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President Points to Scientific Issues in State of the Union Speech
January 24, 2007 -- In his State of the Union address to the nation, President Bush touched on numerous topics including education and competitiveness, health care, energy, and immigration. The National Academies have conducted studies in these areas to provide scientific and technological advice to policymakers and the public.
Education and Competitiveness:
President Bush asked Congress to renew the No Child Left Behind Act and called for national policies to improve America’s competitiveness. Rising Above the Gathering Storm provides an integrated set of recommendations for policymakers that would foster U.S. competitiveness, prosperity, and security. Systems for State Science Assessment offers guidance for the development and assessment of challenging academic content, as mandated by No Child Left Behind. The Act also requires that research drive the use of federal funds at the state and local levels. Advancing Scientific Research in Education recommends ways to promote improvements in scientific education research.
Health Care:
In his speech, President Bush also discussed plans aimed at bringing health coverage to the nation's uninsured, who currently number in excess of 46 million. The Institute of Medicine released a series of six reports that looked in depth at the consequences of being uninsured in the United States.
The final report, Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations, offers a set of guiding principles based on the evidence reviewed in the first five reports and on an analysis of federal, state, and local efforts to reduce uninsurance. It envisions an approach that will promote better overall health for individuals, families, communities, and the nation by providing financial access to necessary, appropriate, and effective health services.
Energy:
President Bush pushed for a stop to dependence on foreign oil, calling for increased use of alternative fuels and stronger fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. The Hydrogen Economy: Costs, Barriers, Technical Challenges, and Research and Development Needs identifies and evaluates the ways of producing and using hydrogen as a source of energy in the transportation, residential, and commercial sectors of the economy. Review of the Research Program of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership: First Report evaluates the partnership's research efforts to help automakers decide by 2015 whether it is possible to manufacture and sell hydrogen-powered vehicles on a large scale.
Effectiveness and Impact of Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards says that changes to fuel economy standards could further reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and provide more flexibility to carmakers.
Immigration:
President Bush stated in his speech, “We need to uphold the great tradition of the melting pot that welcomes and assimilates new arrivals.” Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies: Hispanics and the American Future addresses the training and education needs of the nation's Hispanic population, identifying these areas as important tools for the nation's largest and fastest growing minority to contribute to and share in U.S. prosperity.
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