House Science OKs Rival Bill to Endless Frontier
The House Science Committee unanimously advanced Tuesday the National Science Foundation for the Future Act (HR-2225), setting up a likely showdown on whether the chamber will approve that bill rather than the rival Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260). Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, prefers HR-2225’s approach to countering Chinese tech R&D. S-1260 would establish an NSF Technology Directorate; HR-2225 would establish a generalized Directorate for Science and Engineering Solutions.
“We need to act now, but we shouldn’t act rashly,” Johnson said. “Instead of trying to copy the efforts of our emerging competitors, we should be doubling down on the proven innovation engines we have at” NSF and the Energy Department. House Science also advanced the Department of Energy Science for the Future Act (HR-3593), which also aims to be an alternative to some of S-1260’s elements. S-1260, previously known as the Endless Frontier Act, includes $52 billion for U.S. chipmaking and $1.5 billion to implement the Utilizing Strategic Allied Telecom Act.
It's “gratifying to see that there’s now momentum on both sides of the aisle in the House and the Senate for legislation to secure our global scientific and technological leadership,” said House Science ranking member Frank Lucas, R-Okla. “We put a great deal of care into crafting a new directorate that improves” NSF's “ability to advance fundamental research” without “undercutting NSF's mission.” Lucas earlier Tuesday called S-1260 the “wrong approach” to countering China, saying in an opinion piece in The Hill that the measure is “not responsible or sustainable. The House Science bills take a deliberate and comprehensive approach to U.S. research investment.”
Other House Science members also criticized S-1260 during markup. It’s “not an accident” HR-2225 and HR-3593 “have received overwhelming support from the scientific and business communities, while the competing alternative from the Senate, maybe not so much,” said Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill.
A substitute version of HR-2225 House Science approved Tuesday authorizes almost $73 billion for NSF over five years. The proposed directorate aligns well with NSF’s own proposal, Johnson said. The committee cleared an amendment from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., to increase NSF’s five-year budget to almost $78 billion.
House Science approved a range of tech-centric amendments on voice votes. One from Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., and Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, aimed to boost GPS-based precision agriculture applications. Feenstra also successfully attached language to bar NSF from issuing grants to researchers who participate in “malign” programs affiliated with the governments of China, Russia and other adversaries. Another from Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., would require the NSF director to back “research into and the design, development, and testing of mitigation measures to address the impact of satellite constellations” on ground-based astronomy programs.