[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 109 (Monday, July 14, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6147-H6149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFICIENCY ACT
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 5056) to improve the efficiency of Federal research and
development, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5056
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Research and Development
Efficiency Act''.
SEC. 2. REGULATORY EFFICIENCY.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) high and increasing administrative burdens and costs in
Federal research administration, particularly in the higher
education sector where most federally sponsored research is
performed, are eroding funds available to carry out basic
scientific research;
(2) progress has been made over the last decade in
streamlining the pre-award grant application process through
Grants.gov, the Federal Government's website portal;
(3) post-award administrative costs have grown as Federal
research agencies have continued to impose agency-unique
compliance and reporting requirements on researchers and
research institutions;
(4) facilities and administration costs at research
universities can exceed 50 percent of the total value of
Federal research grants, and it is estimated that nearly 30
percent of the funds invested annually in federally funded
research is consumed by paperwork and other administrative
processes required by Federal agencies; and
(5) it is a matter of critical importance to American
competitiveness that administrative costs of federally funded
research be streamlined so that a higher proportion of
taxpayer dollars flow into direct research activities.
(b) In General.--The Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy shall establish a working group under the
authority of the National Science and Technology Council, to
include the Office of Management and Budget. The working
group shall be responsible for reviewing Federal regulations
affecting research and research universities and making
recommendations on how to--
(1) harmonize, streamline, and eliminate duplicative
Federal regulations and reporting requirements; and
(2) minimize the regulatory burden on United States
institutions of higher education performing federally funded
research while maintaining accountability for Federal tax
dollars.
(c) Stakeholder Input.--In carrying out the
responsibilities under subsection (b), the working group
shall take into account input and recommendations from non-
Federal stakeholders, including federally funded and
nonfederally funded researchers, institutions of higher
education, scientific disciplinary societies and
associations, nonprofit research institutions, industry,
including small businesses, federally funded research and
development centers, and others with a stake in ensuring
effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability in the
performance of scientific research.
(d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years,
the Director shall report to the Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce,
[[Page H6148]]
Science, and Transportation of the Senate on what steps have
been taken to carry out the recommendations of the working
group established under subsection (b).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5056, the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleague, chairman of the
Research and Technology Subcommittee, Larry Bucshon, in support of this
legislation, which reduces the regulatory burden faced by researchers
and research universities.
In its recently released report, the Federal Demonstration
Partnership found that researchers devote 42 percent of their time to
administrative tasks. Answering Federal regulatory and reporting
requirements takes away from time spent on the conduct of science.
H.R. 5056 requires the Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy to establish a working group under the National
Science and Technology Council to review Federal regulations that
affect research and research universities. The working group is tasked
with making recommendations on how to harmonize, streamline, and
eliminate duplicative Federal regulations and reporting requirements,
and making recommendations on how to minimize the regulatory burden on
research institutions.
H.R. 5056 is an important step to ensure Federal research dollars are
being spent on research and not on regulatory requirements. I encourage
my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5056, the Research and
Development Efficiency Act.
I would like to thank my colleagues, Mr. Bucshon and Mr. Peters, for
introducing this important bill. As ranking member of the Subcommittee
on Research and Technology, I have also been working on a topic of
research regulations for some time, and I am pleased to be a cosponsor
of this bill.
Recent reports have found that federally funded researchers face
significant administrative burdens, spending about 40 percent of their
time on paperwork instead of what they do best, which is conducting
research. This could mean a delay in research progress and lengthening
the time for the next scientific breakthrough. It is certainly not the
best use of some of our Nation's greatest science and engineering
talent or of taxpayers' investment in that talent.
I want to stress that administrative requirements are very important
and many are in place for a reason. We must have a system that ensures
that human participants are being protected and our resources are being
used wisely. We have heard from those most affected by these
requirements, and they fully agree.
That being said, we also agree that we need to find the right balance
that meets our safety and accountability goals, but still allows
researchers to advance science for the good of the Nation. Right now,
we are not striking the appropriate balance.
H.R. 5056 was originally introduced by Chairman Bucshon as part of
the FIRST Act. The America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2014, which
Ranking Member Johnson introduced and I cosponsored, had very similar
language with the same goal.
This bill requires the Office of Science and Technology Policy to
establish a working group of Federal research agencies to figure out
how to better standardize and streamline the administrative
requirements on their grantees. Mr. Peters helped strengthen the
provision during the subcommittee consideration of the FIRST Act with
an amendment that ensured that those stakeholders who are affected by
all of the requirements have a means to provide input and
recommendations to the agency working group. The result is the
bipartisan bill that we are considering today.
Through a recent OMB process to overhaul their guidance on
requirements for Federal grants and contracts, some progress has been
made to streamline and harmonize administrative tasks. Some agencies
are taking additional steps on their own, for example, considering
requiring certain administrative information from researchers only if
the proposal has been through scientific merit review and is likely to
be awarded. These are important efforts, but significant work remains.
Every week in the Science Committee we hear expert testimony on
challenges with no easy solution. The challenge of having a patchwork
of uncoordinated and sometimes duplicative administrative burdens on
federally funded researchers should be a solvable problem. H.R. 5056 is
a very important step in the right direction.
Once again, I want to thank Chairman Bucshon and Mr. Peters for their
leadership on this issue. I urge my colleagues to support their
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume
to the gentleman from Indiana, Dr. Bucshon, who is also the chairman of
the Research and Technology Subcommittee of the Science Committee and
the sponsor of this legislation.
Mr. BUCSHON. Thank you, Chairman Smith.
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to work on this bipartisan effort to
reduce the administrative burden placed on federally funded
researchers.
Last year, in my new role as the chairman of the Subcommittee on
Research and Technology, I participated in a university tour across the
State of Indiana. This tour focused on federally funded research in the
State of Indiana, and included Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and
Indiana State University, both located in Terre Haute, Indiana, and the
University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana, both
in Evansville, Indiana, and the issues of concern these higher
education institutions have surrounding federally funded research.
Along with the input I received during last year's tour, we have also
received feedback and input at various hearings the committee has held
pertaining to this regulatory burden.
{time} 1545
This legislation would establish a working group to review Federal
regulations that affect these universities and others. The working
group would be required to obtain input from stakeholders, including
federally and non-federally funded researchers, higher education
institutions, small businesses, and scientific disciplinary societies.
The bill also requires a report on what steps are taken to carry out
the recommendations of the working group.
I would like to thank Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Johnson, my
colleague Mr. Peters from California, and my colleague Mr. Lipinski
from Illinois for their work on the bill. I am hopeful this bipartisan
legislation can see movement in the Senate and that, from there, we can
help to alleviate some of the burden placed on our research
universities so they can get back to the main goal of conducting basic
science research.
Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Chairman Bucshon and
Chairman Smith for their work not just on this bill but on the series
of bills that we are considering today.
The Research and Technology Subcommittee, which Chairman Bucshon is
chairman of and I am ranking member of, has been very active in this
Congress. We had been working on the first act, and I am very happy
that, although there were some disagreements on that bill, which did
pass through committee, that, today, we are considering pieces of that
bill and other legislation that we have worked on, in a bipartisan
manner, on that subcommittee and on this committee. I am very happy we
have been able to do that.
[[Page H6149]]
There is a lot that we need to accomplish and that we are moving
forward on accomplishing now on the Science, Space, and Technology
Committee. I want to thank Chairman Smith and Chairman Bucshon for all
of their work, and, hopefully, that will continue as we move forward in
this Congress.
I urge my colleagues to pass this bill, and I yield back the balance
of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman, the
ranking member of the subcommittee, for his very generous comments.
They are much appreciated. We have lots to thank him for as well on
this bill and on many other bills on which he has shown a leadership
role and on which he has contributed much to many bills under
consideration today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 5056.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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