DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Lofgren for her very kind and generous words. I can only hope that my constituents in Michigan hear the praise from the ranking member from the great State of California for the work that we do together on the Science Committee.

Certainly, it is a sincere privilege to be also joined on the floor today with our chairman, Mr. Lucas, as he reminded us with the TRANQ legislation that Ms. Caraveo and Mr. Williams will be the first Members of the freshman class to get a bill signed into law for this term in Congress.

It wasn't all too long ago when Dr. Baird and myself shared that same distinction for the Building Blocks of STEM Act, the bill that we passed through the Science Committee, through the House floor, and alongside our colleagues in the Senate, getting it signed into law on December 24th, 2019.

Suffice it to say, Dr. Baird and I were not at the White House for the signing of the Building Blocks of STEM Act.

Today, Dr. Baird and I are pleased to offer the DOE and NSF Research Interagency Act to the House floor, a bill that has already passed through the Science Committee.

The Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation represent some of our Nation's most cutting-edge research activities, as has been shared by our committee leadership, supporting the innovation that we require to solve our most pressing issues and remain competitive on the world stage.

The DOE and NSF employees, in particular, are not necessarily in two buildings that are right next to each other. They are in a similar geographic area, but they do not share building space.

The employees and the funded researchers are world-renowned scientific minds, and they are pushing on the door of what we think is possible.

They are making science fiction a reality every single day, and we encourage and implore their activities to proliferate, to manifest, and to continue to come together, particularly on the heels of the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill that many of us, including myself on the Science Committee, helped to author and pass through into law just a little over a year ago.

If we are going to achieve the goals of the CHIPS and Science Act without the full funding, particularly for the NSF, we need this legislation. We need the interagency efforts of DOE and NSF to come together.

We will continue to promote cross functionality of research if it is with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in fusion science, or if it is combining the DOE's expertise in computational sciences, including the scientific potential of the fastest supercomputers in the world.

What NSF is doing with artificial intelligence and machine learning will continue to be key to unlocking the metrics needed to create safe and trustworthy AI applications so the United States can continue to lead in this innovation sector.

Combining NSF's material science expertise, which the United States is in a phenomenal race to lead on, with the work being done across the Department of Energy and the Ames National Laboratory on critical minerals will be key not only to untangling our supply chains but in creating a circular economy that promotes worker safety and environmental protections while securing our economic prosperity, energy independence, and national security for decades to come.

Lastly, combining the work that both agencies are doing with quantum technologies will be key to unlocking the potential of this revolutionary emerging technology, including for our manufacturers and applications for cybersecurity.

These are just some of the examples of the amazing potential that fostering a partnership between the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation will mean for our Nation and the next generation, proving once again that Federal sciences are the key to our Nation's future.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill to push forward our Nation's scientific ecosystem and bolster our competitiveness on the world stage.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2980) to provide for Department of Energy and National Science Foundation research and development coordination, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2980, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2980, the DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act. This bill supports the longstanding partnership between the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, allowing them to work on cutting-edge and research technology challenges.

DOE is our Nation's largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences, while NSF is the backbone of the collaborative research environment between government and academia.

Together, they can tackle some of the Nation's toughest challenges in physics, quantum information sciences, artificial intelligence, and material science.

The bill enhances both DOE and NSF's capacities and leverages each other's investments in research and development, maximizing the impact of our taxpayer dollars.

There has never been a more important time for this kind of breakthrough research. The Chinese Communist Party has made no secret of their goal to surpass us as the world leader in science and technology.

They are attempting to outspend us, out-educate us, and outpace us in everything from quantum computing to advanced manufacturing.

They know that the Nation that leads the way in technological development sets the rules of the road and determines how that technology will be used.

We simply cannot afford to live in a world where China is technologically ahead of us. It is bad for our economy and dangerous for our national security.

We must ensure our investments in research and development go as far as possible. This bill helps us to do that.

By authorizing the collaboration between DOE and NSF, we are maximizing our return on investments and ensuring we can stay on the cutting edge of technological development.

I thank my colleagues, Representatives Stevens and Baird, for introducing this important legislation and shepherding it through the Science Committee where it passed unanimously.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I rise in support of H.R. 2980, the DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act.

This will accelerate U.S. competitiveness in emerging technology areas and key economic sectors while enabling taxpayer dollars to be used more efficiently, allowing more to be done with less.

I appreciate all the work done by my colleagues, Representatives Stevens and Baird, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bipartisan bill introduced by Ms. Stevens and Mr. Baird authorizing collaborative research between the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation in critical areas of our national competitiveness.

It builds on the longstanding partnership between these agencies to leverage each other's investments and expertise in a wide range of fields, including quantum science, artificial intelligence, fusion energy, and advanced manufacturing.

Alongside these research partnerships, it also authorizes collaborative initiatives in education and training and development of a strong STEM workforce. We will not be able to succeed unless we have the talented workforce to get the job done.

Lastly, it promotes secure data and information transfer capabilities between both agencies to develop a shared, agile data ecosystem.

In a time when many emerging technologies are on our doorstep, it is important that we empower our leading science agencies to work with each other to capture these interdisciplinary opportunities.

Both NSF and DOE have an extensive history of joint activities such as support for the development of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a world-class tool for scientific discovery in astronomy.

The DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act strengthens the legislative foundation that was set in the CHIPS and Science Act, and this enables both agencies to foster a more collaborative

research environment to maximize their collective impacts on our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, for all of these reasons, I strongly urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the Science Committee is blessed to have many talented Members of Congress dedicated to science and our future.

One of them is one of the coauthors of this bill, a senior Member of the committee and a talented Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens).

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.