Snap-O Fact #92

On Jan. 4, 2011, President Obama signed the far reaching America Competes (Reauthorization) Act. The purpose of this Act is to promote American business and improve the American economy, with an emphasis that is focused on the fields of science and technology. The legislation also puts forward the principles of using resources wisely, saving energy, and protecting the environment. According to press releases directly from the White House, “It authorizes the continued growth of the budgets of three key agencies that are incubating and generating the breakthroughs of tomorrow—

the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the laboratories of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation.

The America Competes Act also bolsters this Administration’s already groundbreaking activities to enhance STEM education — a program designed to raise American students from the middle to the top of the pack and to make sure we are training the next generation of innovative thinkers and doers.” The President has repeatedly asserted that we need to think long term while acting short term. Without educating our kids in the sciences we will not be able to compete with the rest of the world in the future.