Reauthorizing America Competes

The U.S. House of Representatives Science & Technology Committee held the first of what is expected to be a series of hearings that will culminate in the reauthorization of the America Competes Act, the law that aims to enhance the global competitiveness of the U.S. by increasing support for science and technology. The focus of this hearing was on gathering input on parts of the act that are working and on those that need tweaking. The law, now two-and-a-half years old, includes provisions that ensure the nation's long-term ability to innovate by bolstering investments in science, technology, engineering, and math education and putting three basic research agencies—NSF, NIST, and the Department of Energy's Office of Science—on a 10-year budget-doubling path that started in 2007. Another provision created the high-risk, high-reward research agency called the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy within DOE (C&EN, Jan. 4, page 19). The act is set to expire at the end of this year, but the committee has made it clear that it plans to ensure the act's reauthorization.