National Science Foundation for the Future Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas for their extraordinary bipartisan leadership on these bills. These two bills recognize the urgency of Federal scientific investment.

Over the past few decades, Federal spending on R&D flatlined as a share of our economy, and it has fallen in absolute terms. Meanwhile, global competitors jump-started their economic growth through such investments that spur innovation.

Maintaining our leadership in research and development is arguably more important than ever. Now is the time to be bold in our vision of what is possible. We shortchange the Nation every year when we refuse to fund a rich portfolio of research opportunities.

I want to talk about the NSF for the Future Act. It is part of the remedy, and it strikes the appropriate balance of expanding popular and effective projects and programs while expanding the Foundation's role and mandate to new areas of evolving technologies.

The approach to the creation of a new directorate outlined in the bill sets an appropriate benchmark as we engage with the Senate, and it has received overwhelming support from the academic, scientific, and business communities.

We need to make sure we get this right.

The bill would allow NSF to improve the speed and scale of its core mission to advance basic and fundamental research while promoting innovative solutions to the challenges we face as a nation.

We must support this effort, the NSF bill, as well as the Department of Energy Science for the Future Act. I strongly urge my colleagues to support these two pieces of legislation. I commend the committee for its excellent work.

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