IB 

Union Calendar No. 4 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 144 

[Report No. 117–16] 

To forestall the loss of research talent by establishing a temporary early 

career research fellowship program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

APRIL 14, 2021 

Additional sponsors: Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. LAMB, Mr. GARCIA of California, 

Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. BEYER, Ms. ROSS, Mr. GONZALEZ of 

Ohio, Ms. WILD, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. WALTZ, Ms. GARCIA of 

Texas, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. BOWMAN, Mrs. FLETCHER, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma, Mr. FOSTER, 

Mr. CASE, Mr. MEIJER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. BAIRD, and Mrs. KIM of 

California 

APRIL 14, 2021 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 4, 2021] 


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•HR 144 RH

A BILL 

To forestall the loss of research talent by establishing a 

temporary early career research fellowship program. 


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•HR 144 RH

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Early-Ca5 reer Researchers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Nation’s universities and industrial re9 search labs are facing unprecedented budget pressure 

10 as part of the COVID–19 health crisis, resulting in 

11 considerably fewer openings for research and teaching 

12 positions. 

13 (2) Emergency funding is needed to forestall the 

14 loss of research talent likely to occur if early-career 

15 researchers are forced to seek employment outside of 

16 research due to the sharp economic decline caused by 

17 the COVID–19 health crisis. 

18 (3) The future of America’s defense will rely on 

19 advanced technologies to maintain its military supe20 riority over its rivals, including China. These tech21 nologies will require new levels of scientific and engi22 neering aptitude and understanding. Early career re23 searchers will play a critical role in the development 

24 of these technologies, and the loss of an entire genera25 tion of researchers due to the COVID–19 pandemic 


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•HR 144 RH

1 will be detrimental to the United States national se2 curity. 

3 SEC. 3. EARLY-CAREER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

5 Science Foundation may establish a 2-year pilot program 

6 to award grants to highly qualified early-career investiga7 tors to carry out an independent research program at the 

8 qualified institution of higher education chosen by such in9 vestigator, to last for a period not greater than 2 years. 

10 (b) SELECTION PROCESS.—The Director of the Na11 tional Science Foundation shall select grantees under sub12 section (a) from among citizens, nationals, and lawfully ad13 mitted permanent resident aliens of the United States. 

14 (c) OUTREACH.—The Director shall conduct program 

15 outreach to recruit fellowship applicants— 

16 (1) from all regions of the country; 

17 (2) from historically underrepresented popu18 lations in the fields of science, technology, engineer19 ing, and mathematics; and 

20 (3) who graduate from or intend to carry out re21 search at a variety of types of institutions of higher 

22 education, including— 

23 (A) Historically Black Colleges and Univer24 sities; 

25 (B) Hispanic-Serving Institutions; 


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1 (C) Tribal Colleges and Universities; and 

2 (D) institutions of higher education that are 

3 not among the top 50 institutions in annual 

4 Federal funding for research. 

5 (d) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The Director shall give 

6 special consideration to an application from an individual 

7 who graduated from or is intending to carry out research 

8 at an institution of the type listed in subsection (c)(3). 

9 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the conclu10 sion of the second year of the pilot program, the Director 

11 shall submit a report to Congress that includes— 

12 (1) statistical summary data on fellowship 

13 awardees disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, 

14 age, years since completion of doctoral degree, and in15 stitution type; 

16 (2) an assessment, drawing on feedback from the 

17 research community and other sources of information, 

18 of the effectiveness of the pilot program for mitigating 

19 the loss of research talent due to the pandemic; and 

20 (3) if determined effective, a plan for permanent 

21 implementation of the pilot program. 

22 (f) QUALIFIED INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

23 DEFINED.—The term ‘‘qualified institution of higher edu24 cation’’ means an institution of higher education (as de25 fined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 


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•HR 144 RH

1 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) that is inside the United States or a ter2 ritory of the United States. 

3 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Director 

5 of the National Science Foundation $250,000,000 for each 

6 of fiscal years 2021 through 2022 to carry out the activities 

7 in this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 4 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 144 

[Report No. 117–16] 

A BILL 

To forestall the loss of research talent by estabship program. lishing a temporary early career research fellowAPRIL 14, 2021 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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