Yet President Bush's campaign commitments to support research were limited to increased funding for research at the National Institutes of Health and more money for weapons systems development at the Defense Department. In spite of the national shortage of skilled workers, Bush's campaign was silent on the federal role in workforce development. That means that as a share of the GDP, federal support for science will actually decrease by 6 percent over a decade. The Bush administration has proposed simply making the credit permanent. That's not enough.
Information technology is central to solving pressing public policy problems.
It should double investments in Intelligent Transportation Systems to help solve the nation's transportation problems. It should significantly increase funding for basic and early-stage applied research in information technology as authorized by Congress in 2000. As a share of GDP, both federal and private sector investments in training declined in the last decade. It's time to reverse this trend. The Bush administration should support legislation proposed by Sen. Joe Lieberman to create a tax credit for company investments in remedial education, literacy training, and English as a second language.