The statement includes recommendations for transforming American innovation by investing in research and new technologies, strengthening partnerships and attracting global talent. Other universities whose leaders signed onto the statement include the University of South Carolina, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of California Davis and San Diego, the University of Arizona, the University at Buffalo, Boston University, Boise State University, the University of Nebraska and Illinois systems, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Idaho State University, Ohio State University, the University of Maryland, the University of Memphis, the University of Colorado Boulder, Vanderbilt University and the University of Wyoming.

Gallup and PepsiCo were also featured on the list of 50 Council on Competitiveness members who signed the statement, as well as the American Federation of Teachers. The statement named China as the U.S.’s biggest competitor in its nearly 250-year history, and said the country “aims to rewrite the rules of the global economy, control emerging “dual-use” technologies, and dominate the strategic industries of the future.”

Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen joined other university and business leaders in calling for national investment in research and development. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

One of the recommendations included in the statement is for the U.S. to “invest at scale” in dual-use technologies like advanced materials, AI, biotechnology, precision agriculture, semiconductors and more. It also recommends enhancing statecraft for critical technologies and implementing a new National Defense Education Act to grow the number of Americans with some level of STEM degree. Increased and expanded partnerships are also recommended in the statement, from those between research universities, the business sector and the government to international allies, as well as bringing research and development investment up to 2% of the U.S. GDP and maintaining efforts to recruit and retain global talent while following research security protocols.

R&D funding at the federal level as a part of the total GDP used to sit at more than 2% in the 1960s, according to the statement, but has dropped to the current .7%.  Actions taken by Trump and his administration have gone against what the organization is recommending, including revoking international student SEVIS statuses and visas and, most recently, halting the scheduling of new visa interviews for international students until new guidelines relating to social media are available, the Associated Press reported.

Cutting funding to science agency budgets and research funding, as well as reducing staff in federal offices, were mentioned in the statement as moves that “threaten the research infrastructure that underpins America’s innovation capacity and capability.” The U.S. has been a global leader of science and technology advancements since World War II, the statement said, driven by a model of partnerships and collaboration between academia, industries and the government. A renewed investment in R&D on a national scale, driven by commitments on both sides of the aisle, to continue this trend and keep the U.S. innovating. “We must accelerate the policy drivers and investments required to increase national productivity and improve the living standards for all Americans,” the statement said.