startup America initiative to facilitate entrepreneurship across the country, increasing the success of high-growth startups that create broad economic growth and quality jobs

Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explains why the new Startup America initiative is so important:

Leader Pelosi on the report:

Last week, in his State of the Union address, President Obama offered a vision for a strong future for our nation, rooted in the entrepreneurial spirit of the American people. Today, in this new report, the White House has outlined a strategy to create jobs and promote growth, while keeping America number one.

Innovation is the engine that drives the American economy and keeps us competitive in the global marketplace. Investing in American entrepreneurs and scientists to encourage innovation is critical to creating jobs today and in the future. If we make it in America, we can lead the world in developing the technologies that will revolutionize our communications, energy, transportation and building infrastructure.

This plan is rooted in the bipartisan COMPETES Act, which was passed by Congress and created ARPA-E and innovation hubs to encourage the pursuit of high-risk, high-reward energy technology development. This legislation bolstered our efforts to create new jobs, find new markets for American products, and offer more students the chance to realize the American dream; President Obama’s innovation plan will only strengthen our efforts.

Learn more about the COMPETES Act»

Learn more about President Obama’s Strategy for American Innovation»