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...
