Democrats offer innovation plan

Democrats in the US House of Representatives unveiled an “innovation agenda” in mid-November intended to maintain US leadership in science and technology through a blend of scholarships, a doubling of federal research funding, universal broadband internet access, and greater steps toward using alternative energy. The agenda, announced at a press conference by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA), closely mirrors the recommendations of a recent National Academy of Sciences report that warned about the waning of federal support for science research and education.

Pelosi said the US blueprint for creating powerful public—private partnerships and investing in “long-term, high-risk ideas” has made “the US the breeding ground for the innovations and inventions that increased our prosperity, enhanced our lives, and protected and advanced our freedoms.” But, she said, the US has departed from that blueprint while other countries are copying it by “investing heavily in improving their educational systems, and establishing world-class universities especially focused on science and technology.” Federal support of basic research peaked in 1987, she said, “and has been flat or falling ever since.”

Although the National Academy of Sciences report received bipartisan praise when it was released last October, the Democrat’s innovation agenda quickly brought criticism from Republicans. Senator John Ensign (R-NV), chair of the Senate Republican high-tech task force, issued a statement saying, “Republicans have clearly led the way in the pursuit of a tech agenda,” and called the Democrat’s record on high-tech issues “dismal.”

Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), one of two physicists in Congress, said the innovation agenda was “in process” well before the National Academies report came out and is a reflection of about a dozen recent reports that warn about the weakening of US science and technology leadership. “This isn’t just a list of recommendations,” Holt said. “This is a commitment.”

The agenda doesn’t have cost figures attached to it, but the National Academies report estimated the cost of implementing a similar set of recommendations at between $500 million and $5 billion. When asked about the cost of the Democratic proposal, Pelosi would say only, “We must not contribute to the debt. This is a pay-as-you-go plan.”

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) said the Democrat’s science and technology plan would lead to “higher taxation, litigation, and regulation.” Both Hastert and Ensign said Democratic opposition to “junk lawsuit” reforms shows that they aren’t serious about helping high-tech companies. Many Republicans have tied general support of science to legislation on class-action lawsuit reform and other legislative bills they say are needed to free the high-tech industry of government regulations.