Investing in Innovation and Education

Floor Speech

Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, 54 years ago this month, Sputnik knocked the United States into second place in the space race. America responded with a tremendous investment in the sciences, which produced the Apollo program, the personal computer, the Internet, GPS, and numerous other technologies; but, sadly, that may be ending.

Last December, in an OECD ranking, the United States rated only ``average'' in education. Other nations are outinvesting and outeducating us. And the Republican slash-and-burn agenda is making it worse. America is now losing education jobs every month and disinvesting in R&D and critical infrastructure.

The President laid out a plan to invest in our educators, innovators, and job creators--priorities that used to have bipartisan support. We cannot continue to let American performance slide. We are jeopardizing our future.

Mr. Speaker, last century America fell behind, and the Soviet Sputnik was the result. It took a decade to catch up. How long will we fall behind today before we realize those investments are critical and support the President's job program?

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