Reauthorization of America COMPETES Act Tops Committee's Agenda

House Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) said the top priority for his committee is the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act; he hopes to move the bill through the House before the Memorial Day recess.

COMPETES is the landmark legislation, signed into law in 2007, based on recommendations from the National Academies. It aims to strengthen our national economic competitiveness through investments in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education; it sets our science research agencies on a doubling path (NIST, NSF, and DOE Office of Science); and it addresses the need for innovation in the energy sector by creating an Advanced Research projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) to pursue high-risk, high-reward energy technology development.