Obama: Time Has Come for U.S. Science

April 27, 2009 -- President Barack Obama pledged Monday to return the United States to a "high water mark" of scientific achievement, announcing an aim to commit three percent of GDP to research and development.

Obama laid out a deck of initiatives in a speech at the National Academy of Sciences, where he vowed to implement what he described as the largest-ever US investment in scientific research and a dramatic reversal of ideology-driven policies of his predecessor George W. Bush.

The clarion call for the country to regain its position as the world leader in scientific research and innovation came as the Obama administration faced its first major global health crisis in the recent deadly outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and the United States that threatens to burst into a pandemic.

"At such a difficult moment, there are those who say we cannot afford to invest in science, that support for research is somehow a luxury at a moment defined by necessities," Obama told hundreds of scientists, researchers and educators.

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"I fundamentally disagree," he said. "Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life than it has ever been."

He said US health and science officials were "closely monitoring" the swine flu outbreak which has had 20 confirmed cases of the illness across five states, and prompted the federal government to declare a US health emergency.

Citing a plunge in federal funding of physical sciences as a portion of gross domestic product over the past 25 years, Obama warned that US achievement, particularly science and math study in US schools, dramatically lagged in the late 20th Century -- and threatened to fall even further behind other rapidly advancing nations.

Obama pointed to the US goal set in the 1950s to reach space and its commitment to leading the world in scientific innovation.

"That was the high water mark of America's investment in research and development. Since then our investments have steadily declined as a share of our national income," he said.

"I am here today to set this goal: we will devote more than three percent of our GDP to research and development. We will not just meet, but we will exceed the level achieved at the height of the space race."

Obama announced creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy, or ARPA-E, a new initiative called dedicated to "high-risk, high-reward research."

He also put forward his President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a group of scientists and engineers Obama said would advise him on "national strategies to nurture and sustain a culture of scientific innovation."

Related Links:

National Academy of Sciences

President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology