Last week’s jobs report – with 290,000 jobs added in April, the fourth consecutive month of job creation – suggests we are climbing out of the worst economic crisis in three-quarters of a century. Non-partisan studies have attributed part of the growth to the investments we made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including $22 billion for science research and development. While I’m encouraged by the jobs numbers, it’s vital that we set the stage for a robust, sustained economic recovery. I continue to believe that innovation provides the best path toward long-term economic growth and continuous job creation. Breakthrough discoveries, made possible by research funding, will pay big dividends, leading to new industries that will keep our nation competitive.

To anyone who doubts that research and development can create jobs, this year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the TIROS 1 satellite. TIROS was the world’s first meteorological satellite and the first to relay video images of the Earth from above. TIROS, which was engineered and manufactured in New Jersey, was not only a scientific milestone – it was a landmark in the creation of a new aerospace industry, where government funding led to millions of jobs in the private sector.

I continue working to advance legislation that would double our investment in basic research programs, advance research into clean energy, provide new resources to small businesses and manufacturers, and strengthen science, technology, education, and math (STEM) education programs. I have also introduced a bill to require the White House to produce a national competitiveness strategy. This strategy would examine everything from manufacturing issues and the export sector to STEM education and measuring investment in R&D. Other countries have developed innovation and competitiveness strategies, and the U.S. should have a guiding strategy as well.

Encouraging News About Health Reform Implementation

Later this year, a number of important health care reform provisions go into effect, including offering a 35 percent tax credit to many small businesses that provide insurance for their employees, providing a $250 rebate to seniors who face the “donut hole” gap in their prescription drug coverage, and ending lifetime caps on insurance benefits.

What’s really encouraging is that following the health reform bill’s enactment, health insurance companies have announced they will put an end to their worst practices, ahead of the law’s implementation. Recently, the country’s largest insurance companies announced they will end the policy of dropping people when they get sick. Additionally, several insurance companies immediately will allow young Americans to stay on their parents’ plan until age 26 - months earlier than the health insurance reform law requires.

From the Mailbag

A constituent from Monroe Township wrote me, asking if a program exists to send AMBER Alerts – to report missing children – to nearby cell phone users via text message. With more than 220 million wireless telephone subscribers in the United States, I agree it’s a good idea. In fact, as a result of a 2003 law, the U.S. Department of Justice has partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and all of the nation's wireless service providers to create the Wireless AMBER Alert Initiative.

Interested wireless phone owners must opt-in to receive AMBER Alerts via text message, which are free of charge. To learn more and to sign up, visit www.wirelessamberalerts.org.