In the wake of the omnibus bill, a lot of us have been working our asses off to squeeze the science out of the remaining time on our experiments. Many of us are getting ready to go to Washington D.C., to hold the Congress to the commitment it made to the nation in last year’s “America COMPETES Act”. Tonight, the President called on Congress to hold to their commitment, too. He may be an all-rhetoric lame duck, but at least on this rhetoric I agree. I wish he’d thought to veto the omnibus bill based on this principle, but . . .
Anyway, here is what the President had to say about science and competitiveness:
” To keep America competitive into the future, we must trust in the skill of our scientists and engineers and empower them to pursue the breakthroughs of tomorrow. Last year, Congress passed legislation supporting the American Competitiveness Initiative, but never followed through with the funding. This funding is essential to keeping our scientific edge. So I ask Congress to double federal support for critical basic research in the physical sciences and ensure America remains the most dynamic nation on Earth. (Applause.)”
You can find the full text of the State of the Union Address here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2008/ .
Overall, I am pleased. The tone the President takes is encouraging to a scientist like myself. I like the idea that scientists should be empowered to pursue the breakthroughs of tomorrow. I like that the President pointed out the commitment made and broken by the Congress, all in the name of politics. Sigh.
Back to my research.
