INVESTING IN AMERICA’S FUTURE
BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN’S PLAN FOR SCIENCE AND INNOVATION
Barack Obama and Joe Biden understand that critical national goals can only be met if we renew ourcommitment to science, technology and innovation. Investments in science and technology foster economic growth; create millions of high-tech, high-wage jobs that allow Americanworkers to lead the global economy;improve the quality of life for all Americans; and strengthen our national security. Clean energy technologiescan help end our dependence on foreign oil and combat global warming. Advances in biomedical research candeliver new life-saving ways to diagnose, prevent and treat diseases. And the urge to probe more deeply intothe unknown and expand the frontiers of human knowledge is at the core of the American experience.The U.S. faces unprecedented competition from countries such as China and India that are determinednot
simply to produce low-cost products and services, but to be at the forefront of developing technologies.
America needs a president who understands these challenges and is prepared to make the most of theopportunities they present. We need to end the Bush administration’s war on science where ideology trumpsscientific inquiry and politics replaces expert opinion. As president,Barack Obama will lead a new era of scientific innovation in America by:
•Restoring integrity to U.S. science policy to ensure that decisions that can be informed by science are
made on the basis of the strongest possible evidence.
• Doubling over a 10 year period the federal investment in basic research by key science agencies,
with a special emphasis on supporting young researchers at the beginning of their careers, and backing
high-risk, high-return research.
• Making a national commitment to science education and training by recruiting some of America’s
best minds to teach K-12 math and science and by tripling the number of the National Science
Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowships.
• Encouraging American innovation to flourish by making the R&D tax credit permanent, streamlining
our patent system, eliminating the capital gains tax on start-ups and small businesses, and promoting the
deployment of next-generation broadband networks.
• Addressing the “grand challenges” of the 21st century through accelerating the transition to a lowcarbon,
oil-free economy, enabling all Americans to live longer and healthier lives, and protecting our
country from emerging threats to our national security.
