CFJ Weighs In on How to Restore America’s Scientific and Innovation Leadership
- Jeffrey Depp
- Dec 29, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 27
OSTP RFI Docket ID: OSTP-TECH-2025-0100
The Committee for Justice recently submitted comprehensive comments to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in response to its Request for Information on Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise. At stake is nothing less than whether the United States will restore—or continue to erode—the institutional foundations that made it the world’s leading innovation economy.
The Foundations of American Scientific Leadership
For decades, American scientific leadership rested on a simple but powerful framework. This framework included targeted public investment in basic research, strong intellectual property rights, decentralized markets, entrepreneurial risk-taking, and competition driven by entry and innovation. Together, these elements produced transformative breakthroughs in medicine, computing, energy, and manufacturing. These breakthroughs improved lives, expanded choice, and lowered prices over time through innovation-driven competition.
Current Challenges in Science and Technology
CFJ’s submission explains that many of today’s challenges in science and technology are not due to too little federal involvement. Instead, they stem from policies that weaken incentives to invest in turning discoveries into real-world products. Unstable patent rights, administrative overreach, price controls, reference pricing schemes, activist antitrust enforcement, and “access” or “reasonable price” mandates imposed at early stages of research all hinder the attraction of private capital needed to commercialize scientific breakthroughs. When investment declines, fewer new products reach the market. This weakens competition, and ultimately, consumers pay the price.
Core Themes of Our Submission
Our comments emphasize several core themes:
Intellectual Property Rights: Strong and predictable intellectual property rights are essential. They should not be seen as privileges granted by the government, but as property rights secured by it.
Market-Driven Prices: Prices must be discovered through markets, not set by administrative decree. Price controls sever the link between price and cost, undermining the sustainability of innovation.
Support for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses: Small and medium-sized businesses are the engines of scientific commercialization. They must not be squeezed out by policies that favor incumbents or penalize success.
Incentives for High-Risk Research: Genuinely high-risk, high-reward research requires incentives commensurate with uncertainty. This includes serious consideration of enhanced patent protection.
Research Security: In an era of strategic competition, research security must protect the technological frontier without smothering scientific vitality.
A Clear Message to OSTP
CFJ’s message to OSTP is clear: The United States did not become the world’s innovation leader through centralized planning or regulatory micromanagement. It succeeded by securing property rights, respecting market discovery, and allowing entrepreneurs to take risks. Reaffirming these principles is essential to accelerating scientific progress, strengthening competition, and ensuring that the benefits of innovation reach all Americans.
The Importance of Public Input
We appreciate OSTP’s willingness to solicit public input on these critical issues. Engaging with stakeholders is vital for shaping policies that will secure America’s scientific and technological future.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the path forward requires a commitment to the foundational principles that have historically driven American innovation. By fostering an environment that encourages investment, protects intellectual property, and supports entrepreneurial endeavors, we can ensure that the United States remains at the forefront of scientific advancement.
We look forward to continuing the conversation about how best to secure America’s scientific and technological future.
