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02.10

By Barton Reppert

Reauthorizing the landmark America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (The America  COMPETES Act) will be the top priority this year for the House Science and Technology Committee, according to Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.

“The America COMPETES Act is critical to our nation’s long-term economic competitiveness,” Rep. Gordon said at a news media briefing on 22 January. “This legislation is a key priority for the committee.”

He added: “In the second session [of the 111^th Congress], we will continue to pursue policies which foster innovation as an essential element of our economic security, by reauthorizing the landmark America COMPETES Act. The committee will prioritize job creation with the development of new technology and will focus on preparing the workforce for the technical skills needed to fill these jobs. The committee will also continue to support the development of technologies that increase efficiency, ensure the safety of our communities and address growing global environmental needs.”

Commenting later about Rep. Gordon’s presentation, IEEE-USA Vice President for Government Relations Jim Jefferies concurred about they key importance of reauthorizing this legislation. “The top priority should be to continue to lay the foundation with the America COMPETES Act, which culminated years of push for innovation leadership,” Jefferies said.

He observed that “the commitment made in the [COMPETES] Act must be sustained and long-term. You can’t buy innovation as needed — you must develop it.”

Chairman Gordon told the press briefing that he aims to get a multi-year COMPETES reauthorization bill drafted and through the House by Memorial Day.

The comprehensive bill will include authorizations for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), and will likely include reauthorizations for activities of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy (ARPA-E). The bill also is likely to include new programs and policy direction at NSF, NIST and other agencies relating to transformative research, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, innovation, commercialization and manufacturing.

Other legislative activities by the Science and Technology Committee during the rest of this year are slated to include:

NASA reauthorization. The committee expects to draft and report out a multi-year NASA bill by the end of May. The comprehensive reauthorization will include provisions relating to human space flight and exploration, space and Earth climate science, aeronautics and aviation research and development, and education and outreach. “Congress believes that a strong and balanced civil space and aeronautics program of science aeronautics and human space flight and exploration is important and worthy of the nation’s support, and an important part of the nation’s innovation agenda,” Rep Gordon said at the briefing.

Nuclear Energy R&D.  In an effort to ensure that the United States has a comprehensive and inclusive portfolio to meet its growing need for energy and to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the committee aims to draft legislation to authorize a broad R&D program on nuclear energy at the Department of Energy. The new program will likely address reactor fuel enrichment, reprocessing, generation and storage of spent fuel, according to a legislative activities summary prepared by the committee staff.

NOAA Organic Act. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was created by executive order in 1970, but does not have an organic act. The committee intends to produce legislation that would codify the agency’s authorities and responsibilities to ensure that the agency will continue to support important atmospheric and ocean research in the future.

Commercial Space. The committee expects to draft legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commercialization.

Department of Homeland Security S&T Reauthorization. This bill will reauthorize research and development activities at the DHS Science and Technology Directorate to ensure that the department’s priorities are aligned with the most critical threats and needs, and that the technology developed meets reliable testing and evaluation standards.

The ranking Republican member on the committee, Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas, issued a statement saying: “I applaud the chairman for setting ambitious goals and I share his commitment of reauthorizing NASA in the coming year and ensuring America remains competitive by strengthening STEM education.”

At the same time, Hall added: “While overall supportive of our chairman’s agenda, as ranking member one of my primary goals will continue to be ensuring that taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely and efficiently. In the current economy it is imperative that we keep a critical eye toward costs and set priorities that will get the most out of limited taxpayer dollars. I, along with my Republican colleagues on the committee, will continue to assess legislation that creates new government programs and offer amendments to ensure that federal programs are cost-effective and run in a transparent and efficient manner.”

Jefferies of IEEE-USA told Today’s Engineer Online that he believes “priorities after the COMPETES Act should lie in energy and cybersecurity.”

“It is important that in addition to funding breakthrough research, we maintain a focus on integrated solutions,” he said. “Energy is a good example, where the ultimate outcome will be a portfolio of energy sources and management that will be applied in the best combination.”

The staff of the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space did not return calls requesting guidance on that subcommittee’s agenda for the remainder of this year.

Barton Reppert is an independent science and technology writer, mainly focusing on Washington coverage of S&T policy issues. Previously he worked for 18 years as a reporter and editor with The Associated Press in Washington, New York and Moscow.

Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.