FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Rush Holt (NJ-12) today was encouraged by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee’s forum on the components of an economic recovery plan to spur job creation and create long-term growth – a discussion that included an exchange about the importance of investing in science innovation and infrastructure. Holt, a member of the Steering and Policy Committee, has long argued that investment in physical sciences and energy research can lead to sustained economic growth.
“Today’s forum strengthened the case that we can’t view science research and development as something the government can fund only in times of good economic health,” Holt said. “Innovation infrastructure will create jobs in the short term and drive the economy in the long term, and I am confident we will include it in the recovery plan we send to President Obama.”
Last month, Holt hosted a roundtable discussion at Princeton University, along with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congressional leaders, and national leaders in the science and technology community to highlight the importance of innovation infrastructure to ensure long-term American competitiveness. Today, two of those participants - Norman Augustine, Former President and CEO, Lockheed Martin and author of the “Rising Above the Gathering Storm”, and Maria Zuber, E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – reiterated the need to include science funding in an economic recovery bill. Speaker Pelosi and Chairman George Miller, also participants at the Princeton roundtable, today voiced support for including science funding.
“We need to bolster existing high-innovation areas, and we will need to create new areas….The United States has led virtually every technology revolution since the mid-1800s, but it is by no means certain that we will lead the energy revolution,” Zuber said.
Contact: Zach Goldberg
202-225-5801 (office)
No comments:
Post a Comment