[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 77 (Tuesday, May 19, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H3366-H3367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION ACT OF 2015

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1156) to authorize the establishment of a body under the 
National Science and Technology Council to identify and coordinate 
international science and technology cooperation opportunities, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1156

       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 ``International Science and 
     Technology Cooperation Act of 2015''.

     SEC. 2. COORDINATION OF INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
                   PARTNERSHIPS.

       (a) Establishment.--The Director of the Office of Science 
     and Technology Policy shall establish or designate a working 
     group under the National Science and Technology Council with 
     the responsibility to identify and coordinate international 
     science and technology cooperation that can strengthen the 
     United States science and technology enterprise, improve 
     economic and national security, and support United States 
     foreign policy goals.
       (b) NSTC Working Group Membership.--The working group 
     established under subsection (a) shall be co-chaired by 
     officials from the Office of Science and Technology Policy 
     and the Department of State.
       (c) Responsibilities.--The working group established under 
     subsection (a) shall--
       (1) plan and coordinate interagency international science 
     and technology cooperative research and training activities 
     and partnerships supported or managed by Federal agencies and 
     work with other National Science and Technology Council 
     committees to help plan and coordinate the international 
     component of national science and technology priorities;
       (2) establish Federal priorities and policies for aligning, 
     as appropriate, international science and technology 
     cooperative research and training activities and partnerships 
     supported or managed by Federal agencies with the foreign 
     policy goals of the United States;
       (3) identify opportunities for new international science 
     and technology cooperative research and training partnerships 
     that advance both the science and technology and the foreign 
     policy priorities of the United States;
       (4) in carrying out paragraph (3), solicit input and 
     recommendations from non-Federal science and technology 
     stakeholders, including universities, scientific and 
     professional societies, industry, and relevant organizations 
     and institutions; and
       (5) identify broad issues that influence the ability of 
     United States scientists and engineers to collaborate with 
     foreign counterparts, including barriers to collaboration and 
     access to scientific information.
       (d) Report to Congress.--The Director of the Office of 
     Science and Technology Policy shall transmit a report, to be 
     updated every 2 years, to the Committee on Science, Space, 
     and Technology and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
     House of Representatives, and to the Committee on Commerce, 
     Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate. The report shall also be made 
     available to the public on the reporting agency's website. 
     The report shall contain a description of--
       (1) the priorities and policies established under 
     subsection (c)(2);
       (2) the ongoing and new partnerships established since the 
     last update to the report;
       (3) the means by which stakeholder input was received, as 
     well as summary views of stakeholder input; and
       (4) the issues influencing the ability of United States 
     scientists and engineers to collaborate with foreign 
     counterparts.

  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. 1156, the bill now 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.
  H.R. 1156, the International Science and Technology Cooperation Act 
of 2015, directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy to 
establish a working group to identify and coordinate international 
science and technology efforts to strengthen the U.S. research 
enterprise.

[[Page H3367]]

  I thank the ranking member of the Research and Technology 
Subcommittee, Mr. Lipinski, for introducing this bill. I also thank the 
subcommittee's vice chair, Mr. Moolenaar, the ranking member of the 
full committee, Ms. Johnson, as well as our colleagues Mr. Hultgren, 
Ms. Esty, and Mr. Swalwell for being bipartisan cosponsors.
  The Office of Science and Technology Policy, in coordination with the 
State Department, represents the United States in bilateral and 
multilateral meetings with foreign nations. It works closely with 
government science agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and 
independent research and scientific institutions to promote science and 
technology initiatives and to strengthen global science cooperation.
  H.R. 1156 improves our Nation's collaborative efforts with 
international partners on scientific issues. While many Federal 
agencies are engaged with international partners on science and 
technology projects, there is a need to coordinate these projects 
across the Federal Government. Better collaboration with our partners 
will strengthen U.S. scientific activities and further promote the free 
exchange of ideas with other nations. Interagency coordination ensures 
that taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and that U.S. priorities are 
consistently addressed when working with our international partners on 
science and technology issues.
  Science and technology research addresses some of the major 
challenges that face our Nation, including public health, energy 
production, national security, and economic development. Coordinated 
international collaboration on scientific issues, which H.R. 1156 
promotes, also will improve economic and national security and support 
U.S. foreign policy goals.
  Again, I want to thank Mr. Lipinski for his continued hard work on 
this issue. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 1156, the International Science and 
Technology Cooperation Act, which I reintroduced earlier this year.
  A similar bill, which I authored in the last Congress, passed the 
House with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 346-41. I am 
hopeful that we can do the same this week and then work to get this 
bill through the Senate and onto the President's desk.
  I want to thank Mr. Moolenaar for cosponsoring this bill with me, and 
I thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Johnson for helping advance 
it through the Science, Space, and Technology Committee and for getting 
it to the House floor.
  Mr. Speaker, the laws of science know no political boundaries. While 
the United States arguably has the most brilliant scientists in the 
world and has developed some of the greatest technology, no country has 
a monopoly on great minds in science and technology. So, if we want to 
advance science in ways that benefit Americans and the rest of the 
world, we need to encourage international collaboration.
  Improvements in areas such as energy security, infectious diseases, 
space exploration, telecommunications and the Internet, and many more 
are due, in part, to international cooperation, to the benefit of all 
nations involved. By collaborating with international partnerships on 
science, we also strengthen the U.S. scientific enterprise, which helps 
us get the best return on our research investment.
  In addition, international collaborations make possible research 
endeavors on a grander scale than the U.S. can accomplish on its own. 
For example, CERN, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National 
Science Foundation signed a cooperative agreement 2 weeks ago expanding 
their collaboration on particle physics. Not only will this provide for 
our scientists to continue work at the highest energy accelerator in 
the world at CERN, it will also allow CERN to provide equipment to an 
upcoming neutrino experiment at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois.
  CERN was the site of one of the most significant technological 
advances that impacts us every day. At CERN in 1989, Tim Berners-Lee 
was working on the problem of allowing international researchers to see 
data instantaneously around the globe. The solution that was developed 
was the World Wide Web, which has completely transformed the way we 
communicate and get information today.
  H.R. 1156 makes more collaborations like this possible. It requires 
the National Science and Technology Council at the White House to 
continue to maintain a working group to coordinate the U.S. interagency 
strategy for international science and technology cooperation. Many 
Federal agencies already work with international counterparts on 
scientific and technological issues, but, until recently, there was no 
coordinating body to identify new partnerships and to fully leverage 
existing collaborations.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important that we find ways to collaborate with 
other countries on scientific discoveries that push the boundaries of 
knowledge and improve our lives. This bill will do that. I urge my 
colleagues to support the bill.
  Again, I want to thank the chairman for his support on this. As I 
said, we have passed this bill before with wide bipartisan support. I 
am very hopeful we can do that again today.
  International cooperation is very critical to doing more than we 
alone can do. We have, arguably, the best researchers in the world, 
producing the most advanced technology, but in working together with 
others, we can do even more than we have. The impact that it can have 
on the everyday lives of Americans is tremendous, so I urge my 
colleagues to support this bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1815

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. 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. 1156, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to 
authorize the establishment or designation of a working group under the 
National Science and Technology Council to identify and coordinate 
international science and technology cooperation opportunities.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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