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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Research Council
Policy and Global Affairs
Committee on Science, Security and Prosperity
and
Committee on Scientific Communication and National Security Development,
Security and Cooperation

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Congressional Briefing
Friday, January 23, 2009
370 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. – 11:30 a.m.

on

Beyond "Fortress America":
National Security Controls on Science and Technology in a Globalized World

The national security controls that regulate access to and export of science and technology are broken. As currently structured, many of these controls undermine our national and homeland security and stifle American engagement in the global economy, and in science and technology. These unintended consequences arise from policies that were crafted for an earlier era. In the name of maintaining superiority, the U.S. now runs the risk of becoming less secure, less competitive and less prosperous.

Beyond “Fortress America” provides an account of the costs associated with building walls that hamper our access to global science and technology that dampen our economic potential. The report also makes recommendations to reform the export control process, ensure scientific and technological competitiveness, and improve the non-immigrant visa system that regulates entry into the United States of foreign science and engineering students, scholars, and professionals.

This briefing was for members of Congress and congressional staff only. The report was publicly released on January 8, 2009 and can be found, in its entirety, on the Web site of the National Academies Press.