Extension of Sbir and Sttr Authority

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5100, a simple bill to extend the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs for an additional year.

Over the course of its 40-year history, the SBIR and STTR have been among the Federal Government's most effective engines for driving innovation. By channeling a small portion of research and development budgets into highly competitive awards, the government is able to utilize our nimble and innovative small businesses to drive forward technological innovation and meet critical agency needs.

These programs have been endlessly scrutinized since their founding, but economic analysis has shown an overwhelmingly successful program with an outsized return on investment for taxpayers.

Unfortunately, the SBIR and STTR programs are set to expire on September 30. If these programs are allowed to expire, agencies would lose the ability to issue new awards, cutting off a vital source of early-stage funding for small businesses. It would also delay commercialization of promising technologies and weaken the United States' competitiveness with foreign adversaries.

Despite this fast-approaching deadline, negotiations for a comprehensive reauthorization are ongoing, and while I attempted to start the process early by introducing a bill last December, formal negotiations didn't start until last month.

There are many areas of overlapping priorities between the majority and minority on this bill. We share a desire to lower the barrier to entry for new entrants and bridging the valley of death for the most promising ideas.

However, there are some outstanding issues we are working through that will take additional time. That is why I am grateful to our chairman, Mr. Williams, as well as Chairman Babin and Ranking Member Lofgren for their support for a 1-year extension.

This program has always been bipartisan, and it is imperative that we continue to work together to bridge our differences in a thoughtful manner. A 1-year extension is the most responsible course forward, one that five out of six corners agree on. It gives agencies and small businesses the certainty they need, while giving us adequate time to make the best decisions we can.

While we have heard arguments that this could be added to the NDAA, the timeline simply does not make sense. The programs will expire long before final passage of the NDAA, and doing so will result in a lapse in the program, something that has never happened before.

A 1-year extension does not mean that the work ends. We will continue to be at the table, ready to negotiate and ultimately pass a bipartisan, bicameral comprehensive reauthorization.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by reminding everyone that this is a bipartisan program that has never seen a lapse in its over 40-year history. The House is taking the responsible step of extending this program for a year to give us time to negotiate a longer-term reauthorization.

I appreciate the partnership of Chairman Williams and of my colleagues on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Chairman Babin and Ranking Member Lofgren, for keeping this vital source of capital for our Nation's most promising innovators alive. I look forward to continuing discussions in the coming weeks and months to reach a bipartisan agreement.

Allowing this program to lapse is simply not an option. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this commonsense measure.

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