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Press Statement 14-003
National Science Board Statement on the Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology Act of 2014 (H.R. 4186)
National Science Board statement on FIRST Act (Credit and Larger Version)
April 24, 2014
The National Science Board (NSB) appreciates the historic strong commitment of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and to the research that NSF supports. In the face of global challenges to our Nation's scientific leadership, NSF must maintain an unwavering focus on enabling scientific breakthroughs and on supporting the next generation of scientists. These scientists' discoveries will underpin the health of the United States long into the future, especially with respect to its economic growth, prosperity, and security.
However, we are concerned that elements of the Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology (FIRST) Act do not advance those goals. In fact, some of its provisions and tone suggest that Congress intends to impose constraints that would compromise NSF's ability to fulfill its statutory purpose. Some elements of the bill would also impose significant new burdens on scientists that would not be offset by gains to the nation. Our greatest concern is that the bill's specification of budget allocations to each NSF Directorate would significantly impede NSF's flexibility to deploy its funds to support the best ideas in fulfillment of its mission to "promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense; and for other purposes."
The Board agrees that accountability and transparency are foundational to any Federal agency's mission. In the case of NSF's grant-making processes, accountability and transparency can improve both public appreciation of science and the agency's ability to deliver science in the national interest. Toward these ends, NSF management and the National Science Board are implementing new processes that will increase both transparency and accountability. We therefore do not see a need to impose new, more inflexible, legislated requirements on NSF and our science and engineering communities. We are concerned that the proposed new legislative requirements might discourage visionary proposals or transformative science at a time when advancing the decades-long U.S. leadership in science and technology is a top priority.
Since 1950, NSF has delivered enormous value to U.S. taxpayers by relying on rigorous merit review to identify the most promising research ideas across all disciplines. That value is rooted in the passion, integrity, and curiosity of our nation's scientists and engineers who conduct research with high standards of ethical conduct and accountability. Our national competitiveness, defense, and prosperity have always been and will continue to be energized by scientific leadership. Every day our researchers ask breathtaking questions about the world around us, about our genes, our brains, and about society as a whole. They are poised to take the lead in answering many of these questions, even when global collaborations are required. It is critical to our nation's future that U.S. scientists have the freedom and flexibility necessary to pursue those leadership roles effectively.
Generations of scientists, engineers, and public servants have shaped the National Science Foundation into an unsurpassed engine that drives economic competitiveness and national well-being through the progress of science. As stewards of this exceptional agency, which is a role model for the world, the NSB is committed to engage with the Administration and the Congress to ensure scientific progress continues for generations to come.
Dan E. Arvizu, Chairman, Director and Chief Executive, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado Kelvin K. Droegemeier, Vice Chairman, Vice President for Research, Regents' Professor of Meteorology and Weathernews Chair Emeritus, University of Oklahoma, Norman Deborah L. Ball, William H. Payne Collegiate Chair, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Dean of the School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Bonnie L. Bassler, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, New Jersey Arthur Bienenstock, Professor Emeritus of Photon Science, Stanford University, California Ray M. Bowen, President Emeritus, Texas A&M University, College Station and Visiting Distinguished Professor, Rice University, Houston, Texas Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google Ruth David, President and Chief Executive Officer, Analytic Services, Inc., Arlington, Virginia Inez Fung, Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of California, Berkeley Esin Gulari, Dean of Engineering and Science, Clemson University, South Carolina G. Peter Lepage, Professor of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Executive Publisher, Science, Washington, DC W. Carl Lineberger, E.U. Condon Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Fellow of JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder Stephen Mayo, Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry; Chair, Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena G.P. "Bud" Peterson, President, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Douglas D. Randall, Professor Emeritus and Thomas Jefferson Fellow and Director Emeritus, Interdisciplinary Plant Group, University of Missouri, Columbia Geraldine Richmond, Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene Anneila I. Sargent, Ira S. Bowen Professor of Astronomy and Vice President for Student Affairs, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Diane L. Souvaine, Vice Provost for Research, Professor of Computer Science, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts Arnold F. Stancell, Vice President Mobil Oil (Retired), Turner Professor Emeritus of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Claude M. Steele, Dean, School of Education, Stanford University, California Robert J. Zimmer, President, University of Chicago, Illinois Maria T. Zuber, E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and Vice President for Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge |
-NSF-
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