America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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I thank Chairman Smith for yielding me time to speak on this important legislation that is on the floor today.

Mr. Chair, H.R. 1806, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015, authorizes the science and energy research programs at the Department of Energy, providing funding for research and development conducted in our universities and national labs across the country.

DOE is the largest Federal supporter of basic research in the physical sciences and provides user facilities for over 31,000 scientific researchers each year.

The America COMPETES Act prioritizes funding for the Office of Science, which conducts critical research in high energy physics, advanced scientific computing, biological and environmental research, nuclear physics, fusion energy sciences, and basic energy sciences.

This basic R&D has broad applications for our economy and for our national security, providing tools and user facilities for researchers in all energy fields.

The America COMPETES Act also reauthorizes the Department's applied energy programs in nuclear energy, fossil energy, energy efficiency and renewable energy, and electricity research and development.

By prioritizing research and development in these programs, we can maximize Federal dollars and leave commercialization and deployment to the private sector, Mr. Chairman, which has the most incentive to bring new, cost-effective, and efficient technologies to market.

This legislation is fiscally responsible and cuts funding to lower-priority and duplicative programs like EERE, which has grown by almost 60 percent in the last decade. With our national debt of $18 trillion and rising, Congress must prioritize fundamental research to lay the foundation for the next technological breakthrough.

We simply cannot afford to spend limited Federal dollars on promoting today's technology. This is so yesterday when we do that. Instead of duplicating work that could be done in the private sector, the America COMPETES Act prioritizes basic research and development with broad application to all forms of energy and energy efficiencies.

Mr. Chairman, over the past 5 months, the Science Committee has held hearings on the Department of Energy research and development for advanced nuclear reactors, high-performance computing, energy efficiency and renewable energy, energy storage, and the Department of Energy budget proposal. With limited time, this Science Committee in this Congress has conducted five hearings in support of this legislation, prioritizing oversight of the DOE programs authorized in this bill.

By supporting the America COMPETES Act, Congress can promote fundamental research, build a foundation for the private sector to bring innovative new technologies to market, and grow the American economy.

I urge my colleagues to support the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act.

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