R&D Fans Want Sustained Hill Support
House Science Chairman Bart Gordon said Tuesday that conversations about federal R&D funding as part of a fiscal year 2010 appropriations package will be "difficult" given a range of competing priorities and the ongoing recession but are critical to continued U.S. competitiveness. Government bankrolled research got a "big bump" in the economic stimulus package and the fiscal year 2009 omnibus but sustained growth in the years to come is key, he told Tech Daily Dose.
"At the same time we're asking for more money, we're trying to leverage that by spending what we have better and coordinating that with the private sector," Gordon said. One such example is the House's recent passage of legislation to strengthen and provide transparency in federal R&D to understand the potential environmental, health, and safety risks of nanotechnology. Under the bill, agencies that are part of the National Nanotechnology Initiative would be required to develop a plan for environmental and safety research; near-term and long-term goals and other requirements.
Universities and businesses must do their part to be good partners with government "in determining the best areas for research that can be commercialized, taking it from the labs and universities to the private sector," Gordon said. Representatives from those communities visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers to thank them for their support. "They want to [be able to] come back and say thank you next year and the year after and the year after," Gordon said.
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