Majority Statement

• Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV

  Chairman

  U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  Read statement

  Majority Statement

  Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV

  We’re here today to discuss one of the government’s most visionary functions, the funding of basic scientific research. Everyone in the room may already be aware of this, but it’s worth repeating that the federal government funds nearly one third of all research and development in the United States, and that includes 60 percent of all academic research. 

  Federal funding of basic research – those studies that give us the building blocks for new technologies and industries – is part of a pipeline that supports the U.S. economy and our global competitiveness.  

  Now, we know that the results of basic research are inherently unpredictable: it is very hard to determine what investments will create the next economic miracle. But while the private sector sometimes avoids high-risk research that may only provide a return on investment over very long periods of time - or may provide little or no return at all - the government has stepped in.

  These federal investments have allowed the best ideas to enhance our knowledge of the world and to create billion dollar industries. These investments led to GPS, biotechnology, 3D printing, and the Internet. They have supported multi-billion dollar companies that are global household names. They also continually support the creation of new businesses across the country, which The Science Coalition tracked in their latest report, “Sparking Economic Growth.”  I encourage you to read it.

   

  These investments continue to help train our science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. And without these investments, we won’t have the next generation of researchers; we won’t have the next biotechnology industry; we won’t have the next Internet.  

  What we will have is a stagnant economy. Looking at the debate we’re having in Congress about funding the government, well, that’s where we’re headed. The reckless shutdown has eroded confidence in the United States as a steadfast supporter of science. Researchers at our world leading labs were told to go home, including several Nobel laureates, and grants were delayed when 99 percent of the National Science Foundation was furloughed.  

  The shutdown was a sudden, harmful event, yes, but the ongoing sequester is slowly but surely wearing away the foundation of U.S. scientific research. Sequestration’s indiscriminate cuts are costing us dearly. The National Science Foundation took a $356 million cut this past fiscal year and that number will continue to go down again under the Continuing Resolution. That means fewer grants, less support for young researchers, and even scientists moving their work abroad. It’s only going to get worse if we don’t fix the sequester and continue to invest in our world-class scientists.

  Our competitors know that basic research is worth the investment, and while we constrain ourselves, they are spending more and catching up. That’s why, instead of retreating in the face of competition, we passed the America COMPETES Act in 2007 and the reauthorization in 2010 with the direction to double the funding for the National Science Foundation, major research accounts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. I will again push for reauthorization of this important legislation this Congress.

  ###

Minority Statement

• Senator John Thune

  Ranking Member

  U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  Read statement

  Minority Statement

  Senator John Thune

  

  Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing today to evaluate scientific research and development and STEM education initiatives under the America COMPETES Act authorizations.

  I am pleased to welcome Senator Alexander as today’s hearing is a good opportunity to discuss the impact R&D funding has on each of our states and on the U.S. economy overall. As we do so, I believe it is important to remember our current budget realities and the need to set federal funding priorities in scientific research and continue to improve coordination.

  I know Senator Alexander worked closely alongside you, Mr. Chairman, and former Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison on the America COMPETES Acts of 2007 and 2010, and we appreciate his participation today to provide us with a history of those legislative efforts.

  The America COMPETES Acts of 2007 and 2010 have served as the authorizing vehicles for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under our Committee’s jurisdiction, as well as for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science.

  The NSF is the primary source of federal funding in fields such as mathematics and computer science. Researchers in my home state of South Dakota, as well as other states represented by members of the Committee, benefit from NSF’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), a program aimed at avoiding undue concentration of research in certain states and improving R&D competitiveness and STEM education throughout the U.S.

  Another agency of committee jurisdiction, NIST, carries out its mission of promoting U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by supporting research in fields such as engineering and Information Technology at NIST laboratories in collaboration with private sector industry. The Committee has looked to NIST this year with particular interest on the issue of cybersecurity, passing a bipartisan bill earlier this year that would authorize NIST to facilitate the development of a voluntary set of standards and best practices to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure. And, as we will examine more closely next week when Secretary Pritzker is before us, NIST is also seeking to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and advanced manufacturing.

  DOE’s Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the largest federal supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. DOE, along with NSF, has supported cutting-edge physics research at the world class Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota.

  At SURF, as Dr. Perlmutter appreciates more than most, physics researchers are leading the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment a mile underground in the former Homestake gold mine in an effort to detect the existence of dark matter. Just last week, researchers announced results from the experiment’s first run, indicating that it is the most sensitive and capable dark matter detector in the world, and making SURF scientists more likely to discover dark matter than anyone else. The LUX experiments, and other experiments at SURF, search for answers to some of our most fundamental science questions and present a significant opportunity for U.S. leadership in the area of physical sciences, as prioritized by the earlier America COMPETES Acts.

  Federal support for basic research reflects a consensus that such research is the foundation for many innovations. Many have argued that closer cooperation among industry, government, and academia could further stimulate innovation, lead to new products and processes, and expand markets for U.S. businesses. Along these lines, while I appreciate the importance of foundational science and basic research, I also look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about ways to improve technology transfer and commercialization of federally-funded research, as well as some of the successful discoveries stemming from federal research dollars.

  Finally, I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about their ideas on how to improve STEM education, as well as their views on the challenges that affect our global competitiveness in the STEM professional fields.

  Thank you all for being here and sharing your insights with the committee.

  ###

Testimony

• The Honorable Lamar Alexander

  U.S. Senator

  Tennessee

Witness Panel 2

• Dr. Kelvin K. Droegemeier

  Vice Chairman, National Science Board

  Vice President for Research, Regents' Professor of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma
  Download Testimony (311.03 KB)

• Dr. Saul Perlmutter

  Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley

  Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  Download Testimony (825.61 KB)

• Dr. Maria Klawe

  President

  Harvey Mudd College
  Download Testimony (64.12 KB)

• Dr. Stephen S. Tang MBA

  President and CEO

  University City Science Center
  Download Testimony (86.69 KB)