Thank you.  It is good to be with you today. We have much to talk about.

 

This is an exciting time to be alive.  Change is happening all around us, change fueled by engineers and by scientists who, day by day and year by year, make the world a very different place.

 

And as you all know firsthand, advances in the physical sciences supported by the marketplace, by your universities or the U.S. Department of Energy, are leading us through a period of rapid change sparked by amazing advances in technology.

 

Many of us though, have seen enough to remember this was not always the case.  I can remember how – in the late 1950s – people would go out into their backyards and stare into the nighttime sky.  They were trying to spot a tiny point of light racing across the sky.  They were looking for Sputnik.

 

The world changed forever on October 4, 1957 when the Soviets successfully launched Sputnik 1 – the first man made object to orbit the earth.  While it was very small, it had a large and profound impact on many of us.

 

Its launch suggested we were losing the race for space, that the United States had lost its technological edge and the scientific leadership of the world to a country whose leader, Nikita Khrushchev, had once promised to bury us.

 

Sputnik led directly to a series of critical policy initiatives by the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations to bolster U.S. science and technology, including 1958’s National Defense Education Act.

 

The innovations arising from the support for science shown by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and members of Congress from both parties took man to the moon and created the Internet. These innovations probably generated more benefit than any single invention since the printing press which, I think we might agree, made learning as we understand it possible.

 

Those initiatives promoting math and science and math and science education pay dividends today, but the rest of the world is catching up. Rather than wait for the next Sputnik to make the need for a new emphasis on science clear to everyone, the President has proposed a renewed commitment in these critical areas, beginning now.

 

The American Competitiveness Initiative the President unveiled in the State of the Union address represents, in my view, a watershed for American science and engineering.

 

This initiative recognizes two fundamental truths: That in order to maintain our economic preeminence, we must maintain our scientific and technological superiority; and that doing so requires a substantial and sustained investment. 

 

The President is asking for a major increase in federal funding for basic science research and new programs in science and math education.  As you all can attest, funding for basic research not only supports technological developments but -- equally important -- funds the training of scientists and engineers who will make them happen in our universities, at our government agencies, and in the private sector. 

 

From kindergarten through our university PhD programs, we need to prepare the American workforce to meet future challenges; and to do so we must sustain the partnership between our academic institutions, our government, and our private industry that are responsible for building and maintaining this nation’s technological power.

 

This is an honorable effort, one that will improve the quality of life and standard of living for people everywhere, not just in the United States.

 

As Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Solow has demonstrated, innovations in technology produce economic growth.

 

I am proud to say the Department of Energy plays a central role in this effort. Our Office of Science is the largest source of federal funds for basic research in the physical sciences and, to ensure we remain the world’s leader, the President has committed to a doubling of the federal budget for physical science research over the next ten years. 

 

This includes an increase of half a billion dollars in DOE’s Office of Science budget request for 2007.  Among other things, this will allow us to bring on an additional 2,600 researchers in 2007.

 

To me, this initiative is all the more remarkable given the fiscal environment in which we are currently operating.  Although intrinsically valuable for its own sake, we expect more from basic science research than new knowledge alone.  We have reason to expect it because of the remarkable record of achievement of American scientists and engineers. 

 

The President has made it clear he believes that advances in science and technology will help this country break its reliance on imported energy sources and hydrocarbons. 

 

And so, in conjunction with the competitiveness initiative, the new Advanced Energy Initiative proposes to significantly increase our investment in fuel and clean energy technologies that should reduce our dependence on foreign energy.

 

The Energy Department’s budget request represents an increased commitment to this goal and will, we hope, fund future breakthroughs. 

 

The President has requested additional funding for bio-fuels research aimed at developing affordable, domestically-produced fuels and encouraging the development of bio-refineries. 

 

We have asked for more funds for solar-research, R&D in battery technology, hydrogen and fuel cell technology and wind power and clean coal technologies, all of which promise ultra-clean and secure energy options.

 

Let me also say this: if we are to succeed in significantly reducing our dependence on imported energy and diversify our energy portfolio, we must develop a way to safely expand the use of nuclear power here at home and around the world.

 

The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership seeks to address growing global energy demands in a way that will foster economic development, improve the environment and deal responsibly with the potential for proliferation.

 

GNEP will develop the technological capability to recycle nuclear waste and increase the energy extracted from spent fuel by repeatedly cycling it through advanced burner reactors. 

 

GNEP’s energy benefits will be enormous and, because it calls for the deployment of advanced recycling technologies that will not result in pure plutonium, proliferation risks will be reduced. 

 

The bottom line is this: the president recognizes that science and technology will lead us to cleaner and better sources of energy, to new ways to heat our homes, to power our cars, to run our businesses, to preserve our environment and, therefore, to ensure a more secure, safer future.  It is a big challenge for American science and engineering.  But we will lead the way. We will because we must.  There is too much at stake for us to sit idly, waiting for someone else to take up the challenge.

 

Americans are no strangers to this idea. We have the strongest, most vigorous economic system in history, a system that allows individuals, organizations and businesses to take risks.  It is this risk-taking, this dynamism and optimism that has caused this nation to lead the world in so many areas.

 

Let me close with this: the way I see it, there exists a kind of a deal between American science and engineering and the federal government.  From our nation’s scientists and engineers – whether in government, the private sector or academia – we need now what we have always needed: an unwavering commitment to push us forward into better, more prosperous, safer and more secure days. 

 

From the federal government, these scientists and engineers need now what they have always needed: a commitment to fund basic research in all fields – from biology to computer science to the physical sciences.

 

As an engineer and former university professor myself, I am proud to pledge to you that this government is committed to holding up our end of the bargain.  And, I rest assured that you and your colleagues will do the same.

 

Thank you.