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News
On August 9th, President Bush signed the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 2272)
into law. The America COMPETES Act provides a total of $33.6 billion in
new authorized spending levels ($44.3 billion in total) for a host of
research and education programs at NSF, DOE, NIST, NOAA, NASA and Department
of Education.
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Key Innovation Legislation
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Featured Science & Technology in Congress
Articles
House Committee Discusses Reauthorization of National Nanotechnology Initiative
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
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Patent Reform Pushed Back, while New Problems with the Patent System Continue to Arise
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
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Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program Makes Debut
On January 28, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP). The program will be implemented under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to improve the agency’s understanding of existing nanoscale materials in the economy in the hopes that this information will lead to appropriate regulations in the future. Continue
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NIH Taking Steps to Boost Young Investigators, Reform Peer Review
At a December meeting of the National Institutes of Health Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), NIH Director Elias Zerhouni announced an upswing in the number of first-time applicants that succeeded in obtaining grant money from the agency: the first rise in at least nine years.
Zerhouni’s data showed a significant drop in the number of funded young investigators and successful first-time applications since 2002, the year before NIH’s budget doubling ended. In 2002 21.3 percent of first-time applications led to grants, while in 2006 the percentage dropped to 14.8. In 2007 that number was back up to 18.5. Continue
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Science Committee Holds Nanotech Hearings
Nanotechnology was the topic of two recent hearings of the House Science and Technology Committee's Research and Science Education Subcommittee. Committee members discussed nanotechnology education on October 2 and research on the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) impacts of nanotechnology on October 31. Continue
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House Passes Patent Reform Bill
On September 7 the House passed the Patent Reform Act (H.R. 1908) by a vote of 220-175. Though chief sponsor Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) worked steadily to reconcile the interests of various stakeholders, industry groups remain deeply divided on the bill.
Berman, who chairs the Judiciary Committee’s Courts, Internet and Intellectual Property panel, did gain some allies leading up to the vote, including a major endorsement from the university community. The University of California, previously a critic, wrote a letter to Speaker Pelosi encouraging the bill to move forward. The AFL-CIO also was satisfied enough with the changes to cease its opposition. Berman has ushered numerous changes through the bill, such as clarifying the one-year grace period in which an inventor can file for a patent after disclosing the idea; this was a crucial piece for universities, where researchers often publish results before filing for patents. Continue
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President Signs Innovation Bill
On August 9th, President Bush signed the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 2272) into
law at a White House ceremony that included Jack Marburger, director of the
Office of Science and Technology Policy, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Rep.
Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM). A week prior the conference
report passed the House by an overwhelming vote of 367-57, followed shortly
by a unanimous consent vote in the Senate. Continue
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House Panel Considers Bayh-Dole Act
On July 17 the House Science and Technology Committee’s Technology and
Innovation Subcommittee held a hearing assessing the 27-year-old Bayh-Dole Act—formally
PL 96-517, Amendments to the Patent and Trademark Act of 1980—that enables
universities to retain title to inventions made through federally-funded research. Continue
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Competitiveness Bills Set for Conference
Before leaving for the Memorial Day recess, the U.S. House of Representatives
passed an omnibus bill entitled the 21st Century Competitiveness Act (H.R. 2272)
introduced by Rep. David Wu (D-OR), chairman of the Technology and Innovation
Subcommittee. The legislation bundles together a series of separate measures
that the House had passed previously and will allow the chamber to conference
with the Senate’s single competitiveness bill, the America COMPETES Act
(S.761). Continue
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Innovation Legislation Progresses
Bills to encourage innovation and boost U.S. competitiveness, which have engendered
broad bipartisan support for several years, moved in both chambers of Congress
in recent weeks. On April 24, the House of Representatives passed “10,000
Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act” (H.R. 362)
promoting science education and “Sowing the Seeds through Science and Engineering
Research Act” (H.R. 363) that would award research grants to young investigators.
Across the Capitol, the Senate passed the “America COMPETES Act” (S.
761), which would increase funding for research and education programs at a
number of agencies that contribute to nondefense research and development (R&D). Continue
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Innovation Redux
Competitiveness and innovation will once again be key components of discussions
on science and technology policy in the 110th Congress. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN),
Chairman of the renamed House Committee on Science and Technology, listed innovation
at the top of his list of priorities for the committee and renamed one of the
subcommittees to Technology & Innovation as a reflection of its importance.
Gordon has already re-introduced several pieces of legislation he supported
in the 109th Congress, and announced his intention to consider them early in
the session. Continue
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 For more articles in past issues...
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 April 25, 2008
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