Subcommittee Holds Markup of Republican FIRST Act, Democrats Voice Opposition
(Washington, DC) – Today, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Research and Technology held a markup of H.R. 4186, Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology Act of 2014 (FIRST). Congress passed bipartisan Competes legislation in 2007 and 2010 which laid out bold policy directions for U.S. scientific research and innovation. The FIRST Act, introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Bucshon and cosponsored by Chairman Smith, attempts to replace parts of the Competes legislation. But the bill provides funding at levels less than the rate of inflation for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and would expire just a year from now. One of the highest-priority requests from the scientific community is longer-term certainty in funding and policies. This legislation also has a goal of increasing accountability – an issue both sides would like to address – but this bill unfortunately will only impose more bureaucratic burdens on federal agencies and scientific researchers.
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) of the Full Committee opposes the bill in the current form and in her opening statement said, “The FIRST Act overall is a missed opportunity that sends the wrong message about our plans to keep America competitive and secure the future for our children and grandchildren.” She continued later in her statement, “This bill would essentially lock the agencies into their current funding levels for an additional year and sets no path for increases in the future as our economy continues to recover. I am also adamantly opposed to the sharp budget cuts for the social sciences and the geosciences. There is no legitimate scientific reason for these cuts. These are politically motivated cuts to appease a conservative ideology that doesn’t believe in certain kinds of science, and I cannot support them.”
Ranking Member Dan Lipinski (D-IL) of the Subcommittee on Research & Technology said in his prepared statement, “I have argued in the past and continue to believe that we should be setting an aspirational authorization level for science funding in this committee. Given the investments made by other nations, we cannot afford to be satisfied with the level of funding for the sciences in this country. To rest on our laurels, or to allow funding levels to stagnate too long will allow other nations to catch and surpass the US as the preeminent nation for scientific research.”
Democratic Members proposed several amendments in an effort to improve the bill. Although some amendments were incorporated, none of the proposed changes could remedy the major concerns shared by many Committee Democrats. Several priorities of the Democratic Members on the Committee can be seen in H.R. 4159, the America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2014 introduced by Ranking Member Johnson and cosponsored by all of the Democratic Members on the Committee, in addition to Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Workforce, Rep. George Miller (D-CA).
The Committee received numerous letters and statements from organizations opposed to the FIRST Act, including: The American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Association of American Universities, The Coalition for National Science Funding, The Union of Concerned Scientists, The American Geophysical Union, The American Physical Society, The American Society for Civil Engineers, The Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The Consortium of Social Science Associations, and The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Research Coalition. These can be viewed here.
H.R. 4186 passed the subcommittee as amended by voice vote and will be considered at Full Committee. A list of amendments and the results of each vote can be seen here.
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