AAU Expresses ‘Hope’ for Passage of America COMPETES Act
A new version of H.R. 4521, the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2022, introduced Jan. 25, is garnering praise from the Association of American Universities (AAU). In a Jan. 26 statement, AAU President Barbara Snyder offered a “welcome” to the bill, calling it “an important step toward reauthorizing the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and other research and STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] education programs vital to sustaining our nation’s leadership role in science and innovation.”
According to Snyder, “the House bill helps bolster the United States’ global scientific and technological leadership and economic competitiveness by balancing the need to secure critical federally funded university research with the need to grow and attract both domestic and international STEM talent.” Snyder noted that the Senate had already passed its version of the bill, and that the two will need to be reconciled. “As the House considers this legislation, we hope it achieves strong bipartisan support and moves quickly to floor approval” and reconciliation, she added. Snyder noted that in addition to this legislation, Congress needs to adopt appropriations “for the programs it authorizes to maintain U.S. preeminence in science, health, national security, and economic competitiveness.” However, AAU also reported in its Jan. 28 weekly newsletter that Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Oklahoma, said the bill “undoes more than a year of bipartisan work by the House Science Committee to develop and pass comprehensive legislation to double investment in basic research.” Lucas is the ranking member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
