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News
Senate Stimulus Bill Contains $11.9 Billion for Federal R&D, House Version Has $13.2 Billion
On January 28, the full House approved its version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009, an $825 billion economic stimulus package to deal with the current economic crisis; on January 27, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its own version. Congress hopes to get a final version of the bill to President Obama's desk by the middle of February. Continue reading...
See the most recent R&D Budget and Policy Program update and the most recent CRS report on America COMPETES for more information on funding for innovation and competitiveness.
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Key Innovation Legislation
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111th Congress
110th Congress
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Featured Science & Technology in Congress
Articles
Small Business Innovation Incentives Move Forward in Senate (October 2008)
The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship passed a bill to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs for an additional fourteen years. S.3362 would change the formula of allocating 2.5 percent of a participating R&D agency’s budget to support the SBIR program, increasing 0.01 percent per year for ten years until it reached 3.5 percent of the agency’s R&D budget. The formula change, however, does not apply to NIH. A similar bill (H.R. 5819) passed the House in April that does not change the 2.5% set-aside formula.
Research Funding Flat in 2009 as Federal Budget Stalls (October 2008)
Fiscal year (FY) 2009 began on October 1 with final budget decisions for most federal agencies postponed into the new year. To keep the government operating, lawmakers combined three final appropriations bill into a continuing resolution (CR) that extends funding for all programs in the remaining unsigned 2009 appropriations bills at 2008 funding levels through March 6. President Bush signed the measure, H.R. 2638, into law on September 30. Continue reading...
House Committee Discusses Reauthorization of National Nanotechnology Initiative (April 2008)
The House Science and Technology Committee met April 16 to discuss the reauthorization of the five-year-old National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI).
One major issue up for discussion was the committee’s consideration of allocating 10 percent of the NNI research budget, which totals $1.5 billion among 13 agencies, to support research in environmental, health, and safety (EHS) implications of nanotechnology.
Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) pointed out at the start that at least 600 products containing nanomaterials are currently on the market, and that the number is bound to grow unless an EHS scare shuts down interest in nanotechnology. Continue
reading ...
Patent Reform Pushed Back, while New Problems with the Patent System Continue to Arise (March 2008)
Senate leaders are now planning to bring the Patent Reform Act (S. 1145) to the floor after the March recess. The Senate Judiciary Committee reported the bill in July of last year, and the House passed its version (H.R. 1908) in September (see S&T in Congress 10/07).
Both bills attempt to make a range of changes in order to overhaul the U.S. patent system. However, stakeholders in the pharmaceutical and information technology sectors disagree over how a revamped system should calculate infringement damages, and thus, the legislation has reached a stalemate as both camps vociferously argue their position. Continue
reading ...
 For more articles in past issues...
Reports and Testimony
Brookings Institution - Energy Discovery-Innovation Institutes: A Step Toward America's Energy Sustainability - 9 February 2009
Congressional Research Service - Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2009 (RL34448) - 23 October 2008
Congressional Research Service - America COMPETES Act and the FY2009 Budget (RL34396) - 17 October 2008
Congressional Research Service - Technology Transfer: Use of Federally Funded Research and Development (RL33527) - 25 August 2008
Congressional Research Service - Cooperative R&D: Federal Efforts to Promote Industrial Competitiveness (RL33526) - 20 August 2008
Congressional Research Service - The Technology Innovation Program (RS22815) - 20 August 2008
AAAS CEO Alan Leshner testified before the House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Research and Science Education on the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in promoting international science cooperation. (July 15, 2008)
Innovation Statements and Letters
AAAS CEO Alan Leshner sent a letter
to President Bush asking him to sign the COMPETES Act into law. Dr. Leshner
emphasized the bill's importance to improving U.S. innovation, economy, research,
and education. (August 3, 2007)
AAAS CEO Alan Leshner sent a letter
to House members who helped craft the bipartisan COMPETES Act, thanking them
for their efforts and urging passage of the bill. (August 2, 2007)
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Updated January 12, 2009
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