Restoration of the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Conservation Fund Act of 2009

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1055, legislation to support the designation of National Robotics Week as an annual event.

I introduced this legislation because the increase in the number of emerging and potential applications for robotics is astounding, and

I believe Americans should know more about the important role the field of robotics will play in our national security and economic health in the coming decades.

Robotics has come a long way in the last 20 years, but most Americans still think of real-life robots as confined to the assembly line. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Recently, we've seen advanced next-generation robotics playing an important role in our military for our national defense. Unmanned aerial vehicles today provide life-saving reconnaissance support for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the rocket-armed Predator UAV is reportedly the most effective tool we have for attacking the Al- Qaeda and Taliban leadership and infrastructure. In addition, our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have benefited greatly from the development and deployment of mobile robots that detect and disarm IEDs--the improvised explosive devices that have posed the greatest threat to our troops on the ground in those countries.

Robotics is growing in economic importance as well. Robots are now being used to perform surgeries, fill prescriptions, and deliver supplies and materials, in addition to the role they've filled for many years working on the assembly line. The Robotics Industry Association estimates that nearly 200,000 robots are now used in the United States, and it's estimated that more than one million robots are being used worldwide. Even during the current economic downturn, orders for robotic technology in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, and food and consumer goods sectors rose significantly.

The emerging market for robotics in various sectors, including health care, national defense, homeland security, energy, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, agriculture, education, and consumer goods, is expected to grow at an annual rate of nearly 20 percent over the next few years to become a $27 billion industry worldwide, and one new study predicts that the personal robotics market for products like the Aibo, the iSobot, the Looj, and the Roomba will be worth $15 billion by 2015.

It's clear to me that robotics technology will drive much of the growth in the world economy in the coming decades, much as computer technology did over the last 30 years, and I want America to be the world leader in this exciting technology.

I'm proud to note that the Congressional District I have the honor of representing is already a world leader in researching and developing robotics technology. In 1999, in fact, the Wall Street Journal nicknamed Pittsburgh ``Roboburgh.''

Carnegie Mellon University has been leading the world in integrating robotic technologies into everyday life for over 30 years. Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute has nearly 350 full and part-time employees conducting research in a number of robotics-related fields, including space robotics, medical robotics, computer vision, and artificial intelligence, to name a few. All told, the Robotics Institute has about 100 research projects and an annual research budget of $55 million. Current projects include a lunar prospector robot for NASA and two USDA programs applying robotic technologies to agricultural production.

Pittsburgh is home to first generation companies like Bombardier Transportation and McKesson; and second generation companies such as RedZone, Seegrid, Aethon and RE Squared.

Pittsburgh is also the long-time home of one of the giants of the robotics industry, Red Whitaker, distinguished professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University and the leader of the CMU team that won the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge, a cross-country long-distance race for robotic cars.

At the state-level, Pennsylvania has a total of 45 robotics companies with over 2,000 employees. Nationwide, the figures are even larger and growing dramatically. That is why the Congressional Robotics Caucus was established--and why we're discussing National Robotics Week here today.

National Robotics Week is the brainchild of a number of universities and companies working to promote the development and adoption of robotics technology. The consortium works closely with the House Robotics Caucus, which Representative Gingrey and I have the honor of co-chairing.

The Robotics Caucus focuses on key issues facing the nation's traditional industrial robotics industry and, perhaps even more importantly, those issues critical to newly forming companies, markets, and industries based on advances in technology that enable robots to perform functions beyond traditional assembly line tasks and operate in environments beyond the factory floor. Our goals include: Increasing general awareness of robotics industry challenges and issues among Members of Congress and policy analysts in federal government; educating Members of Congress and congressional staff on current and future research, development, and utilization initiatives regarding robotics; serving as a forum where robotics-related policy issues can be exchanged, debated, and discussed; and ensuring that our nation remains globally competitive as the robotics industry rapidly expands and begins to exert a profound effect on the way our citizens live their lives.

Representative Wamp and I established the Caucus in 2007. Today, the Caucus has over 30 members from across the country.

About a year ago, the group of universities and businesses that serve on the advisory committee for the Robotics Caucus completed a national ``road map'' to promote robotics technology.

One of the steps contained in the road map was to raise public awareness of the potential robotics holds for our nation's growth in the coming years and encourage young people to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math educations essential for maintaining U.S. leadership in this important field. The road map identified the establishment of an annual national robotics week as a good way to help achieve that goal. The week of April 10th to 18th this year will be the first of these annual events to raise national awareness of robotics technology and its potential impact on the future of the Nation.

Over the course of that week, robotics companies, museums, schools, and universities will hold events to educate the public and get young people interested in pursuing careers in fields associated with robotics. In Pittsburgh, for example, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Science Center will be holding open houses and other events for the public, and there will be a demonstration of an unmanned helicopter by SkEyes Unlimited, a local robotics company.

I introduced H. Res. 1055 earlier this year to recognize the observation of National Robotics Week. It's my hope that this Congressional resolution will help give National Robotics Week--and the important goals it seeks to promote--a higher profile.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 1055, ``Supporting the designation of National Robotics Week as an annual event,'' introduced by my distinguished colleague from Pennsylvania, Representative Doyle.

Robotics was a term first used by Isaac Asimov, who immigrated to America, wrote science books for children and adults and developed the Three Laws of Robotics. Robotics is rapidly proving to be one of the more effective, compelling, and engaging means for teaching and reinforcing fundamental science, technology, engineering, and mathematic, STEM, concepts. It is also a major vehicle for influencing the Nation's youth to pursue STEM-related careers, which is helping to create a highly-skilled 21st century workforce. Robotics is a key transformative technology

that can revolutionize American manufacturing by enabling small and mid-sized companies to cost effectively combine highly skilled workers and highly adaptable, precise, and reliable equipment to create and make high value products in high-stakes industries.

Robotics technology is essential to our national defense and homeland security in that it enables the ongoing development and fielding of unmanned air, ground, and maritime systems that today keep our Nation's war-fighters and protectors out of harm's way, and in the long run will serve as a highly effective force multiplier. Robotics technology holds tremendous potential for reducing the cost of health care delivery, stimulating the discovery and development of new procedures and treatments for a variety of diseases and disorders, improving the standard and accessibility of care, providing individuals with disabilities, especially injured veterans, with greater independence and dignity, thus enhancing overall patient outcomes. Robotics is a critical technology capable in the near term of contributing to the economic recovery by creating new jobs, increasing productivity, improving quality, and increasing worker safety.

The emerging market for service robotics in various sectors, including health care, national defense, homeland security, energy, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, agriculture, education, consumer goods, and others, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20 percent over the next few years, to become a worldwide $27 billion industry. Robotics has matured into an all- encompassing and enabling technology that, as a pillar of 21st century American innovation, is positioned to fuel a broad array of next generation products and applications, transform our society and become as ubiquitous over the next several decades as desktop and mobile computing technology today. The United States has the largest number of academic and research organizations with dedicated programs focused on the advancement of robotics technology.

I believe that supporting the designation of National Robotics Week, NRW, as an annual event will encourage all institutions of higher education and companies which utilize robotics technology to hold open houses during NRW to help explain the technology and its related applications. The week will allow schools, clubs, and organizations to organize local competitions, and demonstrate student activities relating to the field of robotics technology, and provide science museums the opportunity to organize demonstrations that help educate and engage the public. NRW will ultimately increase the national awareness of this particular type of technology and its impact on the future of the Nation. The way that fundamental STEM-concepts are taught in the classroom and how they highlight the success that robotics competitions are organized by groups such as For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST, are inspiring students to pursue STEM-related careers.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1055), supporting the designation of National Robotics Week as an annual event.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H. Res. 1055, the resolution now under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of H.R. 1055, a resolution supporting the designation of National Robotics Week as an annual event.

National Robotics Week is observed the second week of April. Its purpose is to celebrate the United States as a leader in robotics technology development, to educate the public about how robotics technology impacts our society, and to inspire students of all ages to pursue careers in robotics and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

Robotics technology is an increasingly important technology for United States innovation and competitiveness, helping to create new jobs and increase productivity. It has potentially transformative implications for a broad range of sectors, including health care, national defense, homeland security, energy, manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture.

At the same time, as the United States struggles to maintain a highly skilled STEM workforce, robotics technology has the ability to inspire young people and get them excited about science and technology. It is precisely this kind of enthusiasm that robotics technology and robotics competitions offer to our children that will encourage them to consider careers in STEM-related fields.

I particularly want to thank and acknowledge the hard work of Representatives Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania and Phil Gingrey from Georgia for introducing this bipartisan resolution. Representatives Doyle and Gingrey are the co-chairs of the Congressional Robotics Caucus, and they have made it a priority to educate Members of Congress about robotics technology and the important role that it plays in our competitiveness.

I would urge support of this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would just mention, as my dear friend from Texas pointed out, that anybody who has had the opportunity to visit some of these nationwide competitions and see the enthusiasm of these young people as their robots compete in everything from pushing balls around to try to score goals in robotic soccer to mock combat, what you really see is people who have really put their hearts and minds into something, an enthusiastic learning experience that, as Mr. Hall pointed out, will really inspire these people to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

We need more of these folks, and this legislation helps champion that idea. I again urge its passage.

I have no further requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

I would urge passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1055, a resolution supporting the designation of the 2nd week of April as National Robotics Week. As co-chair of the Congressional Robotics Caucus and lead Republican sponsor of this resolution, I would like to commend my colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. Doyle, for his leadership in robotics and as the chief author of this legislation.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM, education is instrumental to our ability to stay at the cutting edge of the global economy. Yet, the United States is falling behind the rest of the world in the number of students that are graduating from STEM fields.

Madam Speaker, according to a 2006 Association of American Universities study, 50 percent of students in China receive their undergraduate degrees in natural science or engineering; in Singapore, that number is 67 percent, and 38 percent of South Korea's graduates fall into these fields. Unfortunately, the United States is lagging behind with a staggering 15 percent of graduates in natural science or engineering.

H. Res. 1055 reflects the support and understanding that the promotion of robotics will help inspire current and future students to pursue careers in robotics and other various STEM-related fields. In addition to simply supporting the designation of National Robotics Week, this resolution encourages schools, universities, and other robotics companies to use that week as a way to demonstrate the impressive and ongoing technological advancements in the field of robotics.

Madam Speaker, as a graduate of Georgia Tech with a degree in chemistry, STEM education is an issue that is near and dear to me, and I am very happy to see this body consider a resolution that supports National Robotics Week. Robotics technology gives students a ``hands on'' learning experience and can provide them with the tools to keep them engaged in STEM fields with the hope that those students will pursue higher education opportunities and careers in those cutting edge fields.

I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Res. 1055.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1055, supporting the goals and ideals of National Robotics Week, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

National Robotics Week, which annually occurs during the second full week of April, recognizes the transformative role of robotics technology, the ability of robotics to inspire and educate, and the need to underscore education at all levels. This event celebrates the U.S. as a leader in robotics technology, which becomes more prevalent in our lives with each passing year.

The mission of National Robotics Week is to educate the public about the social and cultural impacts of robotics technology and to inspire students of all ages to pursue careers in robotics and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related fields.

Events are scheduled around the country for this purpose. For those who cannot attend in person, the National Robotics Week Web site provides other ways for parents and teachers to get involved.

Affecting numerous sectors of our economy, including national defense, robotics will continue to be an emerging market, with substantial growth expected. As such it is important for us to recognize the many aspects of the specialized field.

Despite the projected growth, the United States is facing a shortage of graduates in STEM-related fields. National Robotics Week is yet another tool to help parents and teachers motivate and inspire our children to learn about the exciting role robotics plays in our everyday world. Somewhere out there, the next Isaac Asimov is receiving inspiration. Perhaps it is at a National Robotics Week event.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield back the balance of my time.