I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1453 

To provide for communications training to improve the ability of scientists 

to interact with policymakers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2007 

Ms. MATSUI (for herself and Mr. GORDON of Tennessee) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To provide for communications training to improve the ability 

of scientists to interact with policymakers. 

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 ‘‘Scientific Communica5 tions Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) with the increasing presence of science and 

9 technology in public policy issues, a greater national 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1453 IH

1 effort needs to be made to train scientists to engage 

2 in the public dialogue; 

3 (2) graduate training programs in science and 

4 engineering often lack opportunities for students to 

5 develop communications skills that will enable them 

6 to effectively explain technical topics to nonscientific 

7 audiences; 

8 (3) providing training in communications skills 

9 development will ensure that United States-trained 

10 scientists are better prepared to engage in dialogue 

11 on technical topics with policymakers and business 

12 leaders; 

13 (4) given the enormous annual investment that 

14 the Federal Government makes in the United States 

15 research enterprise, training scientists to interact 

16 with policymakers will improve accessibility to infor17 mation and ensure that technical expertise is in18 cluded in the public policy dialogue; and 

19 (5) providing early career preparation for inter20 action with nonscientists will improve the ability of 

21 research scientists to engage in public/private part22 nerships to facilitate product development based on 

23 United States research discoveries. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1453 IH

1 SEC. 3. COMMUNICATIONS TRAINING FOR SCIENTISTS. 

2 (a) PROGRAM.—The National Science Foundation 

3 shall establish a program to make grants to institutions 

4 to provide communications training to graduate students 

5 to improve the ability of scientists to interact with policy6 makers. Such program shall be integrated with other Na7 tional Science Foundation programs for the training of 

8 scientists, such as the Integrative Graduate Education and 

9 Research Traineeship (IGERT) program. 

10 (b) AWARDS.—Grants shall be awarded under this 

11 section on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis, in a man12 ner so as to ensure relevance to public policymaking. 

13 (c) REPORTS.—A recipient of a grant under this sec14 tion shall transmit to the National Science Foundation an 

15 annual report describing the operations of the program 

16 funded by the grant. 

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science 

19 Foundation for carrying out this Act $10,000,000 for each 

20 of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012. 

Æ 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS