WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, delivered the following statement at today’s hearing entitled, “How the Innovation Economy Leads to Growth.” In his remarks, Senator Heinrich outlined why the federal government must fund and conduct research and development, and invest in STEM in order to lead the way in building a 21st century economy.
Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Thank you for calling today’s hearing on promoting innovation and accelerating economic growth.
Innovation drives economic growth and boosts wages. We need more of it and we need innovation to be more broadly shared across regions.
Other countries are moving forward aggressively to promote innovation, to support advanced manufacturing, and to boost the productivity of their workers.
To lead in the 21st century economy, the United States must remain at the forefront of game-changing discoveries and create an ecosystem that supports innovation across the economy.
The federal government plays a key role in this –funding and conducting R&D, investing in the human capital of our people, and ensuring that we are making the necessary investments in STEM.
STEM education and R&D are two innovation anchors.
We need to ensure that students everywhere have access to STEM pathways, and that starts with making sure that schools have the resources they need to recruit, train, and retain talented science and math teachers.
We need to expand middle-skills pathways into emerging sectors, and make a college education accessible and affordable for all Americans, so that every student has the opportunity to benefit from tomorrow’s innovations.
The federal government remains the largest funder of basic research – that research which adds to our fundamental stock of knowledge, yet often would not be conducted without public investment.
This is the research that can help us solve the problems we don’t yet know we have.
Basic research has driven major leaps forward – including mapping of the human genome, vaccines, breakthroughs in cancer research, and energy storage technology and the creation of the internet, laser, MRI and GPS.
The knowledge gained through this research has significant spillover economic benefits – increasing productivity, creating jobs, and accelerating economic growth.
That’s why it’s encouraging that the recent Omnibus agreement made significant investments in R&D.
Investments in basic research increased by almost 10 percent over the previous year, its largest annual increase since the Recovery Act in 2009.
Promoting innovation also means extending already developed technologies, like broadband, to communities currently without access.
Today, years after high-speed internet was first made available, 19 million rural Americans still lack access. The private sector doesn’t have the incentive to extend broadband to remote, hard-to-reach communities.
The federal government must step in and fill the gap.
We also need smart policies that can help emerging industries grow. Targeted tax credits, competitive grants, and prize competitions are all levers Congress can pull.
The multi-year extension of the wind production tax credit is a good example. It is driving investment in wind farms in New Mexico and across the country.
Earlier this month, I toured the future site of the $1.6 billion Sagamore Wind Project in eastern New Mexico, which will be the largest wind farm in our state’s history and create up to 300 construction jobs and 30 full-time operations jobs.
Programs like Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) authorizing a portion of a lab’s federal funding for cutting-edge R&D are also vital.
At Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, LDRD researchers generally account for one-quarter of the lab’s patents and peer-reviewed publications.
Efforts to help commercialize technology developed at our national labs and research universities help to take a good idea and get it into production and out into the marketplace.
In New Mexico, we’ve seen how commercializing the R&D that takes place in national labs can generate significant economic opportunities.
I’ll share one example.
Descartes Labs is a New Mexico start up that uses artificial intelligence technology developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory to provide analysis and predictions based on satellite images of the earth.
Early applications are in delivering crop yield forecasts and analyzing trends in energy, construction and the environment.
Today, the company has its headquarters in Santa Fe, has raised close to $40 million in venture money, employs about 70 people, and is a recognized leader in analyzing satellite images.
We need to help more research turn into innovative startups.
Access to capital is key for entrepreneurs. Too many promising young companies fall to the Valley of Death, or get absorbed by behemoths where their innovations stall, because they cannot find the financing they need.
This is especially tough for innovators in rural areas and smaller cities. Good ideas and innovations occur everywhere. But more than three quarters of venture capital goes to companies in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston.
Expanding access to capital can help us to tap into the next generation of innovators creating new startups and new opportunities.
Lastly, immigrants are a key source of innovation and entrepreneurship. We cannot jeopardize these enormous contributions through short-sighted immigration policies or by kicking out talented young people.
I’m an engineer by training. I could talk all day about innovation, R&D and tech transfer.
But, now I look forward to hearing from our witnesses.”
###
For more information, please contact Latoya Veal at Latoya_Veal@jec.senate.gov or 202-224-0379.
