dr. ehlers two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. mr. ehlers: i want to thank chairman gordon and ranking member hall for all their hard work on this legislation. it is a complex bill. it has been from the start beginning in 2006. when president george w. bush developed the idea the american competitiveness initiative which is a three-pronged approach as strengthening research at n.s.f. and nist. we must continue that effort. we heard a speech this morning during the one-minute segment from the gentleman from texas, mr. johnson, about his concern about our debt to the chinese. it's going to get worse and worse unless we generate more wealth in this country. and any economist will tell you that one of the best ways to generate wealth in this nation is through manufacturing. we must restore our manufacturing operations in this nation, we must work together to put our country in a more stable fiscal basis. we must stop overspending. and we have to restore

dr. ehlers two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. mr. ehlers: i want to thank chairman gordon and ranking member hall for all their hard work on this legislation. it is a complex bill. it has been from the start beginning in 2006. when president george w. bush developed the idea the american competitiveness initiative which is a three-pronged approach as strengthening research at n.s.f. and nist. we must continue that effort. we heard a peech this morning during the one-minute segment from theentleman from texas, mr. johnson, about his concern about our debt to the chinese. it's going to get worse and worse unless we generate more wealth in this country. and any economist will tell you that one of the best ways to generate wealth in this nation is through manufacturing. we must restore our manufacturg operations in this nation, we must work together to put our country in a more stable fiscal basis. we must stop overspending. and we have to restore man

dr. verne ehlers. my understanding that in a prior life dr. hlers knew one of the persons cited in this resolution, dr. towns. so it is especially fitting he is the sponsor. i urge my colleagues to support the resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the entlelady from hoif reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas. mr. hall: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. hall: h.res. 1310, sell brates, mr. speaker, the 50th of the construction of the laser. marking a major milestone in scientific discovery. in 1953 charles towns produced what would become a precursor to the laser, the first microwave amplifier. towns and his colleagues teamed up with bell laboratories in 1957 to begin extensive research on the application devices. their focus shifted only to those amplifiers which produced visible light. in 1958 bell laboratories submitted a patent for op particularal laser. however such a device h