The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee added five more bills to its efforts to enhance and expand the nation’s research enterprises. The five bills join with previous passed legislation, including the National Science Foundation for the Future Act and the Department of Energy for the Future Act, to form a package of legislation that will need to be conferenced with the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, the sprawling R&D and anti-China bill passed by the Senate last month.
ASCE has expressed support of the efforts in both the House and the Senate and has urged Congress to work together to enact legislation to strengthen our nation’s research enterprise. ASCE believes that a continued strong commitment to our science and research needs will facilitate durable, secure, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure systems that will meet the needs of the 21st century and protect the public health, safety, welfare, and the environment.
The Senate bill’s emphasis on the commercial consequences of science and tech policy, as opposed to its impact on the research community, typifies the split between the Senate and House on R&D. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL), a key player in the House Science Committee, noted Congress’ ultimate R&D strategy will need to be hammered out in a conference committee addressing a broad slate of science and tech provisions. That effort will likely take place in the fall.
Waltz is the primary sponsor of the National Science and Technology Strategy Act, among the bills approved by the Science Committee. The bill tasks the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science and Technology Council with developing a comprehensive science and tech strategy every four years and mandates a quadrennial review of federal science and tech policy. Waltz believes provisions should harmonize the “disjointed” R&D efforts he now sees across agencies as diverse as the National Science Foundation, the Energy Department, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) agreed that the bills will be critical as Congress continues to build a robust, comprehensive, and bipartisan innovation package that will help ensure the United States remains competitive.
Additionally, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the Future Act would update policies for programs across NIST and recommend that Congress increase the agency’s annual budget to nearly $1.6 billion by fiscal year (FY) 2026, largely to expand its research in areas such as engineering biology, greenhouse gas measurement, quantum information science, artificial intelligence, and advanced communications, among other areas.
Other bills approved as part of the package include H.R. 4588, the Regional Innovation Act of 2021, which would, among other provisions, require the Commerce Department to create no fewer than 10 regional technology innovation hubs and recommend nearly $7 billion for the program spanning FY 2022 through FY 2026. H.R. 4606, the “Energizing Technology Transfer Act,” would support the commercialization of clean energy technologies and research supported by the Department of Energy. And finally, H.R. 4599, the Steel Upgrading Partnerships and Emissions Reduction Act which supports R&D on reducing the carbon footprint of steel manufacturing.