Basic Scientific Research

In addition to calling to raise the cap on H-1B visas, here's some more good news from Bush, from a story by John Markoff in the NY Times:

In his State of the Union message Tuesday evening, Mr. Bush called for a doubling within 10 years of the federal commitment to "the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences." The president's science adviser, John H. Marburger III, said Mr. Bush would request $910 million for the first year of the research initiative, with a commitment to spending $50 billion over 10 years. Computer scientists have expressed alarm that federal support for basic research is being eroded by shifts toward applied research and shorter-term financing. But in his speech, Mr. Bush pointed to work in supercomputing, nanotechnology and alternative energy sources - subjects that were favorites in the Clinton administration but had not been priorities for the current White House. In a speech to the National Academy of Engineering in October, in which he described the findings of the Gathering Storm report, Mr. Barrett [of Intel] said: "If you look at the achievement of the average 12th-grade student in math and science, which is of interest to us here, that 12th-grader in the U.S. ranks in the bottom 10 percent among their international peers. I think it is incumbent upon all of us to look at that report and help raise our voices collectively to our local officials, state officials and national officials."