Most of the undersigned organizations signed a November 5, 2010 letter to you in support of the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act. We applaud the Senate for engaging in the hard work that was necessary to achieve a bipartisan majority to enact that legislation in the previous Congress.

Among economists, policymakers, and the public, there is little dispute that the fiscal path our nation is following is unsustainable. As representatives of high-tech and other industries, universities, and professional societies, we concur, and we therefore believe it is imperative that our government adopt policies to reduce the budget deficit and stabilize our national debt.

When the COMPETES Act was enacted in 2007, it provided the nation with a broad blueprint for strengthening the pillars of American innovation and competitiveness: increasing the nation’s commitment to basic research, strengthening STEM education, and fostering a business environment to drive innovation.

The Task Force on the Future of American Innovation urged key members of Congress to support strong investments in basic research in a letter titled Tapping America’s Potential