Four congressional leaders on competitiveness Monday asked the National Academies to form a panel to examine the standing of the nation's research universities amid growing concerns that U.S. schools could be outpaced by foreign institutions. The group would answer the following question: "What are the top 10 actions that Congress, state governments, research universities, and others could take to assure the ability of the American research university to maintain the excellence in research and doctoral education needed to help the United States compete, prosper, and achieve national goals for health, energy, the environment, and security in the global community of the 21st century?" The request is similar to one in 2005 that led to an Academies report that became the basis for competitiveness legislation that passed the 110th Congress.
Members who signed the letter to the Academies were Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former education secretary and chairman of the Senate Republican Conference; House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon and ranking member Ralph Hall. "America's research universities are powerhouses of innovation, incubators for the ideas and breakthroughs that have made America an economic superpower," Mikulski said in a press release. "We need the best minds working on what steps we can take today to keep our nation innovating tomorrow and every day after that." Alexander called U.S. research universities "our secret weapon for creating jobs" but warned that other nations are catching up.
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