House Passes America COMPETES Bill On Third Try
May 28, 2010
| 3:44 PM
The House Friday voted to pass a twice-stymied bill that would reauthorize research and education programs at key federal science agencies in an effort to boost U.S. competitiveness.
The bill, which passed 262-150, would authorize $85.6 billion in spending over five years. Seventeen Republicans joined Democrats in approving the measure, which included a GOP-pushed provision to bar funds in the bill from going to salaries of federal workers "officially disciplined" for viewing pornography on their work computers.
The vote represented the third effort this month by Democrats, led by House Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., to pass the bill, known as the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act.
Friday's winning floor-vote strategy by Democrats involved letting members first cast votes on nine portions of a GOP-sponsored motion to recommit that the House passed earlier this month, which prompted House leaders to pull the bill. The motion would have only authorized the bill's programs for three years instead of five and would have cut new programs proposed in the bill.
Only two of the nine provisions were adopted. They included the provision that would prohibit funds going to federal workers disciplined for viewing pornography, and another provision would bar funds in the bill from going to colleges or universities that are prevented from receiving federal grants and contracts because they deny or restrict ROTC or other military recruiting on campus.
"I am disappointed that my Democratic colleagues resorted to using a procedural tactic to defeat Republican changes that would have saved over $40 billion and restored the original COMPETES priority of basic research," Science and Technology ranking member Ralph Hall, R-Texas, said in a statement.
Gordon, however, said that he agrees "we must address the challenges presented by our deficits, but we must also invest in our country's future." He added that, "If we are to reverse the trend of the last 20 years, where our country's technology edge in the world has diminished, we must make the investments necessary today."
A second attempt to pass the bill failed last week when it was brought to a vote under the House's suspension process, which requires two-thirds support for passage, and it fell short, 261-148. Friday's vote required only a simple majority for passage.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus