Senator authors bill to increase research spending
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(InfoWorld) - A U.S. senator plans to introduce a bill that seeks to increase funding for research and science education in an effort to kick start efforts to pass legislation to improve U.S. competitiveness. Senator John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, said he would introduce the National Competitiveness Investment Act Tuesday. The bill, with both Republican and Democratic co-sponsors, would increase funding for research and for math, science and technology education by about US$20 billion through 2011, an Ensign spokesman said. The bill would establish new research programs in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology and it would set a goal of 8 percent of the budgets of U.S. agencies that conduct research be directed toward a new Innovation Acceleration Research Program. The bill, which combines competitiveness ideas from several congressional committees, pumps up education programs in several agencies and authorizes a math improvement program for elementary and middle-school students endorsed by U.S. President George Bush. Parts of the bill come from Ensignâs American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, which the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved in May. "America has always been on the cutting edge of technology and innovation, but we are starting to fall behind," Ensign said in a statement. "It is critical that we embrace technology and ensure that our children receive a stronger education in the core subjects of mathematics and science. This legislation is a great step forward in securing our place as a global leader in innovation." Ensign's legislation, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, comes after technology trade groups the Technology CEO Council and TechNet have called on Congress to move ahead with competitiveness legislation. Earlier this month, TechNet applauded an early draft of the Ensign bill, while the Technology CEO Council sent a letter to congressional leaders, asking them to follow through on promises to pass competitiveness legislation this year. Both parties have pushed "innovation" agendas since late 2005 or early this year, but Congress has failed to pass a comprehensive competitiveness package. "It was important to have it in 2004, when we called for it," Technology CEO Council Executive Director Bruce Mehlman said of a competitiveness package. "It seems inconceivable the action will elude us yet again." Mehlman called on Congress to extend a research and development tax credit for U.S. companies and to increase the cap for foreign worker visas under the controversial H-1B program. Ensign's new bill doesn't address either of those issues, but it does increase funding for research, another concern of the trade group. "The time to act is now," Mehlman said earlier this month. "There's no good reason it can't happen ... since there's so much agreement on the merits and the substance."
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When Congress passed the $388 billion spending bill last weekend, it allotted $16.2 billion for NASA, including nearly full funding of projects related to the president&#39;s Vision for Space Exploration.
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It is barely a drop of ink in the gargantuan omnibus spending bill that Congress just passed. But a provision that would give the public free access to the results of federally funded biomedical research represents a sweet victory for a coalition of researchers and activists who lobbied for the l...
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WASHINGTON -- The US Senate yesterday hammered out a long-awaited bill that paves the way for generic versions of the world's most expensive drugs, while providing a 12-year financial cushion for local biotechnology leaders who worry that such lower-priced drugs would hurt sales of their name-brand products.
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By Walter C. Jones< Morris News Service  ATLANTA - Senators are trumpeting what they call a new approach this  year, introducing bills they say were recommended by members of the public.  Three came from a Web site, www.
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Republicans whisked a &#36;388 billion spending bill through Congress on Saturday, a mammoth measure that underscores the dominance of deficit politics by curbing dollars for everything from education to environmental cleanups.
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The 81-15 roll call Wednesday by which the Senate voted to pass a $464 billion spending bill.
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Security alliance asks for more funding for cybersecurity research and development.
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Spending on research will more than double this year, with a growing amount coming from the private sector.
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The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said Tuesday that he is pushing for an additional $50 billion over five years for a health care program that insures millions of children.
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The Senate passed a bill early Friday to increase aid to college students. The bill would give more money to Pell grant recipients, who are among the poorest
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By Henry J. Waters III, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.  Mar. 12--The raging debate over capital spending on college campuses has largely obscured equally important problems with the omnibus higher education bill being promoted by Republican Sen. Gary Nodler.
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Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation that would require makers of drugs and medical devices to register clinical trials of their products in a public database.
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Senators supporting a large spending increase for a popular children's health insurance program hope that a wide margin of bipartisan approval will persuade President Bush to change his mind about vetoing the measure.
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A senator suggested Tuesday that money federal health officials have sought to upgrade flu vaccine production is on the way - an effort to avoid another year like this one, when
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A Republican senator finds hundreds of scientists and studies questioning the consensus over dangerous global warming. Does it matter?.
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The House, in a bipartisan 344-51 vote, approved a $388 billion spending bill funding much of the federal government. The figure is 2 percent less than the same programs got last year.