WASHINGTON, DC – A task force that includes the National Association of Manufacturers is urging President Bush to include funding for basic research performed by the Department of Defense in his American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI).

“This study illustrates the importance of the Defense Department’s basic research programs to the nation’s economic competitiveness and national security,” said NAM president John Engler.

Last year the task force, a coalition of industry, scientific and higher education associations, issued a report finding that while the U.S. leads the world in research and technology, its global leadership is at risk. The report raised an awareness of the critical need to invest in our nation's research capabilities and manpower in the physical sciences and technology.

A follow-up study, Measuring the Moment: Innovation, National Security and Economic Competitiveness, shows a "direct link between funding for our national security and our economic security,” Engler said. “Without funding for the Pentagon’s basic research programs both of these diminish. Unfortunately, this federal spending has remained flat for more than three decades.

“Today’s report also makes it clear that the problems described last year have not disappeared,” he said.

Engler called on Congress to increase federal support for basic research in the physical sciences and engineering, Ph.D.s in the natural sciences and engineering, students' interest in pursuing science and engineering studies, and the trade balance in high-tech products.

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