Science Policy: Law Supporting R&D Up For Reauthorization

Several basic science issues will be on the agenda for the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space & Technology. The committee, which has jurisdiction over key science agencies, is expected to take up National Aeronautics & Space Administration reauthorization legislation and America Competes Act reauthorization this year, among other items.

The committee will be tackling these issues with a new chair: Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Texas). Smith is a longtime science committee member and the former chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Although a full committee agenda is still being worked out, Smith has broadly outlined his objectives.

“I will promote policies that support our nation’s space program, encourage energy independence, expand scientific education, fund basic research, and enhance the development of new technologies,” Smith says. “We also plan to look at R&D legislation to encourage scientific research that promotes energy development, and we will work on safety and security R&D legislation to help reduce the impact of natural disasters.”

One item that will come before the committee is the reauthorization of the America Competes Act, a crucial law supporting basic science.

America Competes grew out of a series of reports—most notably one from the National Research Council (NRC) in 2007, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” which warned that America was losing its competitive edge in R&D.

The first America Competes bill was passed in 2008 to bolster the nation’s competitiveness. It authorized increased R&D funding for research in the physical sciences and engineering, as well as support for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. It was reauthorized with the same goals in 2010.

A key element of the law is that it put the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards & Technology, and the Department of Energy Office of Science on an 11-year budget-doubling track. But that effort has never been fully funded by congressional appropriators, who hold the federal purse strings. In addition, the law authorizes energy research programs such as the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, supports high-tech businesses and advanced manufacturing, and enables a wide variety of federal STEM education efforts.

Given the stark funding environment, any reauthorization of America Competes in 2013 will look quite different from the two previous iterations, observers say. Science policy advocates, recognizing the difficulties, will likely give up their quest to double funding for NSF, NIST, and DOE’s Office of Science and instead focus on continuing support in other areas.

In addition to America Competes, Smith says his committee will take up reauthorization of NASA, which is sure to include hearings on the future of human spaceflight as well as a look at its science portfolio.

Another topic that Smith is likely to put on the science committee’s agenda is visa reform. In 2012, Smith sponsored a bill to provide more visas or green cards to STEM workers educated in the U.S. The bill would have added 55,000 visas for STEM workers educated in the U.S. but would have killed another visa program, which angered Democrats. It passed the House but stalled in the Senate. Smith may reintroduce similar legislation this year.

Elsewhere in the House, lawmakers are expected to introduce legislation that would increase access to the results of scientific research, particularly research funded with taxpayer dollars. Last year, momentum for open access increased after the introduction of the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 by Rep. Michael F. Doyle (D-Pa.). The bill would have required all federal agencies that annually fund $100 million or more in scientific research to adopt a public access policy similar to that of the National Institutes of Health. It is likely he will reintroduce the legislation this year.

On the Senate side, one subject that is sure to come up is reform of the forensic science system, which an NRC report has said is severely broken and in need of research support. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) plans to reintroduce a bill to reform the system, similar to one he brought up in the Senate in 2012. Given Smith’s joint interest in science and judiciary issues, this topic may also see action in the House science committee.