Opinion: How U.S. can build on Chips and Science Act momentum

America’s ability to create high-paying tech and manufacturing jobs is the key to revitalizing our nation and remaining a leader in the 21st century. STEM talent exists everywhere in the United States, but opportunities for people to discover and pursue that talent are not as widespread.

To expand access to these jobs and match possibilities with potential, the public and private sectors must work together. We need more public and private partnerships to create jobs — that’s how we built America in the first place.

As the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the congressman representing Silicon Valley, we see how critical science and engineering are to U.S. leadership. At a recent roundtable with industry and university leaders, we talked about what Americans want — the chance to revitalize communities, paths to the middle class, and ladders up in places where they live.

That idea flourished after World War II thanks to federal investment in R&D and STEM education, which drove innovation and created new technologies, industries and a thriving middle class. However, federal R&D spending has significantly decreased since 1964. At the same time, offshoring has decimated our industrial base, costing us our manufacturing leadership.

In many communities, factories have closed, opportunities for economic mobility have diminished, and well-paid jobs have disappeared. Today, innovation jobs in STEM fields are concentrated in a mere 41 counties.

As we grapple with the decline in manufacturing leadership, we are also missing out on the potential contributions of millions of Americans to science and technology. Democratizing access to tech will strengthen every sector of our economy.

We have a generational opportunity to address these issues. Last year, Congress passed the landmark bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, based on the Endless Frontier Act, investing in American manufacturing, research and development. The law authorizes increased funding for science agencies such as NSF to expand the STEM workforce and diversify America’s innovation base.

Chip factories are under construction in Ohio and upstate New York, while Intel and Micron are partnering with NSF to develop cutting-edge semiconductor curricula and training from community colleges to graduate-level programs. These initiatives will create thousands of high-paying tech jobs — a winning strategy for economic and national security that people actually want.

Although passing the Chips and Science Act was a significant effort, its full impact depends on funding at authorized levels. This is a familiar impasse. The 2010 America COMPETES Act was similarly supposed to increase NSF’s budget significantly over a few years. But for funding to reach the levels authorized, it took nearly a decade. Other countries are already investing heavily in fundamental research, and we cannot cede leadership in science and engineering as we did in manufacturing. That would be handing an easy win to our competitors.

We must transition from reactionary measures to forward-looking R&D investments in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced wireless and biotechnology. China is striving to dominate supply chains and to leapfrog the United States in critical technologies and has a $1.5 trillion target for a Made in China 2025 initiative. Accordingly, if we are going to out-compete China, we need public investments to attract private partners.

Most important, by providing more opportunities for people to discover and pursue their potential across all fields of science and technology, we can ensure that the supply chain for innovation starts here, is built here, and is powered by American talent. We want to inspire confidence, spark curiosity and show people in every U.S. state and territory that they can find a place to thrive in science and engineering. That is how we can reach a new first-generation of tech workers, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs.

It’s time to build on the momentum created by the Chips and Science Act. By fostering public-private partnerships and investing in talent everywhere in the United States, we can revitalize America and create high-paying tech jobs. Embracing public-private partnerships and expanding opportunities in STEM is a win for everyone.

Sethuraman Panchanathan is the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, represents California’s 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.