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“The vows
of this nation can only be fulfilled if we are first, and therefore, we
intend to be first. Our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for
peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all
require us to make this effort.”
- President John F. Kennedy
In answering President John F.
Kennedy’s bold call to put a man on the moon, America unleashed
unprecedented technological advances that built the world’s most vibrant
economy. The talent, intellect, and entrepreneurial spirit of the American
people that made this nation the leader is being seriously challenged by
other countries. Americans must continue to innovate in order to create new
thriving industries that will produce millions of good jobs here at home and
a better future for the next generation.
Over the past two years, House Democrats led forums across this country with
leaders from the academic, high-technology, venture capital, biotech, and
telecommunications sectors, as well as with students and young
entrepreneurs. Using their expertise and advice, we developed solutions that
will help guarantee our national security and prosperity, expand markets for
American products, and assert economic leadership throughout the world in
the decades to come.
The Innovation Agenda: A Commitment to Competitiveness to Keep America #1
will:
Our future prosperity demands that we
initiate this sustained financial and intellectual investment in innovation.
Our competitiveness in a global economy also relies on ensuring that our
children and grandchildren are not burdened by failed fiscal policies that
have exploded the national debt. That is why we will submit these priorities
to the rigors of “pay-as-you-go” budgeting to ensure that new spending
or tax cuts do not add to the deficit.
The American people have always excelled at leading the world. With this
bold agenda, our nation will continue to be the world leader in education,
innovation, and economic growth. In the words of President Kennedy, “We
intend to be first.”
Read the full
Innovation Agenda brochure 
A NEW
GENERATION OF INNOVATORS
 America’s
greatest resource for innovation resides within classrooms across the
country. With a new commitment more of our students will be trained in math,
science, and technology to turn ideas into innovative technologies. Future
innovators must reflect the diversity of our country, and we must provide
opportunities for every qualified student, including minorities and women.
Democrats will ensure that today’s students are taught to high academic
standards at all levels of learning and receive the workplace skills that
are necessary for preparing a new generation of scientists, engineers, and
mathematicians to compete in this global high technology economy.
To achieve this goal, we will:
- Educate 100,000 new innovators in the
next five years. We propose a new public-private partnership with the
business community and higher education institutions to produce
well-qualified, highly-skilled workers by establishing Congressional
Science fellowships and interdisciplinary Master’s programs in
science, engineering, and math that include specialized training and
internships with business partners, and loan forgiveness options.
- Place a highly qualified teacher in
math, science, and technology K-12 classrooms by offering upfront
tuition assistance to talented undergraduates majoring in math, science
or engineering who agree to teach in a high needs school, investing in
25,000 new teachers through professional development, summer training
institutes, graduate education assistance, and scholarships, and
partnering community colleges with four-year institutions to improve the
teacher pipeline.
- Enhance the ability of states to
coordinate education and workforce goals, identify the challenges of
recruiting students and retaining them in innovative fields, and develop
collaborative solutions through statewide coalitions of education,
business, and community leaders, such as P-16+ Councils.
- Make college more affordable for all
students by cutting the interest rates on student loans and increasing
the Pell Grant award.
- Ensure, as part of bipartisan and
comprehensive immigration reform, that the best and brightest in the
United States and around the world are able to contribute to innovation
here.
A SUSTAINED
COMMITMENT TO RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
 Independent
scientific research provides the foundation for innovation and future
technologies. But U.S. federal funding for research and development has
declined steadily over the last decade, and sound science has been
compromised by political interference. Democrats will increase the federal
commitment to research aimed at developing the next generation of sound
scientific breakthroughs, and we will promote the public-private
partnerships necessary to translate these new ideas into marketable
technologies.
To achieve this goal, we will:
- Double funding for the National Science
Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the
Department of Energy’s Office of Science within the next 10 years and
make a long-term, sustained commitment to these crucial investments in
basic research and development and those at other agencies that serve as
the building blocks of technological advancement.
- Provide grants for outstanding
researchers in the early stages of their careers, establish a
Presidential innovation award, and create a national coordination office
to identify and prioritize research infrastructure needs at universities
and national laboratories.
- Modernize and extend a
globally-competitive R&D tax credit to increase domestic investment
and create more high-quality American jobs.
- Improve protections of the intellectual
property of American innovators worldwide, strengthen the patent system,
and end the diversion of patent fees.
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
 America
must implement a bold energy strategy to maintain our economic
competitiveness, strengthen our national security, and help combat global
warming. A vibrant and skilled workforce combined with clean energy
technologies will be the economic engine of the 21st century and create new,
high-paying jobs.
To achieve this goal, we will:
- Strengthen our national commitment to
energy research and innovation. Create a new DARPA-like initiative to
provide the talent and resources for the research and development of
high-risk, high-reward energy technologies, and attract investment for
the next generation of revolutionary technologies.
- Reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Expand production and distribution of clean domestically-produced fuels
with an emphasis on cellulosic ethanol.
- Expand and extend long-term renewable
energy incentives to spur the development and adoption of new energy
technologies and to signal that there is a market that will support
them.
- Enhance technology-driven energy
efficiency. Save energy to help consumers and businesses cope with high
energy bills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect the health of
our planet, and strengthen our economy by generating American jobs and
capital investment.
AFFORDABLE BROADBAND
ACCESS FOR ALL AMERICANS
 Nationwide
deployment of high speed, always-on broadband Internet and mobile
communications will fuel the development of millions of new jobs in the
United States. Just as railroads and highways did in the past, broadband and
mobile communications will dramatically increase the productivity and
efficiency of our economy in the future and bring more Americans into an
online global community and marketplace. In education, broadband will
provide greater access to information, expanded curricula, and real-time
collaboration across borders and boundaries. In health care, broadband will
enable advanced electronic health technology to improve patient care and
vastly reduce costs. In communications, broadband will make the convergence
of information, media, and telecommunications a reality, and services such
as Voice over IP and video on demand will be pervasive. Democrats will
ensure that the United States has the telecommunications infrastructure to
bridge the digital divide so that every American will have access to
affordable and robust broadband Internet service and communications
technology.
To achieve this goal, we will:
- Ensure accountability for broadband
services by changing the methodology that the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) uses to measure broadband deployment and requiring
better surveys to report on broadband speed and prices.
- Provide grants to communities to
demonstrate high bandwidth applications and establish community
networking centers to ensure access to computers and high-speed
broadband, particularly in underserved communities.
- Develop a national broadband access map
in partnership with state governments. By knowing where broadband is
currently deployed, we can target federal broadband resources to reach
our rural and underserved communities.
- Expand access to broadband in rural
communities by ensuring that Rural Utilities Service broadband
initiatives effectively target underserved areas in rural America and
account for the unique obstacles faced by broadband providers in rural
regions of the country.
- Encourage the FCC to adopt rules that
will lead to the development and rapid deployment of new wireless
broadband technologies and ensure efficient and intensive use of the
electromagnetic spectrum in order to promote economic opportunity,
competition, and innovation.
SMALL BUSINESS TOOLS FOR
INNOVATION
 Small
businesses are the catalysts for technological innovation. The evolution
from idea to marketable product, guided by a successful small business plan,
has led to entrepreneurial successes that have fueled our technological
revolution and will be the key to continued job growth in the future. Yet
small businesses face significant hurdles, both regulatory and market-based,
that thwart the effort to transform ideas into jobs. Removing these hurdles
is a key component of this Innovation Agenda.
To achieve this goal, we will:
- Fund proven public-private partnerships.
Double funding within 10 years for the Manufacturing Extension
Partnership (MEP), which leverages federal, state, and private
investments to implement and stimulate new manufacturing processes and
technologies.
- Create a new initiative, the Technology
Innovation Program (TIP), to better reflect global innovation
competition by funding high-risk, high-reward, pre-competitive
technology development, focusing on small and medium-sized companies.
- Modernize the Small Business Innovation
Research Program (SBIR) by streamlining paperwork for businesses,
ensuring companies receive grants in a timely manner, reducing the lag
time between the award phases, providing additional funding for the
commercialization phase, and allowing venture capital invested
businesses to participate in the program.
- Help ensure access to capital for small
businesses by maximizing loan eligibility for 7(a) and 504 small
business loans and reviving Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC)
to ensure that American small businesses have the resources and
technical assistance they need to successfully innovate.
THESE COMMITMENTS,
TAKEN TOGETHER, REPRESENT A DECISION IN FAVOR OF THE FUTURE AND A VISION FOR
A STRONGER AMERICA.
 The
Innovation Agenda is aimed at our common future and reflects our most basic
value that when the American people work together, for the common good,
there is no challenge too great.
To meet the challenges of today, and to create the jobs and economic
security of tomorrow, we must act now.
Congress has begun to work in a bipartisan way to implement the Innovation
Agenda: A Commitment to Competitiveness to Keep America #1.
America will be stronger. We will assert our global economic leadership,
create new business ventures and jobs, and give future generations their own
opportunity to achieve the American Dream.
Read the full
Innovation Agenda brochure
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