Vice President Biden: "Science is back in the White House"

Vice President Joe Biden used a roundtable discussion with university presidents about stimulus research grants to promote the administration's renewed commitment to investing in scientific research.

"Science is back in the White House," Vice President Biden said while promising Washington will continue to provide the "seed money" to help American universities "change the world." The purpose of the gathering was to draw attention to the more than $18 billion included in the Recovery Act for university research. Vice President Biden said the research funds were among the most critical parts of the stimulus and key to the nation's economic competitiveness. "Folks, this is where the future lies," he said. "Our economic future will grow from ideas that are incubating at universities. That's the breeding ground and it always has been." Vice President Biden also said he is "always amazed" at critics of federal research spending.