In a Star Wars Day-themed Radically Pragmatic podcast episode, Caleb Watney, Director of Innovation Policy at the Progressive Policy Institute, sits down with Rep. Derek Kilmer (WA-06) – Congress’s top Star Wars super-fan – for Star Wars trivia, and an exciting conversation on the future of technology innovation in America.
Caleb and Rep. Kilmer dig deep into their shared love of Sci-Fi, and talk about how fiction helps inspire technology improvements and innovations that can become a reality. Representative Kilmer also calls for more Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education and apprenticeship opportunities and a reinvestment in research and development funding.
“We need to dedicate more funding to research and development. Period. My background is working in economic development. When I worked for the Economic Development Board of Takoma, we had a sign up in our office that said ‘We are competing with everyone, everywhere, every day, forever.’ Which I confess, kind of freaked me out a little bit. But I think it’s a pretty good ethic – not just for folks who work in local economic development, but it’s a pretty good ethic for our country, too.
“The reality is, we’re competing in a global marketplace and we’re not keeping up. We used to dedicate far more of our federal budget to R&D spending. We’ve seen a gradual decrease and now it’s at the lowest it’s been in 60 years. And I think that’s a problem. And we’ve been in this position before. We’ve seen this play out before in a different era. Congress rose to the challenge in a bipartisan fashion. Back in 1957, you had a satellite the size of a beach ball launched by the Solviet Union and Congress responded by doubling research and development spending, by tripling support for basic research, and put science education efforts on steroids. And that’s how we got to the moon first.
“We’re still seeing the benefits of those investments today – every time we use a touchscreen on a smartphone or a tablet, we’re using technology that was pioneered by NASA research. The question before us now is will we continue to allow those Sputnik moments to happen everyday without our nation stepping up?” said Rep. Derek Kilmer on the podcast.
Representative Kilmer serves on the House Appropriations Committee where he is as a member of the Subcommittees on Defense, Energy & Water, and Interior & Environment. He is also Chair of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. In addition, Rep. Kilmer serves as chair emeritus of the New Democrat Coalition.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.
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