"America has an innovation problem. And we need to solve it."

The House Committee on Science and Technology held a hearing to discuss findings and recommendations from the recently released report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5.

The updated report highlights progress that has been made in the past five years, including enactment of the America COMPETES Act, but underscores that America's competitive position in the world now faces greater challenges and that research investments are even more critical today.

The report urges reauthorization of COMPETES.

"For many years, I worked as an aircraft engineer and we often dealt with the dilemma of trying to make an overweight aircraft fly. We never solved the problem by removing an engine. Science funding is the engine of a thought-based economy. We cannot simply remove it," said Norm Augustine, chairman of the Gathering Storm Committee and former Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin.

"The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has challenged innovators to come up with truly novel ideas and "game changers." The program has high potential for long-term success, but only if it is given the autonomy, budget, and clear signals of support to implement needed projects," stated Charles Holliday, member of the Gathering Storm Committee and Chairman of the Board of Bank of America.

Witness Craig Barrett, also a member of the Gathering Storm and retired Chairman and CEO of Intel Corporation, put the issue simply,