OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Doyle Praises White House Decision to Improve Public Access to Federally Funded Research

Statement

Date: Feb. 22, 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Technology and Communication Science

The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) today announced a Directive guiding federal agencies to increase access to the results of federally funded research. The Directive requires agencies with annual research and development expenses of over $100 million to develop a plan within 6 months for better public access to the results of that research. U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14) released the following statement of support for that Directive:

"I want to thank Director John Holdren and the OSTP staff for their hard work to push for better public access to taxpayer-funded research. This Directive mirrors the goals of my bill, the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (H.R. 708 or FASTR), to lower the barriers to scientific collaboration and make it easier for researchers to access one another's work. The Directive is going to be instrumental to advancing U.S. leadership in the sciences.

"This Directive is a big step toward reducing the exorbitant fees our university libraries have to pay to give their students access to academic journals. At a time when many public universities and libraries nationwide must deal with severe budget cuts, this White House decision reflects a recognition that we must extend the reach of our taxpayer dollars to ensure that our students get a better education.

"I am pleased that this Directive also encourages agencies to maximize the creative reuse of data contained in the articles made available as a result of better public access policy. My legislation, FASTR, also expresses support for enabling solutions such as computational analysis to allow researchers to make the most effective use of publicly available research.

"I am delighted to see the White House's action on this important issue today. Next, we have to make sure this Directive is enacted into law. I'll be pushing forward this year to pass the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act."


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