Committee Chairs Again Request Information from EPA on Decision to Halt Post-Hurricane Harvey Air Pollution Monitoring
(Washington, DC) - Today, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Subcommittee on Environment Chair Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), and Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Chairwoman Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) sent a third letter to Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler requesting all pertinent documents and correspondence in relation to the decision making process that prevented the NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission from participating in the post-hurricane response … Continue Reading
June 19, 2019Chairwoman Johnson’s Statement on Clean Power Plan Replacement Rule
(Washington, DC) - Earlier today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final text of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE), which serves as a replacement of the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan. This rule establishes new emission guidelines for states as they develop plans to limit and address greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired electric generating units (EGU). Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) made the following statement. "The Trump … Continue Reading
June 19, 2019Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas Request Federal Studies of Frequency Spectrum Proposed for 5G Communications
(Washington, DC) - Today, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine requesting all studies and analyses conducted by NOAA and NASA regarding the impacts of the FCC's proposed 5G transmissions in the 24 GHz band and the adjacent 23.8 GHz band; a timeline of events; and all documents and communications pertinent to the analyses and recommendations on 5G … Continue Reading
June 11, 2019Chairwoman Johnson and Rep. González-Colón Introduce the Vera Rubin Survey Telescope Designation Act
(Washington, DC) - Today, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR) introduced H.R. 3196, the "Vera Rubin Survey Telescope Designation Act." H.R. 3196 would designate the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a National Science Foundation and Department of Energy funded telescope that is currently under construction on a mountaintop site in northern Chile, as the "Vera Rubin Survey Telescope." Dr. Vera Rubin, a renowned … Continue Reading
June 07, 2019Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chair Horn Comments on Opening the ISS to Commercial Opportunities
(Washington, DC) - Earlier today, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it will open the International Space Station (ISS) for commercial business and private astronaut missions with the goal of increasing the supply and demand of a low Earth orbit economy. This includes opportunities for commercial activities to be conducted on the ISS, the use of an ISS port for commercial module attachment, and partnership with industry to develop free-flying commercial … Continue Reading
June 05, 2019Committee Members Celebrate House Passage of Ocean Acidification Legislation
(Washington, DC) - This morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1237, the "COAST Research Act of 2019"; H.R. 1716, the "Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2019"; H.R. 1921, the "Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019"; and H.R. 988, the "NEAR Act of 2019." These four bills address ocean acidification, the gradual decrease in oceanic pH due primarily to the absorption of excess atmospheric carbon dioxide by seawater, by reauthorizing and updating the Federal Ocean … Continue Reading
May 28, 2019Chairwoman Johnson Supports Sustained Funding of EPA’s Children’s Health Research
(Washington, DC) - Since 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants program and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), housed within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have co-funded a number of Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers across the United States. These programs are now in jeopardy and are beginning to shutter, as EPA has not taken or solicited applications for their … Continue Reading
May 16, 2019Chairwoman Johnson Requests Recovery of Scott Pruitt’s Unethical Travel Costs
(Washington, DC) - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report on former Administrator Scott Pruitt's travel costs, wrapping up one of over a dozen federal investigations of the former Administrator's tenure. The Inspector General (IG) report found that former Administrator Pruitt accrued $123,942 in improper first- and business-class travel accommodations. Furthermore, 16 of the 40 trips analyzed in the report included travel to or stops … Continue Reading
May 15, 2019Chairwoman Johnson Urges EPA Administrator Wheeler to Reinstate CASAC Review Panel
(Washington, DC) - Today, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler urging him to reinstate the Particulate Matter (PM) review panel of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC). Last October, Administrator Wheeler disbanded the Particulate Matter panel, which included two dozen researchers across relevant scientific disciplines assembled to inform air pollution standards. Instead, CASAC itself - a … Continue Reading
May 15, 2019Chairwomen Johnson and Horn Question Funding Plan for NASA’s Accelerated Moon Landing Program
(Washington, DC) - In late March, Vice President Mike Pence announced a new presidential directive to NASA to return humans to the surface of the moon by 2024, accelerating the mission timeline by 4 years. In order to fund the acceleration of this mission, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released an amendment to the President's FY 2020 NASA budget proposal requesting that Congress appropriate an additional $1.6 billion for the first year of this program, now named Artemis. … Continue Reading
May 13, 2019Chairwoman Johnson and Subcommittee Chairwoman Stevens’ Statement on U.S. Absence from Amending the Basel Convention
(Washington, DC) - Last week, governments of 187 countries agreed to add plastic waste to the Basel Convention, a treaty created in order to regulate the transfer of hazardous materials from one country to another in an effort to protect human health and the environment from the effects of hazardous wastes. Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Research and Technology, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), made the following statement. "We are disappointed but … Continue Reading
May 07, 2019Chairwoman Johnson’s Statement on IPBES Biodiversity and Ecosystems Assessment
(Washington, DC) - Yesterday, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a summary for policymakers of the most comprehensive global assessment on biodiversity and ecosystems ever completed. The full report, which is expected to be published later this year, provides a comprehensive picture of the connection between economic development and its impact on nature. Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) made the following statement. … Continue Reading
May 07, 2019Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas Introduce STEM Opportunities Act
(Washington, DC) - Today, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) together introduced H.R. 2528, the STEM Opportunities Act. This legislation requires more comprehensive demographic data collection on the recipients of federal research awards and on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty at U.S. universities; the development of consistent federal policies, such as no-cost award extensions, for recipients of federal research … Continue Reading
April 30, 2019Subcommittee Chairwoman Haley Stevens Introduces American Manufacturing Leadership Act
(Washington, DC) - Today, Research and Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Haley Stevens (D-MI), along with Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH), Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA), and Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), introduced H.R. 2397, the American Manufacturing Leadership Act (AMLA). This legislation strengthens our nation's largest investment in advanced manufacturing - the Manufacturing USA Program. Manufacturing USA has made great strides in … Continue Reading
April 24, 2019Chairwoman Johnson's Statement on 20th ALA “State of the Air” Report
(Washington, DC) - Today, the American Lung Association (ALA) released their annual "State of the Air" report. For the past 20 years, the ALA has analyzed data from official air quality monitors to compile this report. Top-line findings: More than 4 in 10 people in the United States - more than 141.1 million people - lived in counties with unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution, an increase since last year's report. Unhealthy spikes in particle pollution are becoming … Continue Reading
April 22, 2019Chairwoman Johnson Statement on Earth Day
(Washington, DC) - Every year on April 22, communities around the world celebrate Earth Day, a day dedicated to bringing attention to the health and protection of the environment. Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) made the following statement. "On Earth Day we not only celebrate the magnificence and beauty of our planet, but we also recognize a day of activism. Every Earth Day is a rallying call for increased environmental protections. "Now that we are experiencing the ravages of … Continue Reading
April 10, 2019Chairwoman Johnson Applauds First Image of a Black Hole by Event Horizon Telescope Team and NSF
(Washington, DC) - Today, the Event Horizon Telescope researchers in coordination with the National Science Foundation announced that they have succeeded in capturing the first ever image of a supermassive black hole. The Event Horizon Telescope project links telescopes around the globe allowing scientists a new way to study distant objects in the universe. The black hole observed in the image is found at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy and has a mass 6.5 billion times that of our sun. … Continue Reading
April 03, 2019Chairwomen Johnson and Sherrill Question EPA Decision to Shift Formaldehyde Assessment from IRIS to TSCA
(Washington, DC) - Today, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Chairwoman Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler requesting a briefing on the decision to discontinue the EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program's assessment on formaldehyde. This comes after their March 20 announcement that formaldehyde will be assessed under the Toxic Substances Control Act … Continue Reading
March 13, 2019Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas Request Delay of 5G Spectrum Auction
(Washington, DC) - Today, Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) sent letters to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Michael O'Rielly, Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel, and Geoffrey Starks with concerns about the FCC's plan to auction radio frequency spectrum for 5G wireless communications tomorrow. The frequency spectrum being considered has a potential for signal interference with Earth observation sensors for … Continue Reading
March 11, 2019Chairwoman Johnson Statement on Trump’s FY 2020 Budget Request
(Washington, DC) - Today, President Trump released his Fiscal Year 2020 budget request. Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) made the following statement. "President Trump and his Administration have once again rejected reality with this FY20 budget request. This request proposes unreasonably deep cuts to many of the nation's federal science agencies, including a 12 percent cut to NSF, 31 percent cuts to both the EPA and NIST, and a 60 percent cut to DOE's advanced energy programs, … Continue Reading