Date: 2014-07-22
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 1022 and two other Science. Space. and Technology bills being considered today. Earlier this year. all of my Democratic committee colleagues joined me in introducing H.R. 4159. the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2014. Two of the bills being considered today are similar or identical to provisions we included in our COMPETES bill. and the third bill similarly reflects a longstanding bipartisan effort. and I will speak briefly about each of the three bills. First. I would like to speak in support of H.R. 1022. a bill that would authorize a research and development program to explore ways to sustain our supply of materials that is critical to a wide range of advanced energy technologies. According to a recent study by the American Physical Society and the Materials Research Society. the U.S. is currently dependent on other countries for more than 90 percent of most of these types of materials. We are particularly dependent on China. which has demonstrated a willingness to at least temporarily cut off our supply of these energy critical elements in the recent past. so this bill is a timely contribution to our national. economic. and energy security. I would like to thank my colleague and friend. Mr. SWALWELL. for introducing this important piece of legislation. as well as Chairman SMITH and his staff for working diligently with us to bring it to the floor today. Next. I want to thank Mr. BUCSHON for introducing H.R. 5035. a bill to reauthorize the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST is our Nations oldest science agency and plays a very important role in U.S. innovation and competitiveness through advancing measurement science and providing unique measurement facilities to industry. While we dont often think about measurement science. it is critically important. Anytime a technology is developed. measurement science is needed to ensure that the technology is working as intended and is compatible with existing systems. NIST plays a role in fields from bioscience to forensics to automobile safety technology. NIST has also taken leadership roles in crosscutting Federal efforts in cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing. H.R. 5035 reauthorizes and makes important updates to the program at NIST. including the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. which helps small- and mediumsized manufacturing companies create and retain American jobs. My one concern with H.R. 5035 is the low authorization level. I hope that when this bill goes to conference with the Senate we can agree to give NIST an authorization level that allows it to fully realize its critical role in U.S. innovation and competitiveness. In the meantime. because the policy changes in this bill are good and important. I support it. Finally. I would like to thank Mr. HULTGREN and Mr. KILMER for introducing H.R. 5120. a bill to provide important new tools to accelerate commercialization of new technologies developed by DOE laboratories and programs in partnership with the private sector. This bill closely mirrors several critical provisions in the America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2014. as well as the Senates bipartisan America INNOVATES Act sponsored by Senators COONS and RUBIO. It also reflects a number of recommendations found in a recent report produced by the Center for American Progress. the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. and The Heritage Foundation. three groups that you dont often find in the same line of authors. I want to thank Chairman SMITH and many other colleagues on both sides of the aisle. as well as the other side of the Capitol. for working with us to produce a strong bill that we can support. All three of these bills are products of strong bipartisan efforts. and I urge my colleagues to support them.