Innovation & Technology

San Francisco’s information technology (IT) sector has emerged as a high growth industry, accounting for one in five jobs in the city. Yet the region’s employers have difficulty recruiting for high demand occupations due to a shortage of qualified candidates and a widening skills gap. Access to training for high skilled workers is critical to the future of San Francisco, the Greater Bay Area, and California.

In order to protect our emerging industries, our city and nation must prevail in the global marketplace by winning the future. Protecting scientific research and education has been, and will remain, a top priority for my office and House Democrats.

To meet our goals, we must inspire the next generation of young Americans to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We must increase the number of high-skilled visas for foreign students with advanced STEM degrees graduating from America’s greatest research universities. In San Francisco, we are fortunate enough to see firsthand the new technologies, new companies, and new jobs they create everyday through our city.

When I was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010, I worked with my Democratic colleagues on the Innovation Agenda. Our agenda was simple – a commitment to competitiveness to keep America #1 by: 

• Creating an educated, skilled workforce in the vital areas of science, math, engineering, and information technology;
• Investing in a sustained federal research and development initiative that promotes public-private partnerships;
• Guaranteeing affordable access to broadband technology for all Americans;
• Achieving energy independence in ten years by developing emerging technologies for clean and sustainable alternatives that will strengthen our national security and protect the environment;
• Providing small businesses with the tools to encourage entrepreneurial innovation and job creation.

The Innovation Agenda invested $31 billion solely on the initiatives. This included working with leaders from the high-technology, venture capital, academic, biotech and telecommunications sectors, and identifying priorities that helped guarantee our national security and prosperity, and expanding markets for American products.

The re-authorization of The America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act was a major milestone in the Democratic-led Congress from 2009 to 2011. The COMPETES Act keeps America on target by expanding the budgets of key federal agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Energy. They are the centers for incubating and generating tomorrow’s breakthroughs and bolstering STEM education. The America COMPETES Act laid the foundation for new industries to provide good jobs for our workers, open new markets for American products, and offer more students and entrepreneurs a better chance to live out the American dream.

The future of science, technology, research and development, and innovation are in jeopardy as Republicans continue cut from critical investments in science and innovation. We cannot reduce the deficit on the backs of the new industries and technologies that will stimulate our economy, put people to work, and sustain and strengthen American leadership. House Democrats are committed to economic growth and job creation rooted in our unflinching dedication to scientific research, clean energy, and industries of innovation.

A commitment to innovation and progress: that was the spirit that inspired President Kennedy and our nation more than half-a-century ago. That is the tradition passed down from generation to generation of American leaders. That is the same spirit we must cherish and embrace to build a stronger economy and middle class in the 21st century.