ASME task force endorses NIST authorization bill

ASME's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Task Force recently sent a letter to the chair and ranking member of the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation endorsing H.R. 1868, the Technology and Innovation and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007. The bill is the first full reauthorization of NIST since 1991. It authorizes $2.5 billion for NIST for fiscal years 2008-2010. For detailed information on H.R. 1868, including a section-by-section analysis, go to http://science.house.gov/subcommittee/tech.aspx.

The letter, addressed to Chairman David Wu and Ranking Member Phil Gingrey, states, "We commend you for your bold leadership in championing this important authorization bill, and look forward to working with you to support its enactment. America's leadership in science, engineering and technology is facing significant challenges in an increasingly global economy. Part of the mission of NIST is to promote the use of American codes and standards in countries and industries around the world as a means of enhancing U.S. competitiveness." See http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/NewsPublicPolicy/GovRelations/
PositionStatements/11851.pdf to read the letter in its entirety.

However, in a Statement of Administration Policy dated May 1, 2007, the Bush Administration went on record as opposing H.R. 1868. The entire text of this statement from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may be read at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/sap/110-1/hr1868sap-r.pdf.

Even with this opposition, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1868 by a vote of 385 to 23. To view the press release by the House Science and Technology Committee, please visit: http://science.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1807.

Congress passes $2.9 trillion budget resolution

Congress finalized its fiscal year 2008 budget resolution last month, authorizing $2.9 trillion for federal programs. The resolution would increase the funds available for non-defense discretionary programs to $954 billion, a $21 billion increase above the president's request. The increase may allow for greater federal spending on research and development programs.

Major R&D funding allocations included:

Defense (Function 050): Congress allocated $503.8 billion for defense programs, which includes money for Department of Defense (DOD) Science and Technology programs.

General Science, Space, and Technology (Function 250): Congress allocated $27.5 billion for these programs, which includes the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which is $0.2 billion more than the Administration's request.

Energy (Function 270): Congress allocated $4.8 billion for energy-related programs at the DOE, which is $0.5 billion more than the administration's request.

Health (Function 550): Congress allocated $55 billion for health-related programs, including the National Institutes of Health, which is $3.0 billion more than the administration's request.

The budget process will now move on to the Congressional Appropriations Committees, which will decide the actual funding levels for federal programs for fiscal 2008.

More about the fiscal 2008 budget resolution can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SC00021.

House Science Committee advances energy, research legislation

The House Science and Technology Committee marked up four bills last month in the areas of energy and health care information technology.

The first measure, H.R. 364, which would create an Advanced Research Project Agency for Energy (ARPA-E), proved to be the most controversial. The legislation passed on a 25-12 vote after extensive debate over the merits of the program by members of the committee. H.R. 364 establishes ARPA-E as an independent agency reporting to the Secretary of Energy modeled after the Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), and authorizes $4.9 billion for the new agency from 2008-2012.

Chairman Bart Gordon, the original sponsor of H.R. 364, observed, "Establishing a nimble agency with a minimal amount of administrative layers is key to transforming R&D from lab projects into market-ready technologies. This is a bold step to take, but we have to be willing to make the tough but firm commitments to get the job done."

Ranking Member Ralph Hall expressed concern that funding for the new agency will compete with established research programs: "The facts are that DOE currently has the authority to do ARPA-type projects, but DOE is woefully underfunded. I am concerned that we could be faced with the problem of having both the Office of Science and ARPA-E underfunded so that neither of them is operating at its full potential if we go forward with creating this new agency."

The committee also approved the following legislation unanimously:

H.R. 1467, the "10,000 Trained by 2010" Act, introduced by Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman David Wu, D-Ore., to award National Science Foundation (NSF) grants to better train health care professionals in information technology;

H.R. 362, the "H-Prize Act of 2007," introduced by Science Committee Vice Chair Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., creating a DOE prize program for hydrogen research; and,

H.R. 1716, the "Green Energy Education Act of 2007," introduced by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, which authorizes the DOE to work with NSF for university education for energy-efficient buildings.

These bills will now go to the full House for consideration. More information can be found at http://science.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1842.

House passes science/math education package

The House of Representatives approved by voice vote H.R. 2272, the "21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007," legislation to ensure that the United States is able to maintain its leadership role in innovation, research, and technology. With the passage of H.R. 2272, lawmakers will head to conference on S. 761, the "America Competes Act," a similar bipartisan innovation and competitiveness bill passed by the U.S. Senate.

"I can't repeat it often enough — providing high-quality jobs for hardworking Americans must be our first priority. And in order to accomplish that, we must be proactive," said House Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., whose committee authored the components of H.R. 2272. "This package of legislation is proactive and far-reaching. It puts in place measures designed to advance U.S. innovation, which in turns advances our economy."

H.R. 2272 contains language implementing many of the National Academies' recommendations from its "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" report, including:

• Keeping NSF and NIST research labs on a 10-year path to doubling their funding;

• Helping to create thousands of new teachers and provide current teachers with content and pedagogical expertise in their area of teaching;

• Expanding programs to enhance the undergraduate education of the future science and engineering workforce;

• Expanding early career grant programs for outstanding young investigators at both NSF and the DOE; and,

• Strengthening interagency planning and coordination for research infrastructure and information technology.

For additional information, go to http://science.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1837.

For information on H.R. 2272, go to http://thomas.loc.gov and search by bill number.

Joshua Craft covers public policy-related energy issues. He can be reached at craftj@asme.org.

— Joshua Craft
ASME Government Relations

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