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Legislative Wrap-up: Congress Makes Progress on
Science Bills, Extends R&D Tax Credit, Reorganizes DOE

NITR&D

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chairman of the House Science Committee, introduced the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act (HR 2086) in June 1999. The Committee approved it overwhelmingly in September, and the bill now has 45 cosponsors. It is likely that the House will take up the measure soon after Congress reconvenes this month.

The bill would amend the High Performance Computing and Communications Act to reauthorize HPCC funding for the six agencies under the Science Committee's jurisdiction for the next five years. It would also set aside a portion of the National Science Foundation's HPCC funding for a new Networking and Information Technology R&D program. The NITR&D program, based on the PITAC recommendations to expand support for fundamental computing research, would consist of "grants for long-term basic research on networking and information technology, with priority given to research that helps address issues related to high end computing and software and network stability, fragility, reliability, security (including privacy), and scalability."

Major Science Policy Legislation

In July 1999, the Senate passed by unanimous consent the Federal Research Investment Act (S 296), a measure sponsored by Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), Chairman of the Science, Technology, and Space subcommittee, to authorize a doubling of the civilian R&D budget over 10 years. In late October, Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and 11 cosponsors introduced a counterpart bill in the House.

The proposal to double support for civilian R&D originated in the Senate several years ago and a number of Senate Commerce Committee members have become its ardent champions. But the House Science Committee majority regards this approach to science policy with skepticism. Authorization bills hold more significance in the House than in the Senate, and Sensenbrenner protects his authorization prerogatives fiercely. With science agency budgets authorized under a general doubling plan, the Science Committee's opportunity to influence appropriations with annual passage of carefully crafted authorization bills could be diminished.

The fate of the doubling bill is probably tied to that of the NITR&D Act. With Senate science policy leaders committed to the former and House leaders pushing the latter, they'll need to arrive at a compromise before either measure is enacted.

R&D Tax Credit

On the last day of the 1999 session, Congress passed a minor "omnibus" tax bill (HR 1180) to extend various popular tax breaks that typically have to be reauthorized every year. The fallback measure became necessary when President Clinton vetoed the $700 billion tax reduction package offered by the Republicans. Like the major tax package, the enacted bill includes a provision to extend the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit for 5 years, an important milestone in the high-tech industry's long-running efforts to have the credit made permanent.

National Nuclear Security Administration

The highly publicized security lapses at DOE's national security laboratories sparked an intense drive in Congress to bring DOE to heel. The defense authorization bill enacted in August (S 1059, PL 106-65) established the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous agency within DOE responsible for ensuring the security and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile. DOE Secretary Bill Richardson opposed the measure claiming it impinged on his authority. He ultimately relented and President Clinton signed the bill in October; Clinton then tried to get around the law by appointing Richardson himself as the head of NNSA. Naturally outraged, Congress pressured the Administration into agreeing to name an independent NNSA Administrator.

About half of all DOE R&D now falls under the NNSA, which is also charged with nuclear safety and environmental protection efforts. Responsibility for the $2.2 billion Stockpile Stewardship program, of which the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative is a part, has been transferred to NNSA as has authority for the Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia nuclear weapons laboratories, where the security controversies originated.

IT Worker Shortage

A flurry of bills to address the IT worker shortage were introduced in 1999. None got very far, however, as Congress wearied of the issue in 1998. Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) and Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) are sponsoring legislation (S 1440 and HR 2698, respectively) that would raise the cap on H-1B visas to 200,000; Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has introduced a bill to temporarily remove the cap (S 1804). Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Rep. James Moran (D-VA) each introduced legislation to establish a tax credit to offset IT worker training expenses (S 456 and HR 838, respectively). Conrad's proposal was offered as an amendment to the Republican tax reduction bill, but was rejected 46-54.

Perhaps the most interesting of the proposals is one to create a new "T" or "Tech" visa for international students who receive science and engineering degrees from American universities and want to stay and work in the U.S. The concept is embodied in the Bringing Resources from Academia for the Industry of our Nation Act (BRAIN; HR 2687) introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and in the Helping Improve Technology Education and Competitiveness Act (HITEC; S 1645) being sponsored by Senator Chuck Robb (D-VA). The bills face an uphill climb, as do most proposals to change U.S. immigration policy.

prepared by Lisa Thompson, CRA Director of Government Affairs