Capitol Hill

For the second year in a row, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates ventured to Capitol Hill and urged Congress to let more foreign-born engineers work in the United States and to direct larger numbers of tax dollars to research and education. Just as he did around the same time last year before a U.S. Senate committee, Gates on Wednesday contended America's competitiveness in the global economy is "at risk." He said Congress, the administration, and the next president must commit to overhauling immigration policy and encouraging both public and private research investment.

The Pentagon’s 2008 spending blueprint seeks $31.9 billion for classified programs, nearly double the $19.1 billion the U.S. military was devoting to “black” initiatives in 2001, according to a new analysis. That’s 18 percent of the 2008 acquisition total of $176.8 billion, according to the July 25 analysis, compiled by Steven Kosiak of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). It includes $14.4 billion for procurement, 14 percent of the total; and $17.5 billion for research and development (R&D), or 23 percent of the total, the analysis said.