Today, TFAI sent the following letter, signed by prominent CEOs, to key members of Congress:
TFAI CEO Letter 05-26-2023 FINALClick here for a printer-friendly version.
Full text of the letter is below:
Dear Chairwoman Murray, Vice Chair Collins, Chairwoman Granger, and Ranking Member DeLauro:
As members of the Task Force on American Innovation (TFAI)—an alliance of industry, scientific societies, and university organizations— we are writing to urge you to fund strong investments in science research, innovation, and workforce development in fiscal year 2024. Last summer, Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. This historic legislation authorized critical research investments, reversing a decades-long decline, and established policies and programs to strengthen American competitiveness. Failing to follow through on those plans would hamper our ability to meet global challenges and may result in the U.S., falling behind our competitors in critical technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
We understand there is an important discussion taking place about federal spending. As you negotiate FY24 appropriations allocations, we must keep in mind the difference between spending and investments. Funding for critical research and education is an investment in our future competitiveness. Our country will reap the benefits of this investment for generations to come. Federal research advanced the development of the internet, significant innovation in clean energy developments, the global positioning system (GPS), 3-D printing and the integrated circuit, highlighting that innovation in America is tied strongly to the relationship between basic research and new, industry building technologies. Innovation has driven significant growth over the last 50 years, with America’s GDP growing from $550 billion to more than $23 trillion. Federal research funding is a down payment on our nation’s future success.
Let us not forget that other nations are not standing still. Between 2000 and 2022, U.S. funding for federal research fell as a percentage of GDP. Meanwhile, China is increasing its spending on research and development and is expected to continue this increase at an average yearly rate of 7% until 2025.
Last year marked a crucial step forward with the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. But we cannot reverse that progress on innovation research as we look for ways to control spending. Innovation investments must be off limits. It’s too important to our economy and to our future as a country.
Thank you for your leadership on these important issues. Together, we can work to increase our investment in science research so that our country remains the leader in innovation.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Lisa Su, Chair and CEO, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
John Neuffer, President and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)
Dr. Nancy Amato, Board Chair, Computing Research Association (CRA)
Jonathan A. Bagger, CEO, American Physical Society (APS)
Mark Becker, President, The Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU)
Thomas Costabile, Executive Director/CEO, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Pat Gelsinger, CEO, Intel Corporation
Dr. Dario Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, IBM
Jinman Han, EVP, Samsung Electronics
President, Samsung Device Solutions AmericaDr. Lawrence Loh, Corporate Vice President & President, North American Operations Mediatek Inc.
Eduardo F. Palacio, President, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) USA
Sudip Parikh, CEO and Executive Publisher Science Family of Journals, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Catherine Roberts, Executive Director, American Mathematical Society (AMS)
Kent Rochford, CEO, The International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE)
Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft
Barbara R. Snyder, President, Association of American Universities (AAU)
Lewis F. Von Thaer, President and CEO, Battelle
Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs, Google