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competes imageThe America Competes Act was designed to provide investment and spur innovation to strengthen the leadership role of the U.S. to compete internationally, yet gov.track.us gives this important legislation only a 2% chance of passage as new sections of this legislation continue to draw criticism and allow the bill to languish in committee.

The original COMPETES Act (2007) included significant budget increases for NSF, NIST, and research programs at the Department of Energy. It also supported federal efforts to improve STEM education. COMPETES has been a bipartisan ‎issue in the past and while we hope this Congress can come to an agreement, it does not look likely today. Congress is in recess until 8 September and will be in session for just twelve legislative days before leaving Washington until after the November elections.

TechVision21 urges loosening of restrictions, full funding and passage of this important legislation.

The current COMPETES Act reauthorization is languishing in committees.

The House bill—FIRST (Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology) Act has been marked up in the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. FIRST continues to draw fire from the science and research community for cuts to NSF funding for social and behavioral sciences, and provisions that would require NSF to affirm that a grant is worthy of Federal funding and in the national interest.

Previous COMPETES Acts did not specify funding at the NSF research directorate level. Under FIRST, several directorates would receive increases in funding allocations significantly higher than the FY 2015 budget request, including: biological science, computer and information science and engineering, engineering, and mathematical and physical science.

The Senate held a hearing and staff are working on a draft. The Senate bill differs considerably and in some cases dramatically from the House Science Committee’s reauthorization bill.

https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/4159

http://democrats.science.house.gov/press-release/ranking-member-johnson-introduces-america-competes-act-2014

http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=5ab4798a-0887-436d-91d7-293ed9587c81&SK=DBC8579EE2E08D38EE5112D844018C98