For more than 50 years, the United States has maintained its global economic edge by being better than any other country at discovering new knowledge, inventing new technologies and exploiting their commercial value. Today, according to surveys done by organizations such as the National Intelligence Council, American dominance is slipping as Asian countries increase their investments in R&D and challenge our role as innovation leader. Among the countries competing with the U.S. in science and technology, perhaps no other is as challenging as China. (#9896)