Bart Gordon

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment on behalf of the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Braley) who was required to return to his district.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Let me just suggest that this is one more process in getting a law enacted. The Senate will pass a bill, and we will go to conference. I am sure Mr. Lampson can answer very well here, but this can be a continuing dialogue as we move forward.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, first let me say very sincerely say that there is no Member of Congress that has had greater interest than Mr. Hall in NASA. As a Texan and a proud American, he has taken particular interest in the safety of the astronauts, as well as trying to reap the maximum amount of health benefits from the investment that we've made. He has played just an enormously constructive role, and I thank him for that. We also thank Mr. Udall, the chairman of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, for working in a bipartisan way. He had a number of really thoughtful hearings. He's put together a bill that came out of his subcommittee unanimously, and because he did such a good job there, it was unanimous out of the full committee. So I thank my friend from Colorado. I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall) 5 minutes. (Mr. UDALL of Colorado asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I recognize the gentlelady from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) for 3 minutes.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I yield the remainder of my time to my friend from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the chairman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall).

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. In conclusion, Madam Chairman, let me once again thank my partner and friend from Texas (Mr. Hall) for his help and leadership in putting this bill together. Ralph, this is the 36th bill that we have brought to this floor, all of which have been bipartisan. All but one has been unanimous. Thank you for your help.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Let me just quickly add that our colleague and friend to both of us, Mr. Rohrabacher, has long been an advocate for the detection and monitoring of near-Earth objects. I don't know that anybody has done any more on that. I certainly commend this constructive amendment.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. I yield the gentlewoman 1 additional minute.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from Texas, a great supporter of NASA, Ms. Jackson-Lee. (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the chairman of the Technology Innovation Subcommittee, Mr. Wu of Oregon.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to another friend and champion of the space program from Texas (Mr. Lampson).

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Chairman, today I am asking my colleagues in the House to ensure this country's leadership in space and aeronautics program by passing H.R. 6063, the NASA Authorization Act of 2008. First, I want to thank and commend Chairman Udall of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics on his leadership in introducing this bill and for taking a clear bipartisan approach to the development of H.R. 6063. I was pleased to be original cosponsor, but I was even more pleased that ranking minority member of our Committee on Science and Technology, Mr. Hall of Texas, and ranking minority member of our Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Mr. Feeney of Florida, were also original cosponsors. Madam Chairman, their actions show that the importance of NASA's future in space and aeronautics is truly a bipartisan concern. And I want to thank them for their full support. In that regard, I also would like to thank Ed Feddeman, Ken Monroe, Katy Crooks, and Lee Arnold of the minority staff for their help on this legislation. I also want to thank and acknowledge the hard work of our majority staff involved in the development of the bill, Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee staff director Dick Obermann, Allen Li, Pam Whitney, Devin Bryant, and John Piazza. This bill passed the subcommittee and the full committee unanimously. And I think that record is in no small part due to the hard work that both sides of the aisle put into this legislation. Madam Chairman, as we look to the transition to the new administration next year, it's important that Congress send a strong message on the best future course for our Nation's space and aeronautics program. The bipartisan consensus we have reached on H.R. 6063 signals that Congress believes a balanced NASA program of science, aeronautics, and human spaceflight, and exploration is important and worthy of the Nation's support. Yet I want to emphasize that H.R. 6063 takes a fiscally-responsible approach to providing this support. The baseline authorization represents a 2.8 percent increase, which is inflationary at best, over the level of the authorization of fiscal year 2008. The bill also includes a special funding augmentation to accelerate the development of the crew exploration vehicle and thus minimize the human spaceflight gap that will make us dependent on the Russians to get our astronauts to and from the International Space Station until the CEV is operational. I don't think any of us wants to or looks forward to the day when we must rely on another Nation to launch U.S. astronauts into space, but that is what we face. I want to minimize that dependency as much as possible. However, even including that augmentation, the total funding authorization will only get us back to NASA's fiscal year 1992 funding level in terms of purchasing power. H.R. 6063's baseline authorization also reflects the importance of NASA to the Nation's innovation agenda. NASA science and technology activities contribute much to our national competitiveness initiative, and I think we need to recognize NASA's role in that regard. NASA was included in last year's America COMPETES Act, but we didn't include an authorization then since we knew we would be reauthorizing NASA this year. H.R. 6063 does that providing by providing a baseline authorization for NASA that includes a rate of increase over the fiscal year 2008 appropriated level that is consistent with the rate of increase proposed for agencies included under the America COMPETES Act. Madam Chairman, this bill includes many provisions that are critical to ensuring the future strength of our Nation, including both the future health of our aviation system and our ability to better understand and respond to climate change and other challenges facing the earth's system. It isn't always recognized that NASA counts for some three-fifths of the Nation's climate research funding. And it's a critical part of the Nation's climate research efforts. In addition, H.R. 6063 demonstrates that a properly structured human spaceflight and exploration program can provide benefits of technological, scientific, and geopolitical significance that are worthy of our Nation's investment. This bill also includes provisions that will ensure a productive return on the Nation's investment in developing and assembling an international space station and encourages the use of the commercial services to transport cargo and eventually crew to the station. We need to ensure that NASA has sufficient resources for all of these and other important tasks that the Nation has asked to carry out, and I believe this bill does that. Madam Chairman, the United States has been a global leader in technology and innovation for decades. However, an esteemed committee of the National Academies raised a deep concern in its groundbreaking report, Rise Above the Gathering Storm, stating ``that the scientific and technical building blocks critical to our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength.'' With China, India, and other global players committed to building robust aeronautics and space programs, that it is incumbent upon the United States to rise to the challenge. This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the dawn of the space age and the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of NASA. NASA has been one of the crown jewels of the Nation's R&D enterprise over the past 50 years. I want to ensure that it remains so for the next 50, and I believe this bill will help turn that into a reality. Madam Chairman, this bill has been endorsed by a host of organizations ranging from the American Association of Universities to the National Association of Manufacturers. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6063 to ensure America's continued leadership and accomplishments in space and aeronautics over the next 50 years. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. GORDON of Tennessee asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 6063.

Mr. GORDON

Mr. GORDON. Madam Chairman, I want to thank everyone for this constructive and civil debate that we've had today. I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, once again I want to thank the majority and minority members of the Science and Technology Committee for working together on this collaborative good effort. To my friend, my passionate friend from Illinois, let me say, just as he knows that you can't turn an oil tanker around on a dime, the fact of the matter is that we can't overturn the 4 or 8 years previous nearsighted policy on a dime either. But rather than point fingers and trying to be a partisan debate here, we can work together and make some changes. This nanotechnology bill is one more effort in helping to provide American technology for domestic production of energies of all sorts, the energies of the future, the jobs that come with that.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 5940, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 5940 is a bipartisan bill which myself and Ranking Member Hall jointly introduced, along with 23 additional Democratic and Republican members of the Science and Technology Committee. The committee believes this legislation will strengthen our Nation's competitiveness in the rapidly advancing field of nanotechnology. I want to particularly thank my colleague, the gentleman from Texas, for working with me to craft this legislation. I also want to thank Dr. Baird, the Chair, and Dr. Ehlers, the ranking member, respectively, of the Research and Science Education Subcommittee, who were both instrumental in development of this bill. Finally, I want to thank all the members of the Science and Technology Committee on both sides of the aisle for their contributions to this bill and for helping to move it expeditiously and unanimously through the committee. Certainly, I want to thank Jim Wilson, working with the minority and majority staff, in putting together this excellent piece of legislation. The term ``revolutionary technology'' has become a cliche, but nanotechnology truly is revolutionary. We stand at the threshold of an age in which materials and devices can be fashioned atom by atom to satisfy specific design requirements. Nanotechnology-based applications are arising that were not even imagined a decade ago. The range of potential applications of nanotechnology is broad and will have enormous consequences for electronics, energy transformation, storage materials, and medicine and health, to name just a few. Indeed, the scope of this technology is so broad as to leave virtually no product untouched. The Science and Technology Committee recognized the promise of nanotechnology early on, holding our first hearing a decade ago to review Federal activities in the field. The committee was substantially instrumental in development and enactment in 2003 of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which authorized the multi-agency National Nanotechnology Initiative, or the NNI, as it's called. The 2003 statute put in place formal interagency planning, budgeting, and coordinating mechanisms for the NNI. It now receives funding from 13 agencies and has a budget of $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2008. The NNI statute also provides for formal reviews of the content and management of programs by the National Academy of Sciences and by a designated advisory committee of nongovernmental experts. Their assessment of the NNI has been generally positive. The NNI supports productive cooperative research efforts across a spectrum of disciplines and is establishing a network of national facilities for further support of nanotechnology research and development. H.R. 5940 is based on findings and recommendations from several hearings during the current Congress that examined various aspects of the NNI. It also reflects recommendations from the formal reviews of the NNI by the National Academy of Sciences and the NNI advisory panel. Finally, it incorporates many suggestions from various communities of interest that reviewed early versions of the bill. H.R. 5940 does not substantially alter the NNI, but makes adjustments to some of the priorities of the programs and strengthens one of the core components, environmental and safety research. Nanotechnology is advancing rapidly, and at least 600 products have entered commerce that contain nanoscale materials, including aerosols and cosmetics. It is important for the successful development of nanotechnology that potential downsides of nanotechnology be addressed from the beginning in a straight forward and open way. We know too well that negative public perceptions about the safety of technology can have serious consequences for its acceptance and use. At present, the level of scientific understanding is sufficient to pin down what types of engineered nanomaterials may be dangerous, although early studies show some are potentially harmful. One example is the recent finding that certain types of carbon nanotubes may mimic the effect of asbestos in causing cancer. More research is needed to determine what characteristics of nanoscale materials are most significant with regard to determining their effects on living organisms or on the environment. Although the NNI from its beginning has included research to increase understanding of environmental and safety aspects of nanotechnology, it has not yet put in place a well-designed, adequately funded and an effectively executed research program in this area. The environmental and safety component of NNI must be improved by quickly developing a research plan and implementation strategy that specifies near-term and long-term goals, sets milestones and timeframes for meeting near-term goals, clarifies agencies' roles in implementing the plan, and allocates sufficient resources to accomplish those goals. This is the first essential step for the development of nanotechnology to ensure that sound science guides the formation of regulatory rules and requirements. It will reduce the current uncertainty that inhibits commercial development of nanotechnology and will provide a sound basis for future rulemaking. H.R. 5940 addresses risk reduction research by requiring that the NNI agencies develop a plan for the environmental and safety research component of the program, as well as a roadmap to implementing it. This plan must include explicit near-term and long-term goals, specify the funding required to reach these goals, and identify the role of each participating agency. The bill also assigns responsibility to a senior official at the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House to oversee this planning and implementation process and to ensure the agencies allocate the resources necessary to carry it out. Finally, the bill requires accountability by establishing a publicly accessible database containing information on the content and funding for each environmental health and safety research project supported by the NNI. Another key component of H.R. 5940 I want to highlight involves provisions to help capture the economic benefits of nanotechnology. Too often, the U.S. has led in the basic research on the frontiers of science and technology, but has failed to capitalize on commercial development flowing from these new discoveries. The NNI has so far invested approximately $7 billion over 7 years in basic research that is providing new tools for manipulation of matter at the nanoscale and is increasing our understanding of the behavior of engineered nanoscale materials and devices. Increased consideration should be given to ways to foster the transfer of new discoveries to commercial products and processes. To that end, H.R. 5940 includes provisions to encourage use of nanotechnology research facilities by companies for prototyping and proof of concept studies and it specifies steps for increasing the number of nanotechnology-related projects supported under the Small Business Innovation Research initiative and by the Technology Innovation Program, established under the COMPETES Act. To increase the relevancy and value of NNI, the bill also authorizes large-scale, focused, multi-agency research and development initiatives in areas of national need. This approach will advance the development of promising research discoveries for demonstrating technical solutions in targeted areas, which will contribute to economic competitiveness and other social benefits. For example, such efforts could be organized around the development and replacement of silicone-based transistors, developing new nanotechnology-based devices for harvesting solar energy, and nanoscale sensors for detecting cancer. Finally, I want to highlight some provisions of the bill that address another key issue, future STEM workforce needs. The Nation needs a full pipeline of talented engineers, scientists and technicians and a scientifically literate public able to exploit and understand this new science. One provision of H.R. 5940 builds on the National Science Foundation's Math and Science Partnership Program to use nanotechnology education activities as a vehicle to raise the interest of secondary students in possible STEM careers. A key component of these new partnerships is involvement by the nanotechnology companies in offering hands-on learning opportunities at their facilities for students and teachers. Another educational provision supports the development of undergraduate courses of study in nanotechnology fields. This will help prepare future technicians, scientists and engineers who will be needed to meet the demands of industry as nanotechnology commercialization continues to expand. Mr. Speaker, nanotechnology will soon touch the lives of all Americans. It is already in our cell phones, cosmetics, paints and clothing. It will soon help to protect the lives of our police officers and military servicemen, and is showing promise in the treatment of cancer and promoting wound healing. There is no doubt that the potential of this technology is great. The bill before us today goes a long way toward ensuring that nanotechnology is developed in a safe and environmentally benign way, and that the Nation reaps the benefits of our research investment. H.R. 5940 has the support of many business and professional associations, including the Semiconductor Industry Association, the NanoBusiness Alliance, the American Chemical Society, the American Physical Society, SEMI North America, the National Chemistry Council, the American Electronics Association, the Association of Science- Technology Centers, IEEE-USA, Materials Research Society, Semiconductor Research Corporation, the National Science Teachers Association, American Psychological Association, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Texas Instruments, IBM and Applied Materials, among just a few. These organizations, like my colleagues on the Science and Technology Committee, recognize that H.R. 5940 will enhance America's efforts in nanotechnology research and development and will help bring its many benefits to the public. Mr. Speaker, I commend this bipartisan legislation to my colleagues and urge their support for its passage in this House. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Then I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon.