Hearing of the Technology Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee - An Overview of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Budget for Fiscal Year 2014

Hearing

Good Morning. I would like to welcome everyone to today's hearing. Today we
will examine the fiscal year 2014 budget request for the National Institute of Standardsand Technology (NIST).

I would like to thank Dr. Gallagher for appearing before us today.

Today, we examine one portion of the President's budget proposal, the fiscal year 2014 budget request for NIST. Last week I had the opportunity to visit NIST's campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and to see a sample of ongoing research activities. In my time there, I was able to visit the Net Zero Test Facility, the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, and the Center for Neutron Research. Dr. Gallagher, I want you to know that your staff took good care of me, and their enthusiasm for NIST's work was apparent throughout my tour.

The fiscal year 2014 budget request for NIST totals $928 million, an increase of $177.5 million or almost 24 percent from the fiscal year 2012 enacted level.

Now this Committee has a long, bipartisan record of support for NIST and its contributions to research and development. But I think I need to repeat that figure. The President has requested a 24 percent increase for NIST in fiscal year 2014. That type of increase in a time of decreasing budgets will be very difficult to achieve, and require significant changes in other areas.

The requested increases would be devoted in large part to bolster advanced manufacturing initiatives by NIST, as well as in areas such as cybersecurity, disaster resilience, forensic science, and broadband communications.

We are here today to learn more about the justification for this request, and I am appreciative of the opportunity to learn more about how fiscal year 2014 funds would be prioritized by NIST. I thank our witness, Dr. Gallagher, for his time today.

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