New Democrat Coalition Members Offer Amendment to Boost Research Funding
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), three leading Members of the New Democrat Coalition, announced their plan to offer an amendment to the America COMPETES Act to increase research funding across the board by 3.5% annually for two years and give the National Science Foundation flexibility in prioritizing research grants to follow the science, not the politics on Capitol Hill.
In the Coalition’s American Prosperity Agenda, announced earlier in the year, the group of 46 pro-innovation lawmakers called for strategic investments to help America “lead in the next great discoveries.” Coalition Members see a pressing need for investment in light of the developing world’s rapidly-ascending share of global innovation capacity. According to a recent report, Asia’s share of global research and development expenditures increased from 24 percent to 32 percent between 1999 and 2009, while the U.S.’s share fell from 38 percent to 31 percent.
America COMPETES, first passed in 2007, was a bipartisan piece of legislation aimed at enhancing the federal research enterprise. The legislation emerged from a report titled Rising Against the Gathering Storm, which highlighted the need for a major investment in R&D to keep the United States’ innovative capacity strong in the coming years. The New Democrat Coalition played a pivotal role in the passage of America COMPETES, as well as its first reauthorization in 2010. Last Congress, the Coalition released its own principles for COMPETES Act Reauthorization.
“This moment will define whether or not we pave the way for our economic success well into the 21st Century and beyond,” the Members said in a statement. “Our toughest competitors aren’t backing down, they’re doubling down. It’s time for us to remember the core link between public investment, which gave us the Internet, GPS, cures to diseases, and many other commercial technologies that help us work better and live better. We’re offering an amendment that would strengthen that link and keep us competitive in a rapidly-evolving global economy.”
The 3.5% increase – a compromise number in itself, as it remains substantially lower than the 10% annual increase recommended in Rising Above the Gathering Storm and lower than a New Dem-backed increase proposed under an amendment offered by House Democrats – was still blocked by the House Majority when it was not ruled in order. Despite broad, bipartisan recognition of the importance of investment in research and development in principle, the House Majority chose to pursue a partisan course that underfunds federal investments in R&D while injecting partisan politics into the scientific process.
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