[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
______
MEMBERS' DAY HEARING:
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE,
SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE,
AND TECHNOLOGY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
__________
Serial No. 117-32
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
45-603PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas, Chairwoman
ZOE LOFGREN, California FRANK LUCAS, Oklahoma,
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon Ranking Member
AMI BERA, California MO BROOKS, Alabama
HALEY STEVENS, Michigan, BILL POSEY, Florida
Vice Chair RANDY WEBER, Texas
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey BRIAN BABIN, Texas
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York ANTHONY GONZALEZ, Ohio
MELANIE A. STANSBURY, New Mexico MICHAEL WALTZ, Florida
BRAD SHERMAN, California JAMES R. BAIRD, Indiana
ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida
JERRY McNERNEY, California MIKE GARCIA, California
PAUL TONKO, New York STEPHANIE I. BICE, Oklahoma
BILL FOSTER, Illinois YOUNG KIM, California
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey RANDY FEENSTRA, Iowa
DON BEYER, Virginia JAKE LaTURNER, Kansas
CHARLIE CRIST, Florida CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida
SEAN CASTEN, Illinois JAY OBERNOLTE, California
CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania PETER MEIJER, Michigan
DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina JAKE ELLZEY, TEXAS
GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin VACANCY
DAN KILDEE, Michigan
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
C O N T E N T S
September 29, 2021
Opening Statements
Page
Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Chairwoman,
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of
Representatives................................................ 1
Written Statement............................................ 1
Statement by Representative Frank Lucas, Ranking Member,
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of
Representatives................................................ 2
Written Statement............................................ 2
Written statement by Representative Bill Posey, Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives.. 2
Written Statement by Representative Anna G. Eshoo, U.S. House of
Representatives................................................ 4
Witnesses:
Representative Melanie A. Stansbury, Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives
Oral Statement............................................... 4
Written Statement............................................ 5
Representative Ed Case, U.S. House of Representatives
Oral Statement............................................... 6
Written Statement............................................ 7
Discussion....................................................... 8
MEMBERS' DAY HEARING:
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE,
SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
----------
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
House of Representatives,
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
Washington, D.C.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:59 a.m., via
Zoom, Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson [Chairwoman of the Committee]
presiding.
Chairwoman Johnson. Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is
authorized to declare recess at any time. Pursuant to House
Resolution 8, today the Committee is meeting virtually. I want
to announce a couple of reminders to the Members about the
conduct of this remote meeting. First, Members should keep
their video feed on as long as they are present in the meeting.
Members are responsible for their own microphones, and please
also keep your microphones muted unless you are speaking. And
finally, if Members have documents they wish to submit to the
record, please mail them to the Committee Clerk, whose e-mail
address was circulated prior to the meeting.
Good morning. I'd like to welcome to the Member Day hearing
for the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology for the
117th Congress. This meeting is being held pursuant to House
Resolution 8, Section 3, and gives Members, including those not
on the Committee, the opportunity to come before us and discuss
proposed legislation under--and simply discuss interests and
priorities under the Committee's jurisdiction. We have Members
before us today to testify on a variety of policy areas and
bills, and also had Members submit testimony for the record. As
the Members of this Committee know, I welcome input from all
corners, and that includes Members both on and off the
Committee. I'd like to welcome our colleagues testifying before
us today, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts on these
very important policy areas.
[The prepared statement of Chairwoman Johnson follows:]
Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to the
Member Day Hearing for the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology for the 117th Congress. This hearing is being held
pursuant to House Rules, and gives Members, including those not
on the Committee, the opportunity to come before us and discuss
proposed legislation, or simply discuss interests and
priorities under the Committee's jurisdiction.
We have Members before us today to testify on a variety of
policy areas and bills, and we also had Members submit
testimony for the record.
As the Members of this Committee know, I welcome input from
all corners, and that includes Members both on and off the
Committee.
I would like to welcome our colleagues testifying before us
today. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on these very
important policy areas.
Chairwoman Johnson. I now recognize our Ranking Member, Mr.
Lucas, for an opening statement.
Mr. Lucas. Thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward to the
comments of our colleagues today. It's important that we hear
from Members. They, like you and I, represent and reflect the
interests and the focus of their constituents all across the
country. What they report to us, what they observe, matters,
and with that, I yield back so we can listen to our colleagues.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lucas follows:]
Thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward at the comments of
our colleagues today. It's important that we hear from Members.
They, like you and I, represent and reflect the interest and
the focus of their constituents all across the country. What
they report to us, what they observe, matters. And with that I
yield back so we can listen our colleagues. Thank you, Madam
Chair.
Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you. If there are Members who
wish to submit additional opening statements, your statements
will be added to the record at this point. Also, if there are
Members from off the Committee who have submitted statements, I
ask that they be inserted into the record for this hearing.
[The prepared statement of Representative Bill Posey
follows:]
Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Ranking Member Frank
Lucas,
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss with you an issue
of significance to Florida, my district, and our nation: The
threat of China. I urge the Committee to hold hearings and
support legislation to address this threat. The House Science,
Space, and Technology Committee needs to make sure that U.S.
taxpayer dollars are focused on Americans and that agencies are
pressed to put American companies first.
Back in March, this Committee approved amendments of mine
to H.R. 144, the Supporting Early-Career Researchers Act. The
amendments strengthen research opportunities for American
students studying STEM (science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics) and whose research has been impacted by the COVID-
19 pandemic. One amendment prioritizes American students,
because this bill funded only a small fraction of STEM graduate
students. This is important because American students generally
have higher amounts of student loan debt. Without my amendment,
some funding would have gone to Chinese students. It has since
passed the House and awaits consideration by the Senate.
The Committee also considered H.R. 3593, the Department of
Energy Science for the Future Act in June. One amendment that
was adopted prohibits funds going to state-owned (Chinese)
enterprises. It states that none of the funds authorized in
H.R. 3593 can be used to award federal contracts, grants, or
loans, to entities owned, controlled, or otherwise tied to a
corporation based in a nonmarket economy country or foreign
country of concern (i.e., China). The amendment would also
prohibit funds from going to entities listed under the Uyghur
Human Rights Policy Act of 2020. The bill has passed the House
and awaits consideration by the Senate.
H.R. 4609, the National Institute of Standards and
Technology for the Future Act was amended to include an
amendment to stop countries like China from gaming the system
by co-opting and subverting international standards-setting
bodies and placing the U.S. at a disadvantage. The amendment
maintains U.S. participation in these bodies where appropriate,
while providing guidance to the National Institute of Standards
and Technology regarding how those bodies it participates in
should operate with respect to Chinese participation. The
foundation of all our work with international partners must
include fairness for American companies. I urge this Committee
retain this amendment language as the bill proceeds.
When this Committee considered the Budget Reconciliation
bill, one of my amendments was adopted to protect the domestic
solar industry.Specifically, it reinforces the importance of
supporting technologies at all stages of the solar energy
supply chains. Today the majority of the world's silicone is
produced in China. To address this concern, the amendment
directs the Department of Energy to encourage U.S. production
of important materials, such as silicone, needed to help the
domestic solar industry. This same amendment will also help the
domestic semiconductor industry.
Unfortunately, the Committee failed to adopt an amendment
to require the NASA Inspector General to establish an
interagency task force of Inspectors General to investigate
Chinese interference.
Our nation's space capabilities are critical to our
economic competitiveness, national security, scientific
discovery, technological advancement, and the survival of our
species. So much of our modern- day life is dependent on
space--making a bank transaction, for example, or even a phone
call these days, requires using some type of space-faring
technology. From GPS, to life-saving medical research, and
advanced agriculture, hybrid car batteries, and even
Posturepedic mattresses, our investment in space, has spawned
some truly amazing innovations, and has an ongoing, positive
impact, on our nation, and the world.
It all started with the Gemini and Mercury missions, that
led to the Apollo Missions. And we will continue to benefit
from our accomplishments in space, when NASA returns to the
Moon with Artemis, as a steppingstone to reaching Mars, and
beyond.
The foundation for such a bold mission, is already being
laid, but NASA must continue to lead the way forward, with a
strong international partnership, that accomplishes the
mission, and inspires the rest of the world. However, China is
threatening with its Made in China 2025 and 2050 initiatives
designed to surpass the U.S., particularly when it comes to
space.
Space is the Ultimate Military High Ground, and whoever
controls space, will control the destiny of the free world, and
the degree to which freedom spreads, across the world.
The Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence
Community report stated, ``Beijing is working to match, or
exceed, U.S. capabilities in space, to gain the military,
economic, and prestige benefits, that Washington has accrued,
from space leadership.'' The same report expects a ``Chinese
space station, in low Earth orbit, to be operational between
2022 and 2024'' . . . and it ``conducted, and plans to conduct,
additional lunar exploration missions'' . . . China also
``intends to establish a robotic research station, on the Moon,
and later, an intermittently crewed lunar base.''
China also has plans to erode the U.S. military's
information advantage, by integrating its space services, and
satellite communications, into its weapons, and command-and-
control systems, according to the Annual Threat Assessment
report.
According to the 2020 U.S. Defense Space Strategy report,
China, and Russia, have weaponized space, as a means to reduce
U.S., and alliedpartners', freedom of operations in space. The
same report, claims China has tested, and proven, counterspace
capabilities, that threaten U.S., and allied partners',
satellites, and national security.
The U.S., and particularly our commercial space assets,
face cyber- attacks, from bad actors: Russia and China, in
particular. Foreign Governments like China have taken notice of
the U.S. space launch market growth, and have begun to fund
their own vehicles, to compete in the same market. Foreign
launch companies are heavily subsidized from their national
governments.
A strong domestic, commercial space industry, with
supporting prime contractors, that have large, and diverse
supplier networks, is in our national security interest.
Another way to promote U.S. space launches, and our domestic
space industry, is to simply get out of the way: to not impede
progress, with unnecessary red tape.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) has cost the lives of
hundreds of thousands of Americans and killed millions
worldwide that originated from China. It has disrupted the life
of every American, causing unprecedented economic harm and
costing Americans up to $16 trillion by an estimate in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
With no other Committee in the House investigating the
origins of COVID-19, the Investigations and Oversight
Subcommittee did hold a hearing on the origins of COVID-19 in
July. However, this Committee needs to hold a series of
hearings on this subject. There are few subjects more pressing
given the magnitude of the disruption and loss of life stemming
from this pandemic.
Thank you very much for your consideration of my views, and
I look forward to working with the Committee and my colleagues
on these threats posed by China.
[The prepared statement of Representative Anna G. Eshoo
follows:]
Thank you, Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas, for
giving me the opportunity to testify at today's Member Day
hearing, and I would like to discuss my legislation, the
National Civilian Medals Improvement Act.
Most Americans are familiar with the Nobel Prize, but few
know that the U.S. has its own National Civilian Medals for
science, technology, the arts, and humanities. Unlike the Nobel
Prize which is awarded annually, presidents have awarded the
National Civilian Medals inconsistently which I believe
contributes to the lack of awareness of these medals among the
public. In 2019, I wrote to then-President Trump urging him to
award the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of
Technology and Innovation, but he unfortunately never did
during his term. As such, these medals have not been awarded
for seven years which further tarnishes their reputation. This
is particularly disheartening given that every American has
benefited from the extraordinary work of scientists to protect
us from the Covid-19 pandemic by developing highly effective
vaccines so quickly.
My legislation addresses this problem by requiring each
medal to be awarded annually on a fixed schedule. To ensure the
prestige of the medals, the president is authorized to award
each medal to no more than five Americans every year. My
legislation also creates a new National Medal of Social
Sciences to ensure parity with similar awards. Although the
current National Medal of Science can be awarded to social
scientists, the vast majority have been awarded to academicians
in the ``hard sciences.'' Economists, psychologists,
historians, and other social scientists deserve equal
recognition for their work. The National Civilian Medals
Improvement Act will better recognize the many extraordinary
Americans who contribute to the arts and sciences of our
nation.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify, and I look
forward to working with you to advance this important
legislation.
Now to our testifying colleagues. We will have one panel,
and each of you will have five minutes for testimony. When you
have all completed your testimony, we will then open the floor
to questions from the attending Members of the Committee. We
will begin with the gentlelady from New Mexico, Ms. Stansbury.
Staff. Madam Chair, I think we're having some trouble
getting our testifying Members connected, so it might make
sense if we take a short recess until we can get them online.
Chairwoman Johnson. OK. Let me know.
Staff. OK. All right. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. I'm sorry.
Chairwoman Johnson. That's okay.
[Recess.]
Chairwoman Johnson. Well, thank you very much. We will now
hear from the gentlelady from New Mexico, Ms. Stansbury.
TESTIMONY OF THE HON. MELANIE STANSBURY,
A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
Ms. Stansbury. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and thank you
to the entire Committee. As one of the newest Members of this
Committee, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you
to you all for your tremendous support, and for helping me as
I've been getting settled here on the Committee. It's truly an
honor to be able to serve on the Science and Space and
Technology Committee, and I thank you for your collegial
support.
I'm excited to continue our science and technology work
over the course of this fall. We have a lot of important work
to do as a Committee to help ensure that we are building a
thriving STEM and S&T (science and technology) economy, not
only for our country, but for our home States, such as mine,
New Mexico, which has a thriving, growing S&T economy,
including two National Labs, a number of Air Force research
laboratories, an aerospace industry, and a tech industry. Our
National Labs in particular generate billions of dollars for
our local economies. They employ thousands of New Mexicans, and
are a cornerstone of our communities, in addition to being a
tremendous source of innovation in science and technology.
Sandia Labs, which is in my district, and which I have worked
with and have visited many times, is a powerhouse in research
and development, and technological innovation in
microelectronics, computing, energy generation, and energy
storage modeling, and many areas that are critical to our
national security in tackling some of our Nation's biggest
challenges.
To ensure that this research that happens at our labs, and
at the Department of Energy (DOE), can effectively translate
into on the ground solutions, and be deployed to solve our
country and our planet's biggest challenges, it's critical that
we leverage partnerships with academia, and industry, and
particularly our local and minority serving institutions to
accelerate the development and commercialization of these
technologies. That is why I am so proud to sponsor H.R. 4863,
which is the Partnerships for Energy Security and Innovation
Act--a bipartisan bill sponsored by many of the Members on this
Committee, and supported, of course, by our Chairman and
Ranking Member on this Committee, which would create a
foundation for the U.S. Department of Energy to leverage its
partnerships, and bring energy innovations to market, serving
rural and underserved communities, and facilitating the
commercialization of next generation technologies.
As our country and our planet are facing global and
national security threats, the--this effort is more important
than ever, and I am so excited and honored to be able to help
carry this bill, and ensure that we are taking the science and
technology, and research and development happening at our
National Laboratories out into our communities, and
transforming our ability to solve our biggest challenges. And
with that, Madam Chair, I yield back, and thank you so much for
the opportunity to speak about this bill.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Stansbury follows:]
Madam Chair, as one of the newest members of this
committee, I want to extend my thanks to you and each of our
colleagues on this committee. Since arriving in June, you have
all have welcomed me and have helped me find my footing
throughout a busy summer.
I am excited to continue supporting the Committee's work
this fall-which is vital to supporting and creating STEM jobs
in New Mexico and across the country.
New Mexico is the proud home of two Department of Energy
national labs, including Sandia National Laboratories in my
district.
Our National Laboratories generate billions of dollars for
our local economies, employ thousands of New Mexicans, and are
cornerstones of our communities.
This summer, I had the opportunity to tour Sandia to
witness all of the amazing work our lab is doing firsthand.
Sandia performs early-stage work in materials science,
microelectronics, energy generation, energy storage, computing,
and other areas that will help tackle some of our nation's and
communities' biggest challenges including climate change.
But to get these technologies from a concept of energy
storage to a next-generation electric battery in the cars we
drive every day means that our national labs need partners.
We have a role to play right here in this committee to help
transfer this technology funded by public dollars to be
accessible to the general public. That's why I was proud to
introduce the bipartisan Partnerships for Energy Security and
Innovation Act with Representative Young Kim and with the
support of the Chairwoman and Ranking Member.
This bipartisan bill would create a nonprofit foundation
for the U.S. Department of Energy built on previously
successful models and championed by New Mexicans. It would
channel research and innovation to institutions of higher
education and private sector partners in alignment with the
Department of Energy's mission.
One of the most important benefits that the Foundation
would provide to underserved communities-and the nation as a
whole-is a mechanism for accelerating the transition to new
energy technologies to market.
My constituents have felt the impacts of climate change
through an ongoing historic drought while others in the country
have faced record-breaking heat, devastating hurricanes, and
other extreme weather that demands we act now.
We must act to get new energy technologies to the market
and widely adopted to help fight climate change.
The ability to leverage private sector and philanthropic
contributions and pool resources from across a range of
different sectors to quickly move new technologies to the
market has been successfully implemented by other agencies.
We will all benefit by bringing this same tactic to the
Department of Energy.
As you continue putting together this committee's research
and technology competitiveness package, I ask that the
committee include the Partnerships for Energy Security and
Innovation Act in an upcoming hearing and include it in the
final package.
Chairwoman Johnson. Well thank you very much, and we'll go
now to Mr. Chase of Hawai`i before we get to questions. So, Ms.
Stansbury, if you'll just stand by? Mr. Chase--Case?
TESTIMONY OF THE HON. EDWARD CASE,
A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF HAWAI`I
Mr. Case. Thank you so much, Chair Johnson, and Ranking
Member Lucas, and Members of the Committee, and mahalo for the
opportunity to share my thoughts with the Committee on climate
change, especially as it relates to our oceans, which is, of
course, a critical issue impacting my home State of Hawai`i.
We are, of course, severely impacting our climate through
our actions. Throughout our Nation this year we've seen record
temperatures, expansive droughts, massive wildfires, increased
hurricanes, and more. This has, of course, tragically led to
the deaths of many Americans, and affected the lives and
livelihoods of many more. These weather events will only
increase in frequency and severity on our present course.
In my home State of Hawai`i we are on the front lines of
the fight against climate change because of its severe effects
on our fragile ecosystems, especially our oceans. Ocean
acidification is killing off our native reefs and shellfish,
ocean rise is washing away our beaches and threatening roads
and communities, and increasing temperatures are having effects
such as pushing mosquitoes and other invasive species further
into our native forests, killing more and more of our endemic
endangered species.
I want to thank this Committee for your leadership on
climate-related issues to help protect Hawai`i from these
threats. Your work and investments in climate science research
and observation technology have focused squarely on the
challenges we're facing. For example, continued congressional
support for NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's) Mauna Loa Observatory on the island of
Hawai`i over decades has confirmed the existence, extent, and
pace of climate change. Earlier this year Mauna Loa recorded
atmospheric CO2 levels exceeding 470--417 parts per
million, which is 50 percent higher than the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, and it's on an accelerating course.
I speak before you today to request that this Committee
make sure to include our oceans in your future climate work.
Perhaps this is not always top of mind to many people, but
oceans cover 71 percent of our Earth's surface. Government
scientists agree that oceans are critical in climate change,
since they absorb solar radiation and release heat needed to
drive the atmospheric circulation. They absorb carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere and store it for years to millions of
years, and our ocean greatly impacts weather events, from
hurricanes to droughts.
To help do my part, together with other colleagues on a
bipartisan basis, I'm an original co-sponsor of H.R. 3764, the
Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act, H.R. 3906, the Blue Carbon
Protection Act, and H.R. 3748, the Blue Globe Act. These
measures would help restore marine and coastal ecosystems, make
coastal communities more resilient, and conserve marine mammal
and fish populations. These bills have all been referred to my
Natural Resources Committee, but they've also been referred to
this Committee. Your input, and markup, and serious attention
to these measures are critical to their success, given your
expertise in research and development, and scientific issues
more broadly. Their advancement is important to assisting
coastal communities and constituencies like mine adapt to new
realities of higher sea level, increased flooding, and depleted
fish stocks.
Furthermore, your continued investment in monitoring and
forecasting can help us mitigate climate change effects until
we develop long term solutions. I grew up in the town of Hilo,
Hawai`i on the coast on the island of Hawai`i, and I remember
personally the 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people in my
hometown. Because of the excellent work of the National Weather
Service and other Federal agencies, while we have had tsunamis
since then, we have not seen a tragedy of that nature in
America on that scale since. We can follow this model to help
develop ways to save lives as we confront climate change head
on in this Congress and beyond.
In closing, thank you again for your leadership in
addressing the science of climate change, and work toward
advancing American innovation to address climate-related
issues. I look forward to continuing to work with you on this
critical issue that is affecting all of our constituencies, and
especially our oceans. Thank you very much. I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Case follows:]
Chairwoman Johnson, Ranking Member Lucas and members of the
Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with the
Committee on climate change, especially as it relates to our
oceans, which is a critical issue impacting my home state of
Hawai`i.
We are of course severely impacting our climate through our
actions. Throughout our nation this year, we've seen record
temperatures, expansive droughts, massive wildfires, increased
hurricanes and more. This has tragically led to the deaths of
many Americans and affected the lives and livelihoods of many
more. These weather events will only increase in frequency and
severity on our present course.
In my home state of Hawai`i, we are on the front line of
the fight against climate change because of its severe effect
on our fragile ecosystems, especially our oceans. Ocean
acidification is killing off our native reefs and shellfish;
ocean rise is washing away our beaches and threatening roads
and communities; and increasing temperatures are pushing
mosquitos and other invasive pests further into native forest,
killing more and more endemic endangered species.
I want to thank this Committee for your leadership on
climate-related issues to help protect Hawai`i from these
threats. Your work and the investments in climate science
research and observation technology have focused squarely the
challenges we're facing. For example, continued Congressional
support for NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory on the Island of
Hawai`i has confirmed the existence, extent and pace of climate
change. Earlier this year, the observatory recorded atmospheric
CO2 levels exceeding 417 parts per million.
This is 50% higher than when humanity began the Industrial
Revolution, and it will only rise if we do nothing to stem
emissions.
I sit before you today to request that this Committee make
sure to include our oceans in your future climate work. While
not top of mind for many who do not live near the coasts,
oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth's surface. Government
scientists agree that oceans are critical in climate change
since they absorb solar radiation and release heat needed to
drive the atmospheric circulation. They absorb carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere and store it for years to millions of
years, and our ocean greatly impact weather events from
hurricanes to droughts.
To help do my part, I am an original cosponsor of H.R.
3764, the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act; H.R. 3906, the
Blue Carbon Protection Act; and H.R. 3748, the BLUE GLOBE Act.
These measures would help restore marine and coastal
ecosystems, make coastal communities more resilient and
conserve marine mammal and fish populations.
While these bills have all been referred to my Natural
Resources Committee, they have also been referred to this
Committee. Your markup and input on these measures are critical
to their success given your expertise in research and
development and scientific issues more broadly. Their
advancement is important to assisting coastal constituencies,
like mine, adapt to new realities of higher sea levels,
increased flooding and depleted fish stocks.
Furthermore, your continued investment in monitoring and
forecasting can help us mitigate climate change's effects until
we develop long- term solutions. I remember the 1960 tsunami
that killed 61 people in my hometown of Hilo, Hawai`i. Because
of the excellent work of the National Weather Service and other
Federal agencies, we have not had a tsunami tragedy in America
of that scale since. We can follow this model to help develop
ways to save lives as we confront climate change head-on in
this Congress and beyond.
In closing, thank you for your leadership in addressing the
science of climate change and work toward advancing American
innovation to address climate-related issues. I look forward to
continuing to work with you on this critical issue that is
affecting all of our constituents and our oceans.
Mahalo.
Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you very much. At this point
we'll begin our question period, and I will first recognize
myself for panel questions.
Ms. Stansbury, how would the foundation concept enable DOE
to be more effective toward--to more effectively address the
climate crisis?
Ms. Stansbury. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. This bill
creates a quasi-private foundation based on a model that has
been deployed in many other partnership models with other
agencies, as well as public/private partnerships that help to
commercialize various technologies. As we all know, our labs
are sources for a tremendous amount of research and development
and innovation; and so, what this bill does is create a
foundation process to help foster those public/private
partnerships with local universities, especially minority-
serving and Tribal colleges and universities, and historically
Black colleges and others, so that we're getting that science
and technology into our local academic institutions, and
helping to commercialize the science that's being produced
through our labs.
So how that ultimately will help us solve the challenges of
climate change is our National Laboratories are doing a
tremendous amount of modeling, research and development,
looking at the impacts of climate change, understanding how
climate processes are happening, and by transferring that
information and those technologies to our local institutions,
it will help to translate that information into solutions that
can be deployed in our communities--so, helping to solve issues
around drought, and food security, wildfires, and other issues
that are being impacted by climate change.
Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you very much. Mr. Case, the
Science Committee has held many productive ocean-related
hearings, and are working on significant ocean-related bills.
We've talked about the importance of the ocean in the Earth
systems, and the ocean/climate nexus. On June 7 we held a
hearing entitled ``Defining a National Ocean Shot: Accelerating
Ocean and Great Lakes Science and Technology''. Earlier this
year we passed Ms. Bonamici's Coast Research Act out of the
House, and I'm committed to working with you and Chairman
Grijalva of the Committee on Natural Resources to move these
important cross-jurisdictional ocean bills, including our
forthcoming Ocean Exploration bill. In the gentleman's informed
opinion, what would you say would be the most important ocean
science questions you think the Science Committee should
address?
Mr. Case. Well, I think--thank you so much, Madam Chair,
and, first of all, I do definitely want to again recognize the
work of this Committee to date. You've been real leaders on
this issue. You have been entirely cognizant, and fully
appreciative, of the oceans from a climate change perspective,
you collectively, and it has been a wonderful working
partnership from that perspective.
I guess what I would say to you is that when--of course,
when we talk about the oceans, the oceans are not some
integrated, you know, separate ecosystem from the land, and
from our air. And so I guess I would answer you very, very
generally, which is your broader work on climate change is
obviously critical to the oceans, as well as every other part
of our global ecosystem, and so I don't want to get away from
that at all.
I definitely believe that your emphasis on research and
development, in terms of climate change with specific regard to
impacts on the oceans, is invaluable because it does
demonstrate the actual effect of climate change--which many of
us don't perceive in the oceans because, you know, we don't
tend to go into the oceans; I do, but many of us don't--it's
critical from just appreciating the acidification, the increase
in temperatures in our oceans, the impacts on coastal
communities. That research and development proves a cause and
effect, you know, relationship that I think is critical from
that perspective, together with your broader research.
Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you very much. Now I'll open the
floor to anyone on the Committee who has a question of our
testifying colleagues. Mr. Lucas, would you like to be
recognized? You're muted.
Mr. Lucas. Better now, Madam Chair, I hope.
Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you. Yes.
Mr. Lucas [continuing]. Allocating me time. I'd simply say
to my colleagues I appreciate the input that both of you
offered. It's important to the Committee. In particular,
Congressman Case, some years ago, when I was a Subcommittee
Chairman on Agriculture, you and I conducted a hearing
addressing the Agriculture Conservation Programs, and the
unique nature of Hawai`i and the islands. Would you remind us
today about the climate--the different climate zones? When
you're on the island, you literally have everything from
rainforests, potentially, to arid deserts, or semi-arid. If
you'd mention a few details about that, the unique challenges
in Hawai`i?
Mr. Case. Well, first of all, Congressman, it was great to
host you in Hawai`i in conjunction with our--both of our
membership then on the Agriculture Committee, and I really
appreciated your interest and attention to unique challenges of
agriculture in tropical parts of our country. Which, again, is
not most of our country, but we certainly have our specialty
agriculture. You saw that in spades, and your visit is
remembered, by the way.
So in Hawai`i, and this is relevant to our conversation, we
have all of the microclimates of the world in one place. We go
from, you know, alpine to mountain, to deep tropical
rainforest, to desert, and everywhere in between. And, by the
way, this goes out into the ocean, so we have many, many of the
characteristics of the ocean in one place as well. We have
certainly the near shore tropical world of, you know, corals
and tropical fish, but we go very quickly to deep ocean, where
we have impacts from climate change in our deep oceans, and
this is within our, you know, EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).
And so really, you know, from a positive and a negative
perspective, excuse me, on the positive side, you've got every
impact of climate change there is out there in a very small
area, which makes the research and development that we do in
Hawai`i really integral to our international understanding. On
the negative side, we get impacted on a lot of different ways.
And, to your point on agriculture, as one very specific area, I
spoke to it a little bit earlier, but as the climate changes,
as the temperature changes, those microclimes adjust to that,
and the agriculture adjusts to that, and the invasive species
that we have adjust to that as well.
I've made mention of the fact that we saw mosquitoes and
other pests coming deeper into native forests, where the
natural flora and fauna never had to deal with mosquitoes
before. And so, as a result--and I think it's pretty clearly
directly impacted by climate change, and increased air
temperatures, which are causing that, we are seeing
devastation. And that is true also in our agriculture in
Hawai`i. So there are broad-ranging effects that you can see a
very, you know, very small and confined area in Hawai`i. I'm
sure this is the case in many, many parts of our country and
world, but I happen to live it, so I see it.
Mr. Lucas. I thank you both, and I yield back, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you very much. Anyone else
seeking time? Well, hearing none, I will bring this meeting to
a close. And I want to thank the Members for their attendance,
and this really concludes our Member Day hearing. Thank you
again.
Mr. Case. Thank you very much.
Ms. Stansbury [continuing]. Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Johnson. Does someone seek recognition? Okay.
[Whereupon, at 10:24 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]