The Honorable Harry M. Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Leaders Reid and McConnell:
The community of industry, academic, and professional organizations listed below join in urging the Senate to pass the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act in time to work with the House to make it possible for the President to sign this important legislation into law before the end of this Congress.
The original America COMPETES Act, enacted with strong bipartisan support in 2007, was designed to respond to concerns raised by the seminal National Academies’ report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm. The Act has played a crucial role in charting our nation’s path forward by focusing attention on the critical steps our nation must take to foster innovation and keep the United States competitive in the global economy – investing in basic research and our workforce through effective STEM programs. However, the original COMPETES Act was meant to be the first, three-year installment of a longer-term commitment toward achieving these goals. Sustaining these investments in research, and developing a highly educated, scientifically literate workforce are both essential to our country’s continued success in making the scientific discoveries and developing the cutting-edge technologies that will propel our economy in the future.
As you know, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved S. 3605, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, in July; and the Committees on Energy and Natural Resources and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions are ready to add their portions of the legislation when it is brought forward for consideration on the Senate floor. We believe that this bill will once again have the overwhelming bipartisan support it garnered in 2007, and we urge the Senate to recognize the continued importance of the America COMPETES initiative by passing the bill this year.
We recognize the dire fiscal challenges facing the nation and the difficult choices on federal spending that policymakers must make. Continued strong funding of basic research and STEM education programs will help ensure the economic growth needed to restore long-term fiscal strength and national prosperity.
We look forward to working with you to help advance and enact this vital legislation.
Sincerely,
Paul S. Otellini
Chair, Task Force on American Innovation
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Intel Corporation
Jared L. Cohon
Chair, Association of American Universities (AAU)
President, Carnegie Mellon University
Brian C. Toohey
President, Semiconductor Industry Association
William D. Green
Chair, Business Roundtable Education, Innovation and Workforce Initiative
Chairman and CEO, Accenture
Daniel Mark Fogel
Chair, Association of Public and Landgrant Universities (APLU)
President, University of Vermont
Deborah L. Wince-Smith
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Council on Competitiveness
John Engler
President and CEO
National Association of Manufacturers
Endorsing Organizations:
ABB
Abbott
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Aerospace States Association
Agilent Technologies
Air Force Association
Alliance for Science and Technology Research in America
Altera Corporation
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
American Association of Physics Teachers
American Astronomical Society
American Chemical Society
American Geological Institute
American Geophysical Union
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Institute of Physics
American Mathematical Society
American Physical Society
American Physiological Society
American Psychological Association
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American Society for Engineering Education
American Society for Microbiology
American Society of Agronomy
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB)
American Statistical Association
Analog Devices, Inc.
Applied Materials, Inc.
Arizona State University
ASME
Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI)
Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Women in Mathematics
Association of American Medical Colleges
Association of American Universities (AAU)
Association of Independent Research Institutes
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
AT&T
Avery Dennison
AVS
Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
Battelle
Binghamton University, State University of New York
Biotechnology Institute
The Boeing Company
Brown University
Business-Higher Education Forum
Business Roundtable
California Business for Education Excellence
California Healthcare Institute (CHI)
California Institute of Technology
The California State University
CA Technologies
Caterpillar Inc.
CH2MHILL
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Clemson University
Cognizant Technology Solutions
College Board
Columbia University
Computing Research Association
Computing Technology Industry Association
Connecticut Business and Industry Association
Cornell University
Corporate Voices for Working Families
Council on Competitiveness
Crop Science Society of America
Cummins Inc.
The Delaware Business Roundtable, Inc.
Deloitte LLP
Duke University
Eaton Corporation
Ecological Society of America
Eli Lilly and Co.
Emory University
Entertainment Industries Council, Inc.
Exxon Mobil Corporation
Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences
Florida Atlantic University
The Florida State University
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
Frontier Communications
The George Washington University
Georgia Institute of Technology
GlaxoSmithKline
GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Inc.
Google, Inc.
Greater Phoenix Leadership, Inc.
Harris Corporation
Harvard University
Hasbro, Inc.
IBM Corporation
IEEE-USA
Illinois Business Roundtable
Intersil Corporation
Iowa Business Council
Iowa State University
Indiana University
Infineon Technologies
Intel Corporation
The Johns Hopkins University
Johnson City-Jonesborough Tennessee Chamber of Commerce
Kansas State University
KMRM, LLC
Life Technologies
Linguistic Society of America
LSI Corporation
Luna Innovations, Inc.
Macy’s Inc.
Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.
Materials Research Society
Massachusetts Business Roundtable
Massachusetts High Technology Council
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The McGraw-Hill Companies
Medtronic, Inc.
Michigan State University
Michigan Technological University
Micron Technology
Microsoft Corp.
Minority Business Roundtable
Minnesota Business Partnership
MKS Instruments, Inc.
Museum of Science, Boston National Center for Technological Literacy
National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc.
National Association of Manufacturers
National Center for Manufacturing Sciences
National Center for Women & Information Technology
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Math and Science Initiative
National Science Teachers Association
National Society of Professional Engineers
National User Facility Organization
NDIA
Nevada Manufacturers Association
New Mexico Business Roundtable
New Mexico State University
North Carolina State University
North Dakota State University
Northern Illinois University
Northrup Grumman Corp.
Nucor Corporation
The Ohio State University
ON Seminconductor Corporation
The Optical Society
Oracle
Oregon State University
Partnership for New York City
Pennsylvania Business Council
Penn State University
PMC-Sierra, Inc.
Procter & Gamble Company
PTC
PwC US
Qualcomm
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
Rutgers, The State University of new Jersey
SACNAS
SAS Institute, Inc.
Science Coalition
Science Foundation Arizona
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International
Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)
Semiconductor Research Corporation
Siemens Corporation
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Software & Information Industry Association
Soil Science Society of America
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Southeastern Universities Research Association
Stanford University
State Farm
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ
Stony Brook University, State University of New York
TechAmerica
Technology CEO Council
Telecommunications Industry Association
Texas A&M University
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Time Warner Cable
Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education
Tulane University
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Universities Research Association, Inc.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
University of Alabama Birmingham
University of Alaska System
University of Arizona
University of Arkansas
University of California System
University of California Berkeley
University of California Davis
University of California Irvine
University of California Los Angeles
University of California Riverside
University of California San Diego
University of California San Francisco
University of California Santa Barbara
University of California Santa Cruz
University of California Merced
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado
University of Delaware
University of Hawaii System
University of Houston
University of Idaho
University of Illinois
University of Kentucky
University of Maine
University of Maryland
University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Montana
University of Nebraska
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of New Hampshire
University of New Mexico
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
University of North Dakota
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester
University of South Carolina
University of Southern California
The University of Texas System
University of the District of Columbia
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Utah State University
Vanderbilt University
Verizon Communications, Inc.
Virginia Tech
Washington University in St. Louis
West Virginia Roundtable
West Virginia University
Yale University