Bill Walton asks lawmakers to combat piracy and fund science and math education

NBA Hall of Famer and broadcaster Bill Walton appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday to urge lawmakers to strengthen intellectual property protections and allow foreign-born graduate students with skills in science and technology to stay in the country.

Walton is the executive chairman of San Diego Sports Innovators, part of the nonprofit organization CONNECT, which gives inventors and entrepreneurs the tools and information they need to build successful companies. All services are provided free of charge, though firms do pay membership and sponsorship fees. The offerings depend on the size and maturity of the company in question.

Walton said his organization has three public policy priorities: protecting ideas through strong intellectual property laws, increasing access to capital for small-business owners and improving the education of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

"Dreams and ideas are our most valuable assets," Walton said, referencing the proliferation in counterfeit goods, from sneakers to golf clubs, from countries like China. "The piracy issue is at the top of the list of what we need from you in Washington."

Walton stressed the need to improve science and math education and said China is currently graduating 500,000 engineers every year, in comparison to 150,000 in the U.S.

"By sheer numbers alone they’re going to overwhelm us. Even if we do everything we possibly can, it's still going to take quite a while to get our young children up to a level where they can compete on an international level," Walton said. 

"We have let our children down. We have not provided them with the same chance, the same opportunities that we were given by our parents."

He also questioned the logic of not allowing foreign graduate students studying in those fields at American universities to remain in the country if they are able to find a job.

"Just imagine, if you would, the [Los Angeles] Lakers not having [All-Star power forward] Pau Gasol because he couldn’t get a visa," Walton said. "We need home-grown talent, but that’s going to require incredible commitment to education at the political level to develop science, technology engineering, and mathematics."

Walton specifically spoke out in favor of two bills: the STAPLE Act introduced by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and the StartUp Visa Act introduced by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

The first would allow foreign students that have earned a Ph.D. from an American university in a field related to science, math or engineering to stay in the country if they have found employment. The second bill would allow foreign-born entrepreneurs to immigrate if backed by angel or venture capital investors.