In this portion a group of Business Leaders discuss the future innovation and competitiveness environment in the u. S. Good morning. Since the councils beginning in 1986, weve seen over and over and time and again how technology has transformed our lives, and unleashed new challenges and opportunities as we think about a new future for the United States. 2003 was such a period of change. 17 years after our founding, our Council Members recognized that the nation stood at a florida infliction point. We needed significant chance to enhance our innovation capacity which lead to the pioneering work of our National Innovation initiative it, and now another 17 years later here we are again, once again finding ourselves at the precipice of transformational change. Throughout the day as debra mentioned in her opening remarks well hear stories about the changes as they are foundational to our Flagship National commission on innovation and competitiveness frontiers. The commission cochaired by the Council Board on this stage is a multiyear effort to reimagine americas innovation potential and chart a new path for competitiveness in the 21st century, and as this slide shows just a little more than a year ago with our Core Leadership Team we began the effort and we pulled together nearly 60 leaders from across this country, from industry and academia and our labor union commit deand the National Labs, and the commission has already started their washing. Today release of launch is our activities that will choose the innovation american capacity and to make all of this happen this fall weve built a glowing, blossoming community of hundreds of advisors and communication leaders and practitioners who will create over the coming year this new innovation agenda and new movement for america. This morning our Commission Leadership is going to share their Top Priorities for this goforward strategy and mahmoud, i would like you to turn for you first. Looking a future around a more sustained approach and consumption of benefits and greater attention there, have you to be concerned about our nations stagnation in investments in longterm r d. Can you talk to us about what you see is the risk of the stagnation and what might be the opportunities if we were to reignite our investments in longterm r d. Thank you. Look, i think we touched on it with debras comments but let me just frame it up again. Any country and in particular the United States has led the world in terms of Economic Growth and development for its citizens based on innovation. There is no innovation wlout invention, and every innovation starts at some think, a process, a product that it was investment and every inception is based on that ecosystem and its to them to take those sectors hand translate them into application ksz of society so much of the benefit that we as a country has achieved from this has started with that r d investment. If we go back over the last five, six decades, the u. S. Was the primary driver in the world of r d investment. More than half of the worlds r d investment happened in the United States, across our ecosystems, universities, National Laboratories and different government bodies and, yes. Were now at about a quarter. We have 20 morianially than children done and that we have longer have the fuel that and those that go with an innovative chick you talk about the china challenge on longterm insure and would i like for your comments, michael, on this. We would have to we think hour model. Michael, you called for and provocatively called for a modernization model for america that we have to be unbelievably creative in thinking about our future. Can you talk about what you think is required to unbelievable created and how is this xhigs poised to help think through the United States and a new way of speaking about innovation . Thanks for the small question there. So, lets back a little bit, and the census will report 330 million, 335 Million People, most diverse country in the world. Up believable complexity, everything you can possibly imagine. Were still living off of the successes of the past, the fumes of the past to some extent in terms of our designs of the past and so we wake up today with this democracy thats evolving at this rapid rate socially and culturally. We wake up today with true global competitors which i think is good news for the planet and good news for humanity Going Forward and that means then that we have to go ahead and look at how do we modernize everything. How do we modernize our institutions of education . How do you modernize the entire education al system . How do we change that education is a sector . How doey Human Capital, taking that, for instance, that Human Capital is in fact an objective of every organization, Human Capital investment and human enhancement. How do we use technologies lou do we create opportunities for people to learn across the entirety of their life seamlessly . How can they move in and out of formal educational experiences . How can they get recognition and credit for informal educational experiences . How can we empower 60yearolds and 1 ayearolds and 180yearolds in the future who are healthy and are at their peak wisdom moment and want to give back, and how do we engage all that have together, so what we have is we have an archaic, segmented, isolated, sectordriven model. We dont have connections. We dont have linkages, and we have now the means and the capability and the tools to do all these things. We just have to look at the fact that our systems are antiquated. They are underperforming and just accept that. Its a weird thing for me to watch people go in. Its like sending in line after line after line after line of people and say we need to make k12 better. No, you need to make k12 different. You need to rethink it from the very core. You need to rethink some universities and some clemens. You in a ed to rethink how they work. Weve been doing that with my instituti institution. We have to basically face up to the fact that the country has matured socially and culturally. The world has matured economically and competitively, and now is the moment for us for this next burst of modernization across all aspects of what we do. Brian, i would like to turn to you and build an riff a little bit about michael owes point about modernization. The when we think about optimizing our environment for innovation, what is your vision for regulatory or other reforms that are going to be necessary to help support and enable entrepreneurs and individual activity . I think the key point is embedded in what was key point imbedded embedded in what was just talked about. So when we talk about comparing ourselves to, you know, china and r and d dollars and stuff. The issue is the basic principle we have to be the worldwide leader because were the largest economy. We want to grow. Thats not the right comparison. The right comparison is how much more do we have to spend to maintain that position . Thats a construct. The second construct is theres great final demand in a much different set of talent than 17 years ago when you looked at this question. The chinese economy, 17 years ago, was probably a trillion and a half to trillion. And now, its 14. The reality is that means a structure has changed dramatically in terms of final demand and consumption. India, china. So the european u. S. Sort of m dominance there is changing. Whether it was pollution or whether car safety. How do you lead the standard setting when its about data and Information Privacy and how do you think about that . And how do you lead it when theres two systems developing . And how are we going to be able to interface into that system . And what regulations are going to allow all of us in the national and Global Business chains to actually interface with economies or in a different environment that we have and how we work about. Nearterm legislation, id focus on a couple things. One is research funding, which my other colleagues will talk about. An example of driving that is what the executive order earlier this year, Artificial Intelligence in the emergence around that and defense infrastructure and stuff. Funding. Those are important elements. Another thing is i think we have to keep our eye on revitalizing patent reform and deborah mentioned earlier not only in trade negotiations but what it means to the duration and other things to get the payback period so innovation dollars keep coming because the world has benefitted by the u. S. s innovation. So we have to think about patent reform completely differently now. Where theres final demand in different business systems. And then you have tax. And, you know, the nearterm issue deborah mentioned earlier with these deficits, at some point, theres going to become a review of where can they collect money . And theres two ways to collect money. Raise the rates, which could happen and then you have the problem of the competitiveness and the tax rate against the world where the world is. Much more interesting to companies for final demand and things. Thats one issue. But the second issue is also what percentage you take out. So we cant lose the incentives for r and d obviously. Cant lose incentives for alternative new Energy Sources and things like that, which are major drivers of activity. But when people need money, those things can go. And then the other thing is you got to remember the charitable deduction and things like that. So university system, which gets a lot of funding from charities to do this innovation. If you start taking away or tax their endowments, you start taking away the resources. So one thing, its not just tax rate where everybody gets focused. Its the issue of what the incentives are and how do we preserve them . Trade negotiations and how thats protected. The duration of that. The tax policy. And not losing incentives. Those are the key sort of regulatory legislative areas i think about. Brian, can i just follow up on one point . In launch, many of the issues you just raised are teased out. But another one that comes up is really around capital cost structure. Is the United States poised to keep globally whether current capital cost structure . Are we going to be able to build the innovation infrastructure where we are today . I think we have to study that. We shouldnt say we all have the answers up here. But inherently, we have the deepest Capital Markets and the best Capital Formation. So i think the question is not that, making sure we hold on to that but that is also emerging in other countries. So we have to be careful the amount of private equity around the world and the United States. But i think we have to step back. There was just an article that said 1 of the countys u. S. Have 30 of the gdp. So one of the things we have to think about is how the Capital Formation and the benefits are distributed better. We have the issue Human Capital that michael mentioned that how do we make sure it participates across the board . So i think not only do we have to think about the cost of capital, we have to think about how the how the capital and we cant have Capital Formation deserts. We cant have all the private equity and all the innovation funding basically in seven major counties and not anywhere else because its just going to be problematic. We wont get the depth. So i think not only the capital return is there, the money is there. I would never worry about that. We got to watch the incentives i talked about before. But the real question is are we really paying attention to how we drive and distribute that . Also, to michaels point of Human Capital. The Human Capital change that has to occur continuously is much different than the past dimension. So are we reinvesting in that Human Capital availability . So i think we have to think about that capital more broadly. Lets stick on the Human Capital point that you and michael both raised. And let me turn to you. Really interested in how you, the ibew, are thinking about that future Human Capital. What ideas are you all generating to think how do we train and reskill and equip American Workers for this future innovation space . Yeah. Theres no doubt about it. The skill sets thats going to be needed for the worker of the future are much different than today. So we are constantly working on updating like in our construction branch, the way we train. The type of work that theyre doing is much different. Actually, i visibilitied one of our Training Centers just a couple weeks ago and they are actually starting to do some virtualtype training. Where you put on the headset and youre able to simulate going through, you know, some operations. Open up a cabinet. Checking, you know, the connections. And if you do something wrong, you know, its going to be an explosion. Its going to tell you you did something wrong. So were continuing to change the way we do the training so they get a really more like i said, in reality of what theyre going to have when theyre out in the field. Also, in our other branches, even manufacturing and others, you know, its a different skill set in the future manufacturing as well because of, you know, the continuing of expansion of robotics. And other and other changes, you know. These workers need to have a different training, a different skill set, to be able to adjust to those type of jobs. We work very close with our employers in all of our branches and developing. Were constantly changing and innovating what we do. To meet the needs of the future, as technologies change. We Work Together with them and making sure that their employees, our members, are getting the proper training to be prepared for whats to come in the future. Thanks, lonnie. I know youre representing nearly 3 4 of a million workers across the country. Id like to stay on this workforce and skills of the future issue and maybe open it up for the panel to chime in. You know, everyone up here is engaged with workforces that are doing very different things. Probably very different than they were two to three years ago. So any other thoughts on what does future of work look like . And how our commission might really think about leveraging what, in some sense, could be a demographic advantage in the United States. I dont know, michael or we just trademarked. Universal learner and universal learning. And we did that in opposition to the concept of universal income. And just taking not on a political basis but on economic basis. The notion that somehow were going to give up on the ability of people to be able to perform for high compensation levels or increasing compensation levels in the economy of the future. So then were going to tax those that are making more resources and then move those taxes to people who are no longer able to perform in the economy. We might as well give up if we move in that direction. And so the notion that we have is how do we create an opportunity across all organizations . Across a persons entire life to be engaged in the opportunity for universal learning all stages of life. All aspects. Everything. That will require all of our institutions to rethink themselves. That will require corporations to rethink themselves. The government. The schools. The universities. Everybody. And the notion of moving Human Capital to be as important as financial capital, as important as natural capital. And rise and raising its status and rethinking the whole thing is what we need to do. That will require all of us to rethink everything. Brian. Two aspects. One, that dialogue also fits with all the research thats being done on aging and things like that. Weve done a lot of work with people in this and people want to are never going to stop working. So theres also a an intellectual societal demand to keep learning and working. And people are going to live are living mid80s to 90s. They dont want to stop at 60. Lonnie and i were talking earlier about retirement and the second career. To match the education process or whatever the exact term to use against that, and i think thats something we, on the commission, need to be thinking about. Which is, how do you reinvent careers all the way along . Thats one thing. The second way i think we should judge success in terms of innovation and competitiveness, the world is not necessarily only the Median Income and the top incomes and all that stuff like that. Its really we, in the United States, should have the best starting jobs. They should be the best jobs in the world. And they should be a standard of living the world envies. Because then Everything Else is gravy, right . And they should be growing and they should be doing. And that might be completely different than the Jobs Available in our company 20 years ago. The starting wage for our employees next quarter is 40,000 a year for everybody. Even a kid working for the summer. So but the amount of work the productivity they have to have they all work hard to pay for that takes innovation and a process. So i think we have to remember that the goal is not, you know, to boost the people who end up on top. The goal is to bring everybodys standard of living to be the envy of the world and weve lost that as a core goal in some ways. Let me just build on the two points. Were not talking about hypothetical or theoretical. Let me give a quote a statistic, which i think will crystallize this. For the first time in the history of humanity today, there are more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 5. Its never happened before. The global population pyramid is now inverted. If you have a 5yearold, whether its your child or grandchild, and you fast forward 15 years from now, theres going to be a young workforce that is having to take care of more people over the age of 75 and 80 than theyve ever had to do. And, in fact, theres more people to take care of than people who are working if we dont change anything. So for the leadership of this country and across the world, we have to ask ourselves do we sit and twiddle our thumbs . Or just look at that statistic and say what are we leaving behind . And more importantly, whos going to take care of us . And we have to change this for ourselves, not for that generation, because were putting way too much burden on a young generation of 5yearolds who are going to become 20yearolds taking care of a lot of 75 and 80yearolds. So what what are our options . Well, we can watch economic the Economic Impact of that. Or come up with a very different construct for education because just because you turn 60 doesnt mean its mandatory. And there are still professions where at 60 to 65, theres mandatory retirement. Doesnt make sense anymore. Ill give you an example. Currently, every air Traffic Controller in the country is on mandatory overtime. Dont have enough. We know theres a crisis in pilots. Aircraft mechanics. I can go on and on. There are a lot of opportunities to retrain, redevelop. Smart people can get redeployed. And whats it going to take . Its going to take the leadership of represented by the sectors at this table and in this room to actually say whats that new construct . For employers, for educators, and policy makers. So this cant be done in isolation. But it is happening now. We shouldnt be thinking about this as something thats going to happen in the future. Anybody with a young child, ask yourself what that future will look like. Just just to build on what is discussed already. I think that the way you approach learning has to has to evolve dramatically. I mean, the idea that you can go to school, learn something that is static, and build out a complete career is is no longer true. You have to constantly learn and sort of you have to be taught to learn continuously. And i think this is why its also important to actually educate, whether it is in Technical Schools or or or universities in a much more researchintensive environment. Because when you are learning in a researchintensive environment, you are being taught to to for the workforce of the future. Because research in itself is driving innovation. So you are you are actually learning in an environment where they are focused on the future. So i think its really important to make sure that that not only traditional universities but also working at the interface of universities, National Laboratories industry, work towards creating a curricula that not only teaches you how to learn continuously. But also, researchintensive environment so that youre working, being trained for the jobs of the future. Thanks, thomas. Deborah, i dont know if you wanted to weigh in. Weve done a lot of work in this space. We actually have a major report called work, which capsulates nearly 20 years of efforts. But i know this is an issue close to your heart. And obviously, fundamental to our efforts. Well, i know were going to talk about this later in the day. You know, the importance of our s. T. E. M. Pipeline and workforce. But also, ensuring that the next generation also has what we call the traditional education of the liberal arts, the social sciences, the humanities. Because so many of the issues were going to be dealing with do take that type of highervalue thinking. And also, the creativity and imagination that come from the arts and things. So thats something, as well, that we need to make sure. Starting, you know, prek and all the way up that we value the liberal arts, as well as ensuring that we have more americans that have the quantifiable skills that infuse every component of work, as well. Thomas, i want to pivot just a little bit. Although, its connected. You lead one of the nations preeminent National Laboratories. Really crowned jewels of our innovation infrastructure in this country. But as michael mentioned in august at our meeting where we develop launch, what we want to do with this commission is not just focus on a National Innovation system but on building on assets around the country and optimizing for many different types of innovation systems. So im wondering can you talk a little about your thinking as to how you are trying to turbocharge your own region . And what lessons we might potentially take back to the nation . Thank you for the question. Let me start by just giving you an anecdote. When i was a practicing scientist in the mid90s, i had the privilege of working on one of the Fastest Computers in the world. An intel paragon. It required a major economy like the United States. A Major National laboratory. Laboratory system to field that. And cost hundreds of millions of dollars. If you ever an iphone 6 or better, you have a device that is faster than the fastest supercomputer in the world 20 years ago. And there are about 2 billion such units worldwide. So there is a of innovation. And the idea we can compete globally just based on the intense innovation that occurs by two dozen counties in the United States along the coast, i think is not scalable or sustainable. In fact, there are number of reports, you know, the brookings has something called the growth centers. Or jump starting america is another book. All of these the idea is that instead of an innovation system, you really need many more Innovation Centers across middle america. Cities that have the ability and the potential to step up and be part of the solution. And as as was mentioned, i lead Oak Ridge National laboratory but i am one of 17 such National Laboratories spread across the United States. And and just for for for my own understanding, i tried to overlay this National Labs along the sort of, you know, 330 or 40 cities that are sort of ready to be. Has most of the ingredients to be part of the solution. And the reality is that at the intersection of National Laboratories, universities, and these cities that already have much of the ecosystem that is necessary, is a tremendous opportunity to jump start innovation. And thats something we are working on. If you think about oak ridge, you know, department of energy not just Oak Ridge National laboratory. Department of Energy Invest about 4. 5 billion in in oak ridge area. The university of tennessee is about 2 billion. And the Tennessee Valley authority that is located at oak ridge is about or knoxville is a 10 billion utility. Regional utility. There has to be a way to bring these assets together to be part of the solution. And i think thats a really important attribute that one needs to pursue. Well, michael, i dont know if you also want to comment on this since you raised the point back in august about innovation systems. But perhaps talk a little bit about the transformation youre seeing in the southwest that youre leading. And i think to thomass point, how do we really begin to turbocharge other regions across the country to contribute to our you know, the innovation story . So the key everywhere is to is to break down the fixed models. The fixed model says you retire at 65, thats stupid. The fixed model says youre only educated building up to go to college and then youre done with your education. And so one of the advantages in a place like arizona where ive been living the last 17, 18 years is nobody believes in anything there. Theyre open minded to everything. And thats a good thats a good thing. They dont believe in government. They dont believe in this. They dont believe in that. Thats all good. And so and so what that means then what that means then is that you can then step back and then just start assembling groups of people. Assembling groups of institutions to rethink things. And so weve brought in 300 private sector Educational Technology companies and embedded them into the university so that now were probably pound for pound, ten times more efficient than we ever were before. Impacting peoples lives. So the notion then is all of us in all of our institutions, all of our sectors, all of our places, if we want to innovate, youve got to go back to the design. Theres no innovation thats a function of tweaking something. It is about the design of the institutions, the design of the relationships between the institutions, the design of the government. The design of the universities. And so one of the things that we found in in our neck of the woods down in the southwest is openness to questioning and looking at and reshaping the design. From which then were getting dramatic enhancements of outcome. Brian, did you want to make a comment . Sorry. Just to follow that on. As you go my day job, i go around the country and see lots of cities and it really falls on the point. Each of these places has a series of things which, with the Proper Organization design as michael said, could jump start something. What they cant all do is the same thing. So if you go around a lot of cities and everybodys chasing the same sort of shiny object. 5g is an issue every city has to deal with. Common views. Everybody has power. So to the point that theres a utility, theres infrastructure around that utility. So we need to think about things which are innovative and scalable. And also, universally sort of available. The university systems. And how you think about place in that way because otherwise you end up with that continuing concentration of the resource of the capital. The talent into very narrow places. And so i think thats key. But what i on behalf of the business community, you know, we push a lot even on our relationship with what we do like headquarters around schools and things. The business communitys trying to say how do we help . And how do we think about innovative ideas . But its your system but what do we interface from prek to 3rd grade to training principles to community college. You know, tell us where you need help. And then how do we scale it . So i think scale and place are two things that the groups we have working have to think about differently. Deborah, i wonder if you might want to comment. You know, the council initiated really back in the 90s some pioneering work on regions of innovation. Innovation clusters. And obviously, this conversations evolved tremendously over the past 15 or 20 years. What are you seeing as Key Attributes for this American Innovation tapestry . And Distinctive Assets that we need to build upon . Well, building on what colleagues have said here and thinking about design and designing new systems. Clearly, many of these big challenges and opportunities require Public Private partnerships. And they require a different generation of partnerships among the different sectors. How academic institutions are working together. The National Labs. Companies. Both in sectors and outside. I think we are still bearing the fruit of 30 years ago of tremendous innovation and Public Private partnerships. Weve done a lot of great work on Technology Transfer and commercialization. And some oneoff partnerships. But we havent done anything in 30 years to redesign the fundamental challenges of what we need to do for some huge things we must address. And the example i will give, there was a reference to 5g and i hear others saying, well, the u. S. Is behind because of our, you know, federal Communications Commission and not being able to do things on a national scale. But the one thats really serious and the councils been working on this with department of energy and others and many in this room. If we do not lead as a nation in the development and deployment of the next generation advanced microelectronics systems beyond moores law, everything we are talking about is going to be at huge risk. And were not going to be able to do that with traditional venture capital, with a few partnerships between a few companies and maybe a few labs and universities. We have to do this at a big way and resign the Public Private partnerships for the big critical things our country needs. And thats something that i believe and hope the commissions really going to work on in a big way. And its a new design frontier. I just want to i guess we have to ask ourselves, to deborahs point and some points that others have made, the innovation that we see come into the marketplace. Whichever sector. Obviously, is an important driver. But there is a worrying investment issue underlying this as we look at whats happened in the u. S. And i think brians point was right on. You have to look at what you need to get done. However, think of it this way. For the first time in our history, we have more r and d investment in the industry sector, the private sector, than in the government sector. While you might look at that, if youre on the industry side, great, were growing our investment. But for the most part, industry investment in r and d is an applicationdriven innovation engine. However, that pipeline dries up and ends if there isnt the basic research that goes and theres for anybody who spent any time in academic research, you actually dont know the endpoint at application and the majority of research is done. You sort of know the general direction. And so much of it is serendipity, chance, it happens. And so its important to nurture that natural ecosystem of creativity in the academic environment that feeds into this. Just because industry stepped up and increased its investment is not necessarily a good thing. And i think, to me, the macro Public Private is how do we get the government and regional, state, national, whatever, to continue to invest in our academic and national Lab Infrastructure . Because we, on the industry side, absolutely live off that. Right . So thats the first thing. Yes, we need the capital. But theres no capital to deploy if i dont have an idea that i can actually do something with. So we need that. Thats one important point and i think its going to be important as we think about this. To the point that was made, yes, we got to do it in a broader geographic manner than just concentrated in two or three or four half a dozen hubs, as has happened right now. The second point in this is that if were going to actually continue to do this in this new world, most of the new innovation is happening is actually happening at the convergence of traditional disciplines. The traditional disciplines by which weve defined academic institutions, department of biology, a department of engineering, a department of chemistry. Those disciplines no longer work because the innovation is happening isnt happening. And as many biologists these days are mathematicians as they were biologists. Yet, we continue to look at in many institutions in these very traditional silos. Your institutions been one of the ones at the forefront. We have to ask ourselves right down to that fundamental how are we going to create ecosystems even within our institutions so that we truly create thought and idea generation . But also, then to move that idea forward, which brings resources, right . And so these are all the things that our commission needs to now put on the table. And thats a key part of our work in the next couple of years as we bring this and hopefully bring recommendations and roadmaps to policymakers, leaders, academic leaders but also private sector leaders. I know you and brian both want to weigh in here. Yeah. You know, i think one of the things and its been mentioned a couple times. Ive heard the word infrastructure. And you know, if we dont invest in the infrastructure in this country, right now our roads are crumbling, our bridges are crumbling. Our grid system, electric grid system, needs to be updated as we continue to to transform into more wind, more solar. You know, wind is typically out in rural areas. Its not in the metropolitan areas. So youve got to have the grid system to provide that power where it needs where the demand is. And were a long ways from doing that. And if we dont start really investing our infrastructure, highspeed rail, for example. I was in china a few years ago and got to experience riding on their highspeed rail. Its amazing. And you talk about other countries being advanced from us. I mean, theyre theyve got the opportunity to move a lot of people, you know, in a in a fast manner. A safe manner. And bring people that live hundreds of miles away into the into the job site and then get back on that highspeed rail and go home in the evening. So, you know, mass transit, i mean, its really everything that we do if were truly going to be continue to be a leader in the worldwide technologies, we have to focus on infrastructure. Because if we havent got the roads, we havent got the transportation, if we dont have Safe Drinking Water for our families, theres water lines that were theres still wood pipes in some areas of the country. That you got wood pipes that is theyre taking water under that ground and leaking millions of gallons of water, by the way, are being leaked from that infrastructure. So we really have to focus on that if we are truly going to lead i think Going Forward in this country. Brian, please. Inherent in the discussion is the leadership of the United States through its education system, its research platform. But also, in its acquisition of talent. And told his personal story last night but we have to get this straight because the United States went from 70 Million People working to 150 million from 1969 to today. The population only went up by 100 Million People. And a lot of that was immigration because natural population rate was relatively stable if we think back to late 60s, early 70s and all the different trends in society. So we have to get immigration right. And we have to be able to bring a talent to our universities. We have to be able to bring in talent to our companies and talent to at all levels of labor force because we just arent going to have enough population. As much as were talking about this aging population, can we keep them in the workforce longer . Were going to run out of people. Productivity can only go up so fast. Also, the economy. The unique thing about the United States, population grew, its economy grew. Thats why 17 to 18 trillion before the crisis now. United states, 14 to 20. And so we have to and that was driven by all the stuff were talking about but also by people saying this is the best country to come and be in. We cant forget that. And so theres bipartisan proposals. Any number of em will work. We just got to get something clarified so we can get going. Thomas. I just want to say, you know, as as as a director of a National Laboratory, certainly endorse and support the idea that we need to continue to invest research and Development Dollars and infrastructure. But i think its also probably important to recognize in the last two or three years, this is probably the best time in in the National Laboratory system where our budgets have seen 30 plus percent increase. And its resulted in new and improved infrastructure, beginnings of new and improved infrastructure in in in important areas like industries of the future. Artificial intelligence. Quantum information science. Advanced manufacturing or additive manufacturing. 5g. Synthetic biology. So when i look at it, i think that we are the cusp of turning things around. We need to do more. And i think this would be a really important time for the commission to figure out how do we leverage these investments in infrastructure and Public Private, new and different Public Private partnership so that we become really an were running out of time. I want to mention an important point in time coming up. January 16th, we will be out at Arizona State university kicking off the major beginnings of the the generative process for this national commission. In the minute we have left, anyone on the stage, a call to action. A charge. One thing you hope that many of the people in this room, who will be with us out at asu, will take away, will bring to asu, will help to create an idea, a thought, something perhaps to inspire folks as we as we begin our journey in 2020 . I dont think in the 30year history of this council weve had a bigger initiative. And if not now, the old saying, then when . This is something that were doing not only for ourselves but for generations to come. And i think a lot of people can look back and say what is it that we collectively did to change the trajectory . Were actually trying to change a trajectory. That is never easy. But it can be done. And we have all the talent to do it. The only other comment i would make is zwraujanuary, im glad going to be in arizona and not minnesota. The only thing i would add is that this really does give us an opportunity to put positive energy into the political system. So so if you think theres not enough positive energy, well, then we should label ourselves as guilty. What are we offering . What are the ideas were putting on the table . What are the new designs were moving forward . How are we rethinking these things . And so people are hungry for how are we going to be competitive . How are we going to continue to be successful here in the United States . And so this is an opportunity, the whole commission is built on the positive. Its build on the constructive. Its built on the on the advancing of ideas to solve some of these issues to move ourselves forward. We got to be we got to challenge ourselves. Maybe 3 cs. We got to be very curious and its got to be comprehensive. In other words, it cant just be incremental. Great. I want to thank the panel. Much appreciation. And we look forward to working with you over the coming year. Thank you. Thank you. Well, speaking of Public Private partnerships and collaboration between government, academia, industry, our tremendous National Laboratory system, as well as the critical driver of energy that enables everything we do. Its my great pleasure to introduce the recently confirmed secretary of energy, the honorable dan brouillette, to give us some remarks about his agenda and priorities. Very important to the commission and our nation. Let me just share that secretary brouillette has had a tremendous background. Three decades of experience in both the public and private sector. Most recently, he was the Senior Vice President and head of Public Policy for usaa, the nations leading provider of Financial Services for the military community. Before joining ussa, secretary brouillette was the Vice President Ford Motor Company where he led many of the automakers domestic policy teams and served on the north america operating committee. Weve been very fortunate to work with the secretary when he was deputy. He was very much involved in our seminal study on cyberinfrastructure as applied to both the energy and manufacturing transformation. So it is our great honor to welcome secretary daniel brouillette. Thank you. Were very honored. Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me. Three decades of experience. I guess that means im old. Or im getting old. Thank you, deborah, for that kind introduction. Its an honor to be with you and with all of you this morning. At this forum on the council on competitiveness. As deborah mentioned, we were involved with the infrastructure study and i spoke at this council in 2018. And as you know, a lot has happened since that time. I am deeply thankful to President Trump for his trust in nominating me to serve as the 15th secretary of energy. And to the bipartisan members of the u. S. Senate for confirming me to this position in so speedily a manner. And believe me, it has been quick. Secretary perry left this Department Much better than he found it. And i am absolutely grateful for his service to our department and his service to our country. And i personally am thankful for his leadership and his friendship over nearly two decades now. For me, they there couldnt be a more exciting time to serve as Energy Secretary than right now. Under the leadership of President Trump, doe is igniting growth, we are unleashing innovation, and were spreading opportunity all across the nation. Wear working to reduce the cost of doing business. To bring american jobs home. To make america more competitive than its ever been in a Global Economic marketplace. For far too long, americas Corporate Tax rate was one of the highest in the industrial world. But weve lowered it from 35 to 21 . Increasing Global Competitiveness of american businesses. For decades, american entrepreneurs were held back by onus regulations that served not as rules of the road but as barriers blocking the road to progress. So this administration has eliminated 22 existing regulations for every new regulation imposed. For years, america was saddled with trade deals that were blatantly unfair to American Consumers, businesses, and workers. So this administration has negotiated for better agreements. Congress is moving in a bipartisan way to adopt the administrations usmca deal with canada and mexico, which will expand American Energy export opportunities to both our southern and our northern neighbors. The combined impact of these policies is significant. Since President Trumps election, our economy has added more than 7 million jobs. Including 500,000 new jobs at u. S. Manufacturers. And the Unemployment Rate is the lowest its been in 50 years. Nearly, my entire lifetime. More than my lifetime i should say. Maybe i can lie a little bit. But thats not the whole story. The other major factor in our rapid Economic Growth is the competitive advantage provided by lowcost and abundant energy. Which has been driven by decades of innovation. You here at the council of competitiveness have worked successfully with our National Laboratories to publish reports that support this effort and we appreciate your assistance. You all know the story of energy innovation. From breakthroughs in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling to the falling cost for deploying renewables. Innovation has brought an Energy Revolution that is fueling Economic Growth. When the department of energy opened its doors more than 40 years ago, we had gas lines and ration days. We had less energy at higher prices and we had higher manufacturing costs and fewer jobs. But d. O. E. Has helped the Energy Industry make considerable progress against those challenges. Today, we are the worlds second biggest generator of wind and solar energy. And number one in producing both oil and natural gas. This enormous bounty has kept world Energy Supplies reliable and World Energy Prices stable. And its blessed American Consumers and businesses with some of the lowest electricity rates in the world. Half of what the eu pays and onethird of the energy costs in germany. And because of lower energy costs, the president s council of economic advisors june report came out not that long ago. Notes that u. S. Consumers now save more than 200 billion a year. That equates to about 2,500 for a family of four. But there is much more to come. At d. O. E. , we are executing the president s vision on an all of the above Innovation Strategy that will support l and g exports. It will support the development of Carbon Capture technologies. The revitalization of Nuclear Energy and the advancement of renewables. Energy storage and energyefficient technologies. And so from fossil fuels to renewables, supply keeps rising. Costs keep falling. And its all being led by the power of innovation. As i said earlier, we are now the Worlds Largest producer of oil and gas. And we are also the world leader in reducing energyrelated carbon emissions. The lesser the lesson could not be clearer. When we innovate more and regulate less, we can drive up Energy Production and drive down energy cost. We can revive our economy and create more jobs. We can manufacture more and emit less. All at the same time. As secretary, im also committed to focusing d. O. E. On the next frontier of Innovation Challenges so that we can help launch the industries of the future. Were focusing on the integration of advanced computational sciences. The development of advanced Manufacturing Technologies. And the growth of the b bioeconomy. To do this, we call on the help of our National Laboratories. Some of whom i know are here today. I saw paul kerns walking around. They have some of the most significant High Performance Computing Resources available, including some of the fastest supercomputers in the world. And we are proud to make their performance this highperformance computing facilities available to researchers from industry and academia so that these public investments in stateoftheart technologies are able to generate the greatest possible intellectual and economic benefit. These capabilities hold enormous promise for our country. And we will transform our science, boost our economy, and safeguard our national security. Within the department of energy, our office of science is also leading the way to develop and integrate three disruptive advanced Computing Technologies of the future. Exoscale computing, quantum information science, and Artificial Intelligence. Each represent monumental opportunities for Economic Growth. They will produce new industries and evolve old industries. And taken together, they will change the way we think. They will change the way we research. They will change the way we interact. And they will change the way we work. And im excited about their potential. D. O. E. Is also working with industry to lead a Manufacturing Technology renaissance. The experts in our office of advanced manufacturing and at our labs are World Leaders in nextgeneration Manufacturing Technologies and processes. Like advanced, largescale 3d printing. If you havent had an opportunity to see the shelby cobra that was 3d printed at Oak Ridge National laboratory, i urge you to take a moment and look it up online if you cant go and see it physically. It is incredible. Across our department, were working through research and Development Programs to explore new frontiers in the science of manufacturing. Like advanced manufacturing techniques to support ultrathin, highperformance solar cells. Micronuclear reactors. And components for nearzero emissions coal electricity generation. Were also finding new ways to extract valuable, advanced materials from old sources, like using coal to make carbon fiber. And to produce rare earth elements. Throughout all of these initiatives, we work with the brilliant innovators at your universities and your private companies. The partnerships at our institutes and hubs yield consortia of great minds that are clearly greater than the sum of their parts. Our newest addition to those parts, the clean Energy Manufacturing institute was launched just this march to develop technologies for cybersecurity that are specifically designed for Tomorrows Energy efficiency products. Energyefficient products i should say. Along those lines, in order to further increase the competitiveness of u. S. Manufacturers, d. O. E. Experts have provided Technical Assistance and Energy Efficiency to over 220 manufacturing partners through our better plants program. And our partners have saved a cumulative 6. 7 billion. These partnerships have been noteworthy. But we need your help to take yet another big step. Were focusing on ensuring that federally sponsored research and development is successfully commercialized here at home. And we need the private sectors help to help us transfer that technology to the marketplace. And to that end, d. O. E. Has centralized our commercialization efforts through the office of technology transitions, which is empowered to increase d. O. E. s Economic Impact. Now, you may not be familiar with one of otts brand new initiatives, the innovation x lab series. We just held one at argon National Laboratory in chicago. X labs involve bringing together the brightest minds in the d. O. E. Complex in academia and in industry, to focus on the Big Questions in research and development. And our next x lab will be held at the by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in late january and its going to focus on biomanufacturing. I would encourage each of you to participate if at all possible. We have a long and important history in bioscience at the department of energy. It also including bio engineering and of course bio security as well. You probably know or some of you know that our supercomputers were used to map the human genome. Its not well known within the in the world but yes the department of energy was key to that important project. The bioeconomy of the future is poised to be an area of massive Economic Growth and our department, the d. O. E. , will be an important leader in that future. American manufacturing and business and as a former executive with both Ford Motor Company and usaa, i know this firsthand. You face fierce competition from abroad. This administration is committed to the fair treatment of our businesses in trade and decreasing overburdensome regulation right here at home. We are committed to a low cost, advanced energy future, which we think will underpin a strong economy. And we are committed to exploring the industries of the future. Those that will fast track americas economic revival and lead to sustained longterm growth. Our focus will be on innovation. And were counting on partners like you. Id like to close by thanking you for what you do here at the council. And through your own universities and your own companies and businesses. It means the world to us at the department of energy. So thank you for your support. Thank you for your collaboration. And allow me to thank you personally for the honor of being with you today. Thank you. After being injured, tim couldnt return to work and fell on hard times. He applied for snap so that he could afford to buy food. Because of the because the state of maine chose not to wave the time little for able bodied adults without dependents, tim lost snap benefits after only three months and three months is the limit, not 36. He repeatedly asked to the numerous officials who passed him along in the bureaucratic maze, what do i eat between now and then . Nobody had an answer for tim. Without snap, tim had no assistance and became homeless. He resorted to scrounging for food and even catching squirrels to eat to get by. Reflecting on his time, tim shared, quote, there were many times when i would go two or even three days without food. The food bank has only limited resources. I had to add seven holes on my belt to keep my pants on. For people like tim, snap can literally save lives. We know that snap helps about 1. 3 million lowincome veterans. But a recent report suggests that nearly twothirds of veterans who struggle with hunger and are eligible for snap are not currently enrolled. Nobody, and certainly no veteran like tim, should ever be forced to ask what do i eat . Because they cant get the help they need from the country they fought to protect. And thats just one story that a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee heard on the state of military veterans. Members are looking into the effectiveness of federal programs aimed at helping veterans. You can watch the entire hearing tonight at 8 00 eastern here on cspan3. Senators, i attend the senate in conformity with your notice for the purpose of joining with you for the trial of the president of the United States. I am now prepared to take the oath. Will you place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand . Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of donald john trump, president of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the constitution and the laws so help you god . I do. God bless you. Thank you very much. At this time, i will administer the oath to all senators in the chamber in conformance with article 1, section 3, clause 6 of the constitution. And the senates impeachment rules. Will all senators now stand or remain standing and raise their right hand . Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of donald john trump, president of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the constitution and laws, so help you god . For the third time in history, a president is on trial in the u. S. Senate. Watch live tuesday when the
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