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Education, Innovation & The Economy (December 6, 2010)
Poziom:
Temat: Edukacja
President Obama:
Thank you so much.
Please, everybody have
a seat, have a seat.
It is good to be back
in North Carolina.
(applause)
Love North Carolina.
Although, I have to say, I
came down here for slightly
warmer weather.
(laughter)
What's snow doing on the
ground in North Carolina?
(laughter)
Come on, now.
Anyway, it is a great honor to
be with you here at Forsyth
Technical Community College.
There are a few people I
want to acknowledge who
are just doing outstanding work.
First of all, your incredibly
impressive college president,
Gary Green, is here.
(applause)
Your wonderful governor,
Bev Perdue, is in the house.
(applause)
Your senators -- Richard Burr --
(applause)
-- and the better-looking one, Kay Hagan.
(applause)
Two hardworking Congressmen, Mel
Watt and Brad Miller are here.
(applause)
We've got Secretary of State
Elaine Marshall in the house.
(applause)
And Mayor Allen Joines is here.
(applause)
Well, it's been about a month
now since the midterm elections.
And in Washington, at least,
much of the chatter is still
about the political implications
of those elections -- what the
results mean for Democrats,
what they mean for Republicans,
and already, we're hearing what
this means for the next election.
And I have to tell you I came to
Winston-Salem because I believe
that right now there are
bigger issues at stake for
our country than politics.
(applause)
And these issues call on us
to respond not as partisans,
but as Americans.
At this moment, we are
still emerging from a
once-in-a-lifetime recession
that has taken a terrible toll
on millions of families -- many
here in North Carolina who have
lost their jobs or
their businesses,
and their sense of security.
Now, fortunately, we've
seen some encouraging signs
that a recovery is
beginning to take hold.
An economy that had been
shrinking for nearly a
year is now growing.
After nearly two
years of job loss,
our economy has added over
one million private sector
jobs in 2010.
(applause)
I was just talking to Bev and
she was mentioning that here in
North Carolina we've seen 50,000
new jobs here in North Carolina.
(applause)
And after teetering on the brink
of liquidation not two years
ago, our auto industry
is posting healthy gains.
(applause)
So we're seeing progress
across the country.
But as we also saw in
November's jobs report,
the recovery is simply not
happening fast enough.
Plenty of Americans
are still without work.
Plenty of Americans
are still hurting.
And our challenge now is to do
whatever it takes to accelerate
job creation and
economic growth.
Now, in the short-term,
that means preventing the
middle-class tax increase
that's currently scheduled
for January 1st.
Right now, Democrats and
Republicans in Congress are
working through some differences
to try to get this done.
And there are some
serious debates that
are still taking place.
Republicans want to make
permanent the tax cuts for
the wealthiest Americans.
I have argued that we
can't afford it right now.
(applause)
But what I've also said is we've
got to find consensus here --
because a middle-class tax hike
would be very tough not only on
working families, it would
also be a drag on our economy
at this moment.
So I believe we should keep
in place tax cuts for workers
and small businesses
that are set to expire.
We've got to make sure that
we're coming up with a solution,
even if it's not a hundred
percent of what I want or
what the Republicans want.
There's no reason that ordinary
Americans should see their taxes
go up next year.
(applause)
We should also extend
unemployment insurance for
workers who've lost their jobs
through no fault of their own.
That is a priority.
(applause)
And I should mention that's not
only the right thing to do,
it's the smart thing to do --
because if millions of Americans
who aren't getting unemployment
benefits stop spending money,
that slows down businesses.
That slows down hiring.
It slows down our recovery.
Now, even if we take these
and other steps to boost our
recovery in the short term,
we're also going to have to make
some serious decisions about
our economy in the long run.
We've got to look ahead -- not
just to the next year but to
the next 10 years,
the next 20 years.
We've got to ask ourselves where
will the new jobs come from?
What will it take to get them?
And what will it take to keep
the American Dream alive for our
children and our grandchildren?
Think about North Carolina.
Obviously this recession had
a devastating effect here,
like it did everywhere else.
But the trends -- the trends
have been going on for quite
some time.
I was just visiting
with President Green,
with some of the students
here in the biotech field
-- wonderful people,
from every walk of life.
You had folks who had just
gotten out of high school,
and you had folks who had --
were in midlife and had been
laid off from a manufacturing
job and had come here to retrain.
But a bunch of them
mentioned, well,
I was laid off because the
textile industry has moved
away here in North Carolina.
I was laid off because the
furniture industry has moved
away here in North Carolina.
Those were long-term trends.
And that means we've got to
have a long-term vision about
where we want to be 10 years
from now, 20 years from now,
30 years from now.
(applause)
Just like past generations did,
we must be prepared to answer
these questions in our time.
And over the next several weeks,
I'm going to be meeting with my
economic team, with business
leaders and others to develop
specific policies and
budget recommendations
for the coming year.
Today I want to outline the
broader vision that I believe
should guide these policies --
and it's a vision that will keep
our economy strong and
growing and competitive
in the 21st century.
And that vision begins with a
recognition of how our economy
has changed over time.
When Forsyth Technical
opened 50 years ago,
it was known as Forsyth County
"Industrial Education Center."
Right? That's a mouthful.
(laughter)
Machine shops and automotive
mechanics were some of the
first classes you could take.
Of course, back then you
didn't even need a degree
to earn a decent living.
You could get a job at the local
tobacco or textile plant and
still be able to provide for
yourself and your family.
That world has changed.
In the last few decades,
revolutions in communications,
revolutions in technology have
made businesses mobile and has
made commerce global.
So today, a company can
set up shop, hire workers,
and sell their products wherever
there's an Internet connection.
That's a transformation that's
touched off a fierce competition
among nations for the jobs
and industries of the future.
Some of you know I traveled
through Asia several weeks ago.
You've got a billion people in
India who are suddenly plugged
into the world economy.
You've got over a billion people
in China who are suddenly
plugged into the global economy.
And that means competition is
going to be much more fierce and
the winners of this competition
will be the countries that have
the most educated workers, a
serious commitment to research
and technology, and access to
quality infrastructure like
roads and airports
and high-speed rail
and high-speed Internet.
Those are the seeds of economic
growth in the 21st century.
Where they are planted, the
most jobs and businesses
will take root.
Now, in the last century,
America was that place where
innovation happened and jobs
and industry always took root.
The business of
America was business.
Our economic leadership in
the world went unmatched.
Now it's up to us to make sure
that we maintain that leadership
in this century.
And at this moment, the most
important contest we face is not
between Democrats
and Republicans.
It's between America and
our economic competitors
all around the world.
That's the competition we've got
to spend time thinking about.
(applause)
Now, I have no doubt we
can win this competition.
We are the home of the
world's best universities,
the best research facilities,
the most brilliant scientists,
the brightest minds, some
of the hardest-working,
most entrepreneurial people on
Earth -- right here in America.
It's in our DNA.
Think about it.
People came from all over
the world to live here in
the United States.
That's been our history.
And those were the go-getters,
the risk-takers who came here.
The folks who didn't
want to take risks,
they stayed back home.
(laughter)
Right?
So there's no doubt that we
are well equipped to win.
But as it stands right now, the
hard truth is this: In the race
for the future, America is
in danger of falling behind.
That's just the truth.
And when -- if you hear a
politician say it's not,
they're not paying attention.
In a generation we have fallen
from 1st place to 9th place in
the proportion of young
people with college degrees.
When it comes to high
school graduation rates,
we're ranked 18th out of 24
industrialized nations -- 18th.
We're 27th in the proportion of
science and engineering degrees
we hand out.
We lag behind other nations
in the quality of our math
and science education.
When global firms were asked
a few years back where they
planned on building new research
and development facilities,
nearly 80 percent said either
China or India -- because those
countries are focused
on math and science,
and they're focused on training
and educating their workforce.
I sat down with President Lee of
South Korea, and I asked him,
what's the biggest problem
you have in education?
He said, you know,
these parents,
they come to me and they are
constantly pressuring me;
they want their kids
to learn so fast,
so much -- they're even making
me import English-speaking
teachers in, because they want
first-graders to know English.
I asked him about investment
in research and development.
He says, we're putting aside 5
percent of our gross domestic
product in research and
development -- 3 percent
of it in clean energy.
You go to Shanghai, China, and
they've built more high-speed
rail in the last year than we've
built in the last 30 years.
The largest private solar
research and development
facility in the world was
recently opened in China --
by an American company.
Today China also has the
fastest trains and the fastest
supercomputer in the world.
In 1957, just before
this college opened,
the Soviet Union beat us into
space by launching a satellite
known as Sputnik.
And that was a wake-up call that
caused the United States to
boost our investment in
innovation and education --
particularly in
math and science.
And as a result, once
we put our minds to it,
once we got focused,
once we got unified,
not only did we
surpass the Soviets,
we developed new American
technologies, industries,
and jobs.
So 50 years later, our
generation's Sputnik
moment is back.
This is our moment.
If the recession has
taught us anything,
it's that we cannot go back to
an economy that's driven by too
much spending, too
much borrowing,
running up credit cards, taking
out a lot of home equity loans,
paper profits that are built
on financial speculation.
We've got to rebuild on a
new and stronger foundation
for economic growth.
We need to do what America has
always been known for: building,
innovating, educating,
making things.
We don't want to be a nation
that simply buys and consumes
products from other countries.
We want to create and sell
products all over the world that
are stamped with three simple
words: "Made In America."
That's our goal.
(applause)
So I came to Forsyth today
because you've shown what this
future can look like.
Half a century later, you're
still giving students the skills
and training they
need to get good jobs,
but of course -- but courses in
machine shop and car mechanics
have now broadened to degrees
in mechanical engineering
technology and nanotechnology
and biotechnology.
And meanwhile, your unique
partnerships that you're
building with advanced
manufacturing and biotechnology
firms will ensure that the
businesses of the future
locate here, they come
here, they stay here,
they hire right here
in Winston-Salem.
(applause)
As a national leader in
bioscience and innovation,
North Carolina is now the
country's third largest
employer in biotechnology.
(applause)
And when Caterpillar recently
decided to build a plant in this
community, they told President
Green one of the main reasons
was "...they were convinced that
Forsyth Tech had the capability
of providing them with
the technical workforce
that they need."
(applause)
That's something everybody in
this room should be very proud of.
And I know that business leaders
from throughout the community
have worked intensively with
President Green and others to
help make this happen.
And I know that your
congressional delegation,
as well as your governor, have
worked hard to make this happen.
Now, none of this progress
happened by itself.
It happened thanks to the
hard work of students here at
Forsyth, the commitment
of local leaders,
foresight of local business
leaders -- most importantly,
it happened because there was a
decision made to invest in the
collective future
of this community.
It happened because there was
a decision to invest in this
college, and there were loans
and scholarships that made it
affordable to go here.
To invest in the basic research
and development that helped
jumpstart North Carolina's
biotech industry;
to invest in new buildings
and laboratories and research
facilities that make your work
possible -- these are the kinds
of investments we need to keep
making in communities across
America -- investments that will
grow our economy and help us to
stay competitive in
the 21st century.
Now, I want to emphasize I say
this knowing full well we face a
very difficult fiscal situation.
I'm looking at the books
back in Washington,
and folks weren't doing a real
good job with their math for
the last decade.
(applause)
So now that the threat of
a depression has passed,
and a recovery is
beginning to take hold,
reducing our long-term
deficit has to be a priority.
And in the long run, we won't be
able to compete with countries
like China if we keep borrowing
from countries like China.
(applause)
We won't be able to do it.
(applause)
So we've already started
making some tough decisions.
And they're unpopular
and people get mad,
but we've got to
make some decisions.
I've proposed a three-year
freeze in all spending that
doesn't have to do
with national security.
And I proposed a two-year freeze
in the pay for federal workers.
That's why we're currently
studying recommendations of the
bipartisan deficit reduction
panel that I commissioned.
We're going to have to be bold
and courageous in eliminating
spending and programs that we
don't need and we can't afford.
But here's where there's going
to be a debate in Washington
over the next year and over the
next couple of years and maybe
over the next five years,
because I will argue and insist
that we cannot cut back on
those investments that have
the biggest impact on our
economic growth because --
(applause)
I was talking with
President Green,
and he said much of the
equipment here would not
be here if it hadn't been for the
assistance of the Recovery Act,
the assistance of the
Department of Labor.
(applause)
All this stuff that we've done
over the last couple of years
that people were questioning,
you can see it translated in
the classrooms right here.
The work that we're doing on
student loans and Pell Grants,
you can see it in the students
who are able to finance their
retraining right here.
(applause)
So we can't stop making
those investments.
The best antidote to a
growing deficit, by the way,
is a growing economy.
To borrow an analogy, cutting
the deficit by cutting
investments in areas
like education,
areas like innovation -- that's
like trying to reduce the weight
of an overloaded aircraft
by removing its engine.
It's not a good idea.
(applause)
There may be some things
you need to get rid of,
but you got to keep the engine.
(laughter)
That's why even as we scour the
budget for cuts and savings in
the months ahead, I will
continue to fight for those
investments that will help
America win the race for the
jobs and industries of the
future -- and that means
investments in education and
innovation and infrastructure.
I will be fighting for that.
(applause)
In an era where most new jobs
will require some kind of higher
education, we have to keep
investing in the skills and
education of our workers.
And that's why we are going
-- we are well on our way to
meeting the goal I set when I
took office two years ago: By
2020, America will once again
have the highest proportion of
college graduates in the world.
That's a commitment
that we're making.
(applause)
So to get there, we're making
college more affordable for
millions of students.
We've made an unprecedented
investment in community colleges
just like this one.
And just like Forsyth, we've
launched a nationwide initiative
to connect graduates that
need a job with businesses
that need their skills.
We're reforming K-12 education
-- not from the top down,
but from the bottom up.
Instead of indiscriminately
pouring money into a system
that's not working, we're
challenging schools and states
to compete with each other -- to
see who can come up with reforms
that raise standards, and
recruit and retain good
teachers, raise
student achievement,
especially in math and science.
We call it Race to the Top --
(applause)
-- where you get more funding if
you show more results -- because
part of the argument here is, is
that if we're going to have a
government that's smart and
helping people compete in this
new global economy, then we've
got to spend our money wisely.
And that means we want to invest
in things that are working,
not in things that aren't
working just because that's how
things have always been done.
Now, once our students graduate
with the skills they need for
the jobs of the future, we've
also got to make sure those jobs
end up right here in America.
We've got to make sure that the
United States is the best place
to do business and the
best place to innovate.
(applause)
So it's time, for example,
that we have a tax code that
encourages job creation
here in America.
(applause)
And to boost our recovery,
I've already proposed that all
American businesses should be
allowed to write off all the
investments they do in 2011.
We want to jumpstart,
starting next year,
plants and equipment investment
right here in Winston-Salem and
all across North Carolina,
and all across the United
States of America.
(applause)
To encourage homegrown American
innovation we should make it
easier to patent a new
idea or a new invention.
And if you want to know one
reason why more companies are
choosing to do their research
and development in places like
China and India, it's because
the United States now ranks
24th out of 38 countries
in the generosity of the
tax incentives we provide
for research and development.
So that's why I've
proposed a bigger,
permanent tax credit for
companies for all the research
and innovation they do
right here in America.
All of it.
(applause)
Now, what's also true is a lot
of companies don't invest in
basic research because it
doesn't pay off right away.
But that doesn't mean
it's not essential to
our economic future.
Forty years ago, it probably
didn't seem useful or profitable
for scientists and engineers to
figure out how to increase the
capacity of integrated circuits.
Forty years later, I'm still
not sure what that means.
(laughter)
What I do know is that
discoveries in integrated
circuits made back then led to
the iPod and cell phones and GPS
and CT scans -- products that
have led to new companies and
countless new jobs in
manufacturing and retail,
and other sectors.
That's why I've set a goal of
investing a full 3 percent --
not 2 percent, not 2.5 percent
-- a full 3 percent of our Gross
Domestic Product into
research and development.
That has to be a priority.
(applause)
If this is truly going
to be our Sputnik moment,
we need a commitment to
innovation that we haven't
seen since President Kennedy
challenged us to go to the moon.
And we're directing a lot of
that research into one of the
most promising areas for
economic growth and job
creation -- and that's
clean energy technology.
(applause)
I don't want to see new solar
panels or electric cars or
advanced batteries manufactured
in Europe or in Asia.
I want to see them made
right here in America,
by American businesses
and American workers.
(applause)
I also want to make it easier
for our businesses and workers
to sell their products
all over the world.
The more we export abroad, the
more jobs we support at home.
We've got to change the formula.
We've got to flip the script,
because what's been happening
is, is that we've been
doing all the buying;
somebody else has been
doing all the selling.
(applause)
We've got to start selling
and have them do some buying.
(applause)
And that's why we've set
a goal of doubling U.S.
exports in five years.
(applause)
And that's why I'm
pleased that last week,
we came closer to meeting
that goal by finalizing a
trade agreement with
our ally, South Korea.
This is a nation that offers one
of the fastest-growing markets
for American goods.
Now, here in North Carolina
and all across the country,
there are a lot of
people that say, trade,
we're not sure
that that helps us.
It seems like maybe it's hurt
us in areas like furniture.
Look, right now the status quo
-- South Korea is selling a
whole bunch of stuff here and
we're not selling it there.
The current deal is
not a good one for us.
Think about -- there are a
lot of Hyundais on the road.
(laughter)
But there aren't a
lot of Fords in Seoul,
because the formula has been:
Let's sign any trade agreement,
let's cut any deal, without
thinking ahead about how this
is going to impact America.
What this deal does is boost our
annual exports to South Korea by
$11 billion.
That means it will support at
least 70,000 American jobs --
70,000 American jobs.
(applause)
Now, the final area where
greater investment will lead to
more jobs and economic growth
is in America's infrastructure
-- our roads, our
railways, our runways,
our information superhighways.
Over the last two years, our
investment in infrastructure
projects -- yes, through the
Recovery Act -- have led to
thousands of good private sector
jobs and improved infrastructure
here in North Carolina and
all across the country.
But we've got a long way to go.
There is no reason that over 90
percent of the homes in South
Korea have broadband
Internet access,
and only 65 percent of
American households do.
Think about that.
There's no reason why China
should have nearly 10,000 miles
of high-speed rail by
2020, and America has 400.
Think about that number.
They've got 10,000;
we've got 400.
They've got trains that operate
at speeds of over 200 mph -- and
I don't know how fast
our trains are going.
(laughter)
We're the nation that built
the Transcontinental Railroad.
We're the nation that took
the first airplane into flight.
We constructed a massive
Interstate Highway System.
We introduced the
world to the Internet.
America has always
been built to compete.
And if we want to attract the
best jobs and businesses to our
shores, we've got to
be that nation again.
And throughout history, the
investments I've talked about
-- in education and innovation
and infrastructure -- have
historically commanded the
support from both Democrats
and Republicans.
It was Abraham Lincoln who
launched the Transcontinental
Railroad and opened the
National Academy of Sciences.
He did it in the middle
of a war, by the way.
But he knew this was so
important we had to make
these investments for
future generations.
Dwight Eisenhower helped
build our highways.
Republican members of
Congress worked with FDR
to pass the G.I. Bill.
More recently, infrastructure
bills have found support on both
sides of the
congressional aisle.
The permanent extension of
research and development tax
credits was proposed by
both Bill Clinton and
George W. Bush.
Our education reforms have been
praised by both Democratic and
Republican governors.
So the point is there should
not be any inherent ideological
differences that prevent
Democrats and Republicans
from making our economy
more competitive with the
rest of the world.
If we're willing to put
aside short-term politics,
if our objective is not simply
winning elections but winning
the future --
(applause)
-- then we should be able to
get our act together here,
because we are all Americans and
we are in this race together.
(applause)
So those of us who work in
Washington have a choice to make
in the coming weeks and months.
We can focus on what's necessary
for each party to win the news
cycle or the next election.
We can do what we've been doing.
Or we can do what
this moment demands,
and focus on what's necessary
for America to win the future.
For as difficult as
the times may be,
the good news is that we know
what the future could look like
for the United States.
We can see it in the classrooms
that are experimenting with
groundbreaking reforms, and
giving children new math and
science skills at an early age.
We can see it in the wind farms
and solar plants and advanced
battery plants that are
opening all across America.
We can see it here at Forsyth --
in your laboratories and your
research facilities -- and over
at the biotechnology firms that
are churning out jobs
and businesses and
life-saving discoveries.
You see it in the faces of the
young people who we just visited
to -- visited with, Dr. Green
and myself -- some not-so-young
faces, but people who, despite
layoffs, despite hardships,
felt confident in their future.
Just the other month, I saw part
of America's future during a
science fair we held
at the White House.
It was the first science
fair we've ever held.
And we talked to some of
these amazing young people.
It was probably as much fun
as I've had in several months.
Now, that's a low bar, given --
(laughter)
But there was a team from
Tennessee that had designed
a self-powered water filtration
plant so that homes in
Appalachia could have
access to clean water.
And then there were these young
people -- these are all high
school, some younger than high
school -- there were young
people who had designed a
way to make an entire town
more energy-efficient.
And there were young people
who had entered into rocket
contests, and they were showing
me all the rockets that they had
been shooting up, and they had
won an international contest,
and explained to me the designs
of these things -- and robots
that were running around
in the State Dining Room
and bumping into things.
(laughter)
And then the last person I
spoke to was a young woman
from Dallas, Texas, and
her name was Amy Chyao.
She's 16 years old.
She's a child of immigrants.
Her parents came to the
United States from China,
but Amy was born here.
And when she was a
freshman in high school,
she got interested
in cancer research.
She had studied biology
and she got interested
in cancer research.
So she decided -- get this --
she decided to teach herself
chemistry over the summer.
And then she designed a device
that uses light to kill
hard-to-reach cancer
cells while leaving
the healthy ones untouched.
This is her summer
science project --
(laughter)
-- 16 years old.
She goes on to win
the international
science competition.
All these kids from all
around the world -- she
wins the competition.
So now she's being approached
by laboratories all across the
country who want to work with
her on developing this potential
breakthrough cancer drug
that she's designed.
Sixteen years old.
And I'm talking to Amy and
pretending like I understand
what she is explaining.
(laughter)
And as I'm listening to her,
I'm looking at the portrait
of Abraham Lincoln that
hangs over her head in
the State Dining Room.
And I remembered all that
we've been through and all
that we've overcome.
And I thought to
myself, you know what,
the idea of America
is alive and well.
We are going to be just fine.
(applause)
We are going to be just fine as
long as there are people like
Amy and her parents, who still
want to come to this country and
add to our story; as long as
there are people like the men
and women here at
Forsyth Technical,
who are keeping us at
the top of our game;
as long as we are willing to
look past the disagreements of
the moment and focus on
the future that we share
-- we will be fine.
If we can do that, I have
no doubt that this will be
remembered as another
American century.
We will meet that
Sputnik moment,
but we're going to all
have to do it together.
Thank you very much, everybody.
God bless you.
God bless America.
(applause)
