Wednesday, July 2, 2008
TSC Applauds Inclusion of Critically Important Science Funding in Supplemental
The supplemental appropriations bill passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President June 30 contains $400 million for key federal science and research programs. This funding will allow critical science programs – jeopardized by the FY08 omnibus spending bill, which failed to provide full funding for science and research – to continue. It also will prevent the furlough of some of the nation's premier scientists and engineers whose positions could no longer be funded due to lack of funds.

TSC applauds the many champions of science in the House and Senate who, over the past several months, fought for inclusion of these funds in the supplemental spending bill. These leaders understand the important role science and research play in driving the U.S. economy, creating jobs, securing the nation, and addressing critical energy, health and environmental issues. The science community, which united in its effort to strongly encourage emergency funding in the supplemental, will continue to work with lawmakers to ensure the needed funding for science and research in the final FY09 budget.

The supplemental measure will provide $150 million for the National Institutes of Health; $62.5 million for the Energy Department's Science Office; $62.5 million for the National Science Foundation; and $62.5 million for NASA.
Funding Basic Research Is Key to Solving the Nation’s Economic Woes, Rep. Ryan (D-OH) Tells Science Coalition
Rep. Ryan (D-OH) at Capitol Hill breakfast hosted by TSC.
“When you come from areas like mine (northeastern Ohio) you see basic research as an opportunity for jobs. But it’s also the key to the future,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said at a Capitol Hill breakfast hosted by the Science Coalition on June 11. He added, “In Ohio we are moving to create a lot of jobs with the stimulus package that includes some energy R&D.”

Rep. Ryan serves on the House Committee on Appropriations, where he is on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies ("Labor-HHS") and the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

Ryan discussed the importance of issues related to basic research - including innovation, new technologies, and new jobs - to the Presidential campaign. “If you are going to win Ohio you have to talk about the future,” Ryan said. A candidate has to give voters an idea of where new jobs will come from, not just talk about retraining, he said. He discussed the possible creation of a technology corridor between eastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania that would link the medical centers in those areas and create a variety of new health care-related jobs.

Education, Research, Innovation Key to our Future By U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)

There is a growing consensus that America’s future prosperity is threatened by the erosion of our educational capabilities. Compared to children in other countries, our students are underperforming in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We are starting to notice the consequences of this. For example, China has surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest exporter of information-technology products. We must redouble our efforts to ensure that America is the world’s technological leader in the 21st Century.

In Texas, we know the value of investment in university research. Investment in research at the University of Texas at Austin brings in $1.4 billion in Texas business activity per year and creates more than 20,000 new jobs throughout the state. Knowledge gained by cutting edge research is passed on to students, creating a new generation of scholars, engineers, scientists and business professionals.

This year, Congress has taken measures to prevent a deep recession – including an economic stimulus package and a major housing reform plan – but it must also work to strengthen the foundations of America’s prosperity: science and technology. These are the areas of expertise that spur creativity and new technologies, which are essential for economic growth. In fact, as much as 85 percent of the measured growth in per capita income is due to technological advancement.

In 2007, we passed the America Competes Act, landmark legislation that addresses several important goals. First, it expands research by doubling funding levels for the National Science Foundation from $5.6 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 to $11.2 billion in FY 2011. It also boosts funding levels for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science from $3.6 billion in FY 2007 to over $5.2 billion in FY 2011.

Second, the America Competes Act bolsters education by strengthening the skills of teachers in STEM. It funds the Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow, a project in which colleges and universities encourage undergraduate students to earn degrees in their STEM fields of study with teacher certification obtained through required electives. In addition, the bill increases the number of Advanced Placement (A.P.) courses in underprivileged schools and trains more teachers to teach A.P. math, science, and foreign language courses.

Congress can take proactive measures to build on the America Competes Act. One of the best ways to recharge our prosperity is to make the Research and Development (R&D) tax credit permanent; it expired on December 31, 2007. With foreign governments actively recruiting U.S. companies to base research operations abroad, the R&D tax credit is a proven incentive for companies to expand innovative activities in America.

It is also important that the best minds in the world have the opportunity to work in our country. Current visa restraints limiting the number of U.S.-educated foreign-born workers permitted to stay here must be reformed. One large financial institution recently tried to hire 200 foreign-born students who had graduated from Ivy League schools and were seeking employment in the U.S. Only 60 were able to get work visas and stay in the U.S. The remaining students mostly accepted jobs in London.

By making the R&D tax credit permanent, upgrading the visa system to secure the brightest minds in critical fields, and fully funding the America Competes Act, we will have a better-educated workforce, enhanced research, and more ground-breaking innovation. I am committed to passing these measures to advance our economy for generations to come. Our future depends on it.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is the senior U.S. Senator from Texas and is Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

Senator Alexander (R-TN) Honored for Leadership on Basic Research
Senator Alexander (R-TN) and John Edward Sexton, President of NYU.
On June 26, the Science Coalition gave Senator Lamar Alexander its “Champion of Science” award in recognition of his strong and continued advocacy for basic research funding. “Senator Alexander knows first-hand the role basic research plays in driving our economy and keeping America competitive in the global marketplace,” said John Edward Sexton, President of New York University. “Senator Alexander understands that spending for scientific research is not an expense, but rather an investment in America’s future,” Sexton added. Ten representatives from Science Coalition universities accompanied Sexton at the award ceremony at the Senator’s office on Capitol Hill.

Federal Funding for Basic Research Gives Rise to Promising Energy Startup
First, University of Massachusetts Amherst microbiology professor Susan Leschine discovered a microbe that would break down leaves and plant fibers into ethanol. Then, she was persuaded to commercialize it. But Leschine says that was not an easy decision. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was start a company," she recalled in a Washington Post in October 2007. The deciding factor was her feeling of obligation due to the source of funding for her original research. The UMass scientist had received grants from the Department of Energy through their Energy (DOE) Biosciences Program and the Joint Genome Institute, which mapped the genetic code of the ethanol-producing microbe. She felt it was her obligation to see that the microbe technology be developed and made available for use by the public - by way of the biofuels industry. Now Leschine is also the chief scientist at SunEthanol, a startup firm with 19 employees.

Leschine discovered what she named the "Q" microbe just 20 minutes away from her university lab in western Massachusetts. Thomas Warnick, a research assistant in Leschine's lab, took a soil sample from the shore of the Quabbin Reservoir and brought it back to the lab. The soil sample yielded a lollipop-shaped microbe with an uncommon ability to eat plant fibers and to give off ethanol and carbon dioxide as waste products. "Discovering a microbe that both produces enzymes to break down plant material and then ferments the carbohydrates to ethanol is regarded as the Holy Grail of biofuels production because of the cost savings," Leschine said.

SunEthanol, like many startup firms, relies on the research of scientists like Leschine. The firm has attracted investment from VeraSun Energy - one of the nation's biggest producers of ethanol derived from corn and used as motor fuel.

And, in May 2008, SunEthanol announced it had won a $100,000 Department of Energy research grant to help develop clean transportation fuels from a variety of non-food feedstocks, including corn stover, bagasse, switchgrass, sorghum, softwood (pine), and poplar. This is the third DOE grant that SunEthanol has won in the past year.

This newest DOE grant is a nine-month, Phase I Small Business Innovation Research project. It consists of five tasks planned as a collaborative effort between the company and two research universities: Texas A&M University and the school where SunEthanol got its start, the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

TSC Newsline is brought to you by The Science Coalition, a non-profit organization representing the nation’s leading public and private research universities. The Science Coalition is dedicated to sustaining the federal government’s commitment to U.S. leadership in basic science. For more information visit: www.sciencecoalition.org