[House Report 114-884]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                 Union Calendar No. 694

114th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House Report 114-884

                          REPORT OF ACTIVITIES

                                 of the

              COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                                for the

                    ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS


[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


 December 21, 2016.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed





                                   ______

                         U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 

23-069                         WASHINGTON : 2016 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing 
  Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; 
         DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, 
                          Washington, DC 20402-0001


























              COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

                   HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma             EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR.,         ZOE LOFGREN, California
    Wisconsin                        DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
DANA ROHRABACHER, California         DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland
RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas              SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas             ERIC SWALWELL, California
MO BROOKS, Alabama                   ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois             AMI BERA, California
BILL POSEY, Florida                  ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky              MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma            KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts
RANDY K. WEBER, Texas                DON S. BEYER, JR., Virginia
JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan          ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado
STEPHEN KNIGHT, California           PAUL TONKO, New York
BRIAN BABIN, Texas                   MARK TAKANO, California
BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas            BILL FOSTER, Illinois
BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia
GARY PALMER, Alabama
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia
RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana
DARIN LaHOOD, Illinois
WARREN DAVIDSON, Ohio












                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

               Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
                                 Washington, DC, December 21, 2016.
Hon. Paul D. Ryan,
Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: In accordance with rule XI(1)(d)(1) of 
the Rules of the House of Representatives, I respectfully 
submit the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology's 
activities report for the 114th Congress.
            Sincerely,
                                               Lamar Smith,
                                                          Chairman.
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                                                          
                            C O N T E N T S

                      Report on Activities of the
              Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
                             114th Congress

                                                                   Page
I. Legislative Activities........................................     1

  Bills Enacted into Law.........................................     1
  Bills Passed the House.........................................     2
  Bills Ordered Reported by the Committee........................     4
  Business Meetings..............................................     4

II. Oversight Activities.........................................     6

  Hearings.......................................................     6
  Summary of Oversight Plan......................................    24
  Summary of Actions Taken and Recommendations Made with Respect 
    to the Oversight Plan........................................    30
  Summary of Additional Oversight Activities.....................    39
  Hearings held Pursuant to Clauses 2(n), (o), or (p) of Rule XI.    46












                                                Union Calendar No. 694
114th Congress    }                                       {     Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                       {    114-884

======================================================================



 
REPORT OF ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

                                _______
                                

 December 21, 2016.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Smith, from the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                       I. LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES


                         BILLS ENACTED INTO LAW

    H.R. 23, National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act 
Reauthorization of 2015. Introduced by Rep. Randy Neugebauer on 
January 6, 2015; passed by the House on January 7, 2015 (under 
suspension by a vote of 381-39); report filed in the Senate on 
June 11, 2015 (S. Rept. 114-62); passed by the Senate on July 
23, 2015 (unanimous consent); passed the House after resolving 
differences on September 16, 2015 (under suspension by voice 
vote); and became Public Law 114-52 on September 30, 2015.
    H.R. 1020, STEM Education Act of 2015. Introduced by Rep. 
Lamar Smith on February 20, 2015; passed by the House on 
February 25, 2015 (under suspension by a vote of 412-8); report 
filed in the Senate on August 4, 2015 (S. Rept. 114-115); 
passed by the Senate on September 24, 2015 (voice vote); passed 
by the House after resolving differences on October 1, 2015 
(agreed without objection); and became Public Law 114-59 on 
October 7, 2015.
    H.R. 2262, U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness 
Act. Introduced by Rep. Kevin McCarthy on May 12, 2015; report 
filed by the Committee on May 18, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-119); 
passed by the House on May 21, 2015 (by a vote of 284-133); 
passed by the Senate on November 10, 2015 (unanimous consent); 
passed the House after resolving differences on November 16, 
2015 (under suspension by voice vote); and became Public Law 
114-90 on November 25, 2015.
    H.R. 3033, READ Act. Introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith on July 
13, 2015; passed by the House on October 26, 2015 (under 
suspension by voice vote); passed by the Senate on February 3, 
2016 (unanimous consent); passed the House after resolving 
differences on February 4, 2016 (agreed to without objection); 
and became Public Law 114-124 on February 18, 2016.

                         BILLS PASSED THE HOUSE

    H.R. 34, Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 
2015. Introduced by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici on January 6, 2015; 
passed by the House on January 7, 2015 (under suspension by 
voice vote); report filed in the Senate on September 22, 2015 
(S. Rept. 114-146); and passed by the Senate on October 6, 2015 
(unanimous consent).
    H.R. 35, Low-Dose Radiation Research Act of 2015. 
Introduced by Rep. Randy Hultgren on January 6, 2015; and 
passed by the House on January 7, 2015 (under suspension by 
voice vote).
    H.R. 810, National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
Authorization Act of 2015. Introduced by Rep. Steven Palazzo on 
February 9, 2015; and passed by the House on February 10, 2015 
(under suspension by voice vote).
    H.R. 874, American Super Computing Leadership Act. 
Introduced by Rep. Randy Hultgren on February 11, 2015; report 
filed by the Committee on May 19, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-122); and 
passed by the House on May 19, 2015 (under suspension by voice 
vote).
    H.R. 1029, EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015. 
Introduced by Rep. Frank Lucas on February 24, 2015; report 
filed by the Committee on March 2, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-33); and 
passed by the House on March 17, 2015 (by a vote of 236-181).
    H.R. 1030, Secret Science Reform Act of 2015. Introduced by 
Rep. Lamar Smith on February 24, 2015; report filed by the 
Committee on March 2, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-34); and passed by the 
House on March 18, 2015 (by a vote of 241-175).
    H.R. 1119, Research and Development Efficiency Act. 
Introduced by Rep. Barbara Comstock on February 26, 2015; 
report filed by the Committee on May 19, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-
121); and passed by the House on May 19, 2015 (under suspension 
by voice vote).
    H.R. 1156, International Science and Technology Cooperation 
Act of 2015. Introduced by Rep. Daniel Lipinski on February 27, 
2015; report filed by the Committee on May 19, 2015 (H. Rept. 
114-123); and passed by the House on May 19, 2015 (under 
suspension by voice vote).
    H.R. 1158, Department of Energy Laboratory Modernization 
and Technology Transfer Act of 2015. Introduced by Rep. Randy 
Hultgren on February 27, 2015; report filed by the Committee on 
May 19, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-124); and passed by the House on May 
19, 2015 (under suspension by voice vote).
    H.R. 1162, Science Prize Competitions Act. Introduced by 
Rep. Don Beyer on February 27, 2015; report filed by the 
Committee on May 19, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-125); and passed by the 
House on May 19, 2015 (under suspension by voice vote).
    H.R. 1561, Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act 
of 2015. Introduced by Rep. Frank Lucas on March 24, 2015; 
report filed by the Committee on May 19, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-
126); and passed by the House on May 19, 2015 (under suspension 
by voice vote).
    H.R. 1806, America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015. 
Introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith on April 15, 2015; report filed 
by the Committee on May 8, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-107, Part I); 
supplemental report filed by the Committee on May 14, 2015 (H. 
Rept. 114-107, Part II); and passed by the House on May 20, 
2015 (by a vote of 217-205).
    H.R. 3293, Scientific Research in the National Interest 
Act. Introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith on July 29, 2015; report 
filed by the Committee on February 2, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-412); 
and passed by the House on February 10, 2016 (by a vote of 236-
178).
    H.R. 4084, Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act. 
Introduced by Rep. Randy Weber on November 19, 2015; report 
filed by the Committee on February 29, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-438); 
and passed by the House on February 29, 2016 (under suspension 
by voice vote).
    H.R. 4742, Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act. 
Introduced by Rep. Elizabeth Esty on March 15, 2016; and passed 
by the House on March 22, 2016 (under suspension by a vote of 
383-4).
    H.R. 4755, Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, 
Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act. Introduced by 
Rep. Barbara Comstock on March 16, 2016; and passed by the 
House on March 22, 2016 (under suspension by a vote of 380-3).
    H.R. 5049, NSF Major Research Facility Reform Act of 2016. 
Introduced by Rep. Barry Loudermilk on April 26, 2016; report 
filed by the Committee on June 13, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-619); and 
passed by the House on June 14, 2016 (under suspension by a 
vote of 412-9).
    H.R. 5312, Networking and Information Technology Research 
and Development Modernization Act of 2016. Introduced by Rep. 
Daren LaHood on May 24, 2016; report filed by the Committee on 
June 13, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-620); and passed by the House on 
June 13, 2016 (under suspension by a vote of 385-7).
    H.R. 5636, National Institute of Standards and Technology 
Campus Security Act. Introduced by Rep. Barry Loudermilk on 
July 6, 2016; report filed by the Committee on July 11, 2016 
(H. Rept. 114-679); and passed by the House on July 11, 2016 
(under suspension by voice vote).
    H.R. 5638, Solar Fuels Innovation Act. Introduced by Rep. 
Stephen Knight on July 6, 2016; report filed by the Committee 
on July 11, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-680); and passed by the House on 
July 11, 2016 (under suspension by voice vote).
    H.R. 5639, National Institute of Standards and Technology 
Improvement Act of 2016. Introduced by Rep. John Moolenaar on 
July 6, 2016; and passed by the House on July 11, 2016 (under 
suspension by voice vote).
    H.R. 5640, Electricity Storage Innovation Act. Introduced 
by Rep. Lamar Smith on July 6, 2016; report filed by the 
Committee on July 11, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-681); and passed by 
the House on July 11, 2016 (under suspension by voice vote).
    H.R. 6076, To Research, Evaluate, Assess, and Treat 
Astronauts Act. Introduced by Rep. Brian Babin on September 20, 
2016; and passed by the House on December 7, 2016 (under 
suspension by a vote of 413-0).

                BILLS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE COMMITTEE

    H.R. 1508, Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act 
of 2015. Introduced by Rep. Bill Posey on March 19, 2015; and 
report filed by the Committee on June 15, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-
153).
    H.R. 2039, National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
Authorization Act for 2016 and 2017. Introduced by Rep. Steven 
Palazzo on April 28, 2015; and reported by the Committee on 
April 30, 2015 (by a vote of 19-15).
    H.R. 2261, Commercial Remote Sensing Act of 2015. 
Introduced by Rep. Jim Bridenstine on May 12, 2015; and report 
filed by the Committee on September 28, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-
796).
    H.R. 2263, Office of Space Commerce Act. Introduced by Rep. 
Dana Rohrabacher on May 12, 2015; and report filed by the 
Committee on September 28, 2016 (H. Rept. 114-797).
    H.R. 4489, FAA Leadership in Groundbreaking High-Tech 
Research and Development Act. Introduced by Rep. Stephen Knight 
on February 8, 2016; and reported by the Committee on February 
11, 2016 (by voice vote).
    H.R. 5829, ADVISE Now Act. Introduced by Rep. Rodney Davis 
on July 14, 2016; and reported by the Committee on September 
21, 2016 (by voice vote).
    H.R. 6066, Cybersecurity Responsibility and Accountability 
Act of 2016. Introduced by Rep. Ralph Lee Abraham on September 
19, 2016; and reported by the Committee on September 21, 2016 
(by voice vote).

                           BUSINESS MEETINGS


January 27, 2015

    Full Committee markup: Committee Rules for the 114th 
Congress, approved by recorded vote 17-10; and Oversight Plan 
for the 114th Congress, approved by voice vote.

February 25, 2015

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 1030, the Secret Science Reform 
Act of 2015, ordered reported by recorded vote 16-11. H.R. 
1029, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015, 
ordered reported by recorded vote 17-12.

March 4, 2015

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 1119, the Research and 
Development Efficiency Act, ordered reported, as amended, by 
voice vote; H.R. 1156, the International Science and Technology 
Cooperation Act of 2015, ordered reported by voice vote; H.R. 
1162, the Science Prize Competitions Act, ordered reported, as 
amended, by voice vote; H.R. 1158, the Department of Energy 
Laboratory Modernization and Technology Transfer Act of 2015, 
ordered reported, as amended, by voice vote; and H.R. 874, the 
American Super Computing Leadership Act, ordered reported by 
voice vote.

March 25, 2015

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 1561, the Weather Research and 
Forecast Innovation Act of 2015, ordered reported, as amended, 
by voice vote.

April 22, 2015

    Full Committee Markup: H.R. 1806, the America COMPETES 
Reauthorization Act of 2015, ordered reported, as amended, by 
recorded vote 19-16.

April 30, 2015

    Full Committee Markup: H.R. 2039, the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration Authorization Act for 2016 and 2017, 
ordered reported by recorded vote 19-15.

May 13, 2015

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 2262, the Spurring Private 
Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015, 
ordered reported, as amended, by recorded vote 18-13; H.R. 
1508, the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act of 
2015 ordered reported, as amended, by recorded vote 18-15; H.R. 
2261, the Commercial Remote Sensing Act of 2015, ordered 
reported, as amended, by voice vote; and H.R. 2263, the Office 
of Space Commerce Act, ordered reported by voice vote.

September 10, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee markup: Committee 
Print of the Surface Transportation Research and Development 
Act of 2015, approved, as amended, by voice vote; and H.R. 
2866, the Future Transportation Research and Innovation for 
Prosperity Act, ordered reported, as amended, by voice vote.

October 8, 2015

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 3033, the Research Excellence 
and Advancements for Dyslexia (READ) Act, ordered reported, as 
amended, by voice vote; and H.R. 3293, the Scientific Research 
in the National Interest Act, ordered reported, by voice vote.

January 12, 2016

    Full Committee Markup: H.R. 4084, the Nuclear Energy 
Innovation Capabilities Act, ordered reported, as amended, by 
voice vote.

February 11, 2016

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 4489, the FAA Leadership in 
Groundbreaking High-Tech Research and Development Act, ordered 
reported, as amended, by voice vote.

April 27, 2016

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 5049, the NSF Major Research 
Facility Reform Act of 2016, ordered reported, as amended, by 
voice vote.

May 24, 2016

    Full Committee markup: Committee print of the Networking 
and Information Technology Research and Development 
Modernization Act of 2016, approved, as amended, by voice vote.

May 25, 2016

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 5312, the Networking and 
Information Technology Research and Development Modernization 
Act of 2016, ordered reported by unanimous consent.

July 7, 2016

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 5638, the Solar Fuels 
Innovation Act, ordered reported, as amended, by voice vote; 
H.R. 5640, the Electricity Storage Innovation Act, ordered 
reported, as amended, by voice vote; and H.R. 5636, the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology Campus Security 
Act, ordered reported by voice vote.

September 21, 2016

    Full Committee markup: H.R. 6076, the To Research, 
Evaluate, Assess, and Treat (TREAT) Astronauts Act, ordered 
reported, as amended, by voice vote; H.R. 6066, the 
Cybersecurity Responsibility and Accountability Act of 2016, 
ordered reported by voice vote; and H.R. 5829, the ADVISE Now 
Act, ordered reported by voice vote.

                        II. OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES


                                HEARINGS


January 21, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research 
and Development.
    Witnesses: Dr. Ed Waggoner, Director, Integrated Systems 
Research Program, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, 
NASA; Mr. James Williams, Manager, UAS Integration Office, 
Aviation Safety Organization, FAA; Dr. John Lauber, Co-Chair, 
Committee on Autonomy Research for Civil Aviation, National 
Research Council; Mr. Brian Wynne, CEO and President, 
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI); 
Mr. Colin Guinn, Chief Revenue Officer, 3D Robotics, Small UAV 
Coalition Member; Dr. John R. Hansman, T. Wilson Professor of 
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology (MIT).

January 27, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: The Expanding 
Cyber Threat.
    Witnesses: Ms. Cheri McGuire, Vice President, Global 
Government Affairs & Cybersecurity Policy, Symantec 
Corporation; Dr. James Kurose, Assistant Director, Computer and 
Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate, 
National Science Foundation; Dr. Charles H. Romine, Director, 
Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of 
Standards and Technology; Dr. Eric A. Fischer, Senior 
Specialist in Science and Technology, Congressional Research 
Service; Mr. Dean Garfield, President and CEO, Information 
Technology Industry Council.

January 28, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: Supercomputing and American 
Technology Leadership.
    Witnesses: Mr. Norman Augustine, Board Member, Bipartisan 
Policy Center; Dr. Roscoe Giles, Chairman, DOE Advanced 
Scientific Computing Advisory Committee; Mr. Dave Turek, Vice 
President, Technical Computing, IBM; and Dr. James Crowley, 
Executive Director, Society for Industrial and Applied 
Mathematics.

February 3, 2015

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: NSF's Oversight of the NEON Project 
and Other Major Research Facilities Developed Under Cooperative 
Agreements.
    Witnesses: Dr. Richard Buckius, Chief Operating Officer of 
the National Science Foundation; Dr. James P. Collins, Chairman 
of the National Ecological Observatory Network; and Ms. Kate 
Manuel, Legislative Attorney for the Congressional Research 
Service.

February 12, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee and Oversight 
Subcommittee hearing: Can Americans Trust the Privacy and 
Security of their Information on HealthCare.gov?
    Witnesses: Ms. Michelle De Mooy, Deputy Director, Consumer 
Privacy, Center for Democracy and Technology; and Mr. Morgan 
Wright, Principal, Morgan Wright, LLC.

February 12, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: Bridging the Gap: America's Weather Satellites and 
Weather Forecasting.
    Witnesses: Mr. David Powner, Director, Information 
Technology Management Issues, Government Accountability Office; 
Dr. Stephen Volz, Assistant Administrator, National 
Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and Mr. Steven 
Clarke, Director, Joint Agency Satellite Division, National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration; Dr. Alexander MacDonald, 
President, American Meteorological Society; Director, Earth 
System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, and Chief Science Advisor, Office of Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration; and Mr. John Murphy, Director, Office of 
Science and Technology, National Weather Service, National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

February 26, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: An Overview 
of the Budget Proposals for the National Science Foundation and 
National Institute of Standards and Technology for Fiscal Year 
2016.
    Witnesses: The Honorable France Cordova, Director, National 
Science Foundation; The Honorable Dan Arvizu, Chairman, 
National Science Board; and Dr. Willie E. May, Acting Director, 
National Institute of Standards and Technology.

February 27, 2015

    Space Subcommittee hearing: The Commercial Crew Program: 
Challenges and Opportunities.
    Witnesses: Mr. Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, 
Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Vice Admiral 
Joseph Dyer, USN (Ret.), Chairman, Aerospace Safety Advisory 
Panel, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); 
Mr. John Mulholland, Vice President and Program Manager, 
Commercial Programs, The Boeing Company; and Dr. Garret 
Reisman, Director, Crew Operations, Space Exploration 
Technologies Corporation.

February 25, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: An Overview of the Department of 
Energy's Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2016.
    Witness: The Honorable Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy, 
U.S. Department of Energy.

March 17, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Reality Check: The Impact and 
Achievability of EPA's Proposed Ozone Standards.
    Witnesses: Mr. Harry C. Alford, President and CEO, National 
Black Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Raymond Keating, Chief 
Economist, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council; Dr. Mary 
B. Rice, Massachusetts General Hospital Pulmonary and Critical 
Care; Dr. Allen S. Lefohn, President, A.S.L. & Associates; and 
Mr. Eldon Heaston, Executive Director, Mojave Desert AQMD, 
Antelope Valley AQMD.

March 24, 2015

    Space Subcommittee hearing: Searching for the Origins of 
the Universe: An Update on the Progress of the James Webb Space 
Telescope.
    Witnesses: Dr. John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator, 
Science Mission Directorate, NASA; Ms. Cristina Chaplain, 
Director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management, U.S. 
Government Accountability Office (GAO); Mr. Jeffrey Grant, 
Vice-President & General Manager, Space Systems, Northrop 
Grumman Corporation; Dr. John Mather, Senior Project Scientist, 
James Webb Space Telescope, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA.

March 24, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: Department of Energy 
Oversight: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
    Witnesses: The Honorable David Danielson, Assistant 
Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. 
Department of Energy; Mr. Nick Loris, Herbert and Joyce Morgan 
Fellow, Heritage Foundation; Ms. Ruth McCormick, Director of 
Federal and State Affairs, Business Council for Sustainable 
Energy (BCSE); and Dr. Veronique de Rugy, Senior Research 
Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University.

March 26, 2015

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: Destruction of Records at EPA--When 
Records Must Be Kept.
    Witnesses: Mr. Paul M. Wester, Jr., Chief Records Officer, 
National Archives and Records Administration; Mr. Kevin 
Christensen, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Office of 
Inspector General, Environmental Protection Agency; and Dr. 
David Schnare, Former Senior Attorney, EPA Office of 
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; Director, Free-Market 
Environmental Law Clinic; Director, Center for Environmental 
Stewardship, Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy; and 
General Counsel, Energy & Environment Legal Institute.

April 15, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: The President's UN Climate Pledge: 
Scientifically Justified or a New Tax on Americans?
    Witnesses: Dr. Judith Curry, Professor, School of Earth and 
Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology; The 
Honorable Karen Harbert, President and CEO, Institute for 21st 
Century Energy U.S. Chamber of Commerce (former Assistant 
Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department 
of Energy); Mr. Jake Schmidt, Director, International Program, 
Natural Resources Defense Council; and Dr. Margo Thorning, 
Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, American Council for 
Capital Formation.

April 16, 2015

    Space Subcommittee hearing: An Overview of the Budget 
Proposal for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
for Fiscal Year 2016.
    Witness: The Honorable Charles F. Bolden, Jr., 
Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
(NASA).

April 23, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Hydraulic Fracturing: Banning 
Proven Technologies on Possibilities Instead of Probabilities.
    Witnesses: Ms. Christi Craddick, Chairman, Railroad 
Commission of Texas; Dr. Donald Siegel, Jessie Page Heroy 
Professor & Department Chair, The Department of Earth Sciences, 
Syracuse University; Mr. Simon Lomax, Western Director, Energy 
in Depth; and Mr. Elgie Holstein, Senior Director for Strategic 
Planning, Environmental Defense Fund.

April 29, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: Reality Check Part II: 
The Impact of EPA's Proposed Ozone Standards on Rural America.
    Witnesses: The Honorable Jim Reese, Secretary and 
Commissioner of Agriculture, Oklahoma State Board of 
Agriculture; Ms. Cara Keslar, Monitoring Section Supervisor, 
Wyoming DEQ--Air Quality Division; Dr. Paul J. Miller, Deputy 
Director and Chief Scientist, Northeast States for Coordinated 
Air Use Management; Mr. Kevin Abernathy, Director of Regulatory 
Affairs, Milk Producers Council; Vice Chair, Dairy CARES; and 
The Honorable Todd Hiett, Commissioner, Oklahoma Corporation 
Commission.

May 1, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: Innovations in Battery Storage 
for Renewable Energy.
    Witnesses: Dr. Imre Gyuk, Energy Storage Program Manager, 
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, 
Department of Energy; Dr. Jud Virden, Jr., Associate Laboratory 
Director for Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific 
Northwest National Laboratory; Mr. Phil Giudice, Chief 
Executive Officer, Ambri; and Dr. Jay Whitacre, Chief 
Technology Officer, Aquion Energy.

May 13, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: Nuclear Energy Innovation and 
the National Labs.
    Witnesses: Dr. Mark Peters, Associate Laboratory Director, 
Energy and Global Security, Argonne National Laboratory; Mr. 
Frank Batten, Jr., President, The Landmark Foundation; Mr. 
Nathan Gilliland, CEO, General Fusion; and Dr. John Parmentola, 
Senior Vice President, Energy and Advanced Concepts, General 
Atomics.

May 20, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: Advancing Commercial 
Weather Data: Collaborative Efforts to Improve Forecasts.
    Witnesses: Dr. Scott Pace, Director, Space Policy 
Institute, George Washington University; Mr. Scott Sternberg, 
President, Vaisala Inc.; Ms. Nicole Robinson, Chair, Hosted 
Payload Alliance; Dr. Bill Gail, Chief Technology Officer, 
Global Weather Corporation; and Dr. Thomas Bogdan, President, 
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

June 4, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: EPA Regulatory Overreach: Impacts 
on American Competitiveness.
    Witnesses: Mr. Bob Kerr, President, Kerr Environmental 
Services Corp.; Mr. Bill Kovacs, Senior Vice President, 
Environment, Technology and Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce; Dr. Jerome Paulson, FAAP, Chair, Council on 
Environmental Health Executive Committee, American Academy of 
Pediatrics; and Mr. Ross Eisenberg, Vice President, Energy and 
Resources Policy, National Association of Manufacturers.

June 11, 2015

    Space Subcommittee hearing: Transforming America's Air 
Travel.
    Witnesses: Dr. Jaiwon Shin, Associate Administrator, 
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NASA, Member, FAA 
Research and Development Advisory Committee; Mr. Dennis Filler, 
Director, William J. Hughes Technical Center, FAA; Mr. William 
Leber, Co-Chair, Committee to Review the Federal Aviation 
Administration Research Plan on Certification of New 
Technologies into the National Airspace System; Vice-President, 
Air Traffic Innovations, PASSUR Aerospace; Dr. R. John Hansman, 
T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics, 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Director, MIT 
International Center for Air Transportation, Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology, Chair, FAA Research and Development 
Advisory Committee; Dr. Greg Hyslop, Senior Member, American 
Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics; Vice President and 
General Manager, Boeing Research & Technology, the Boeing 
Company, Chief Engineer, Engineering, Operations and 
Technology.

June 12, 2015

    Research & Technology Subcommittee: U.S. Surface 
Transportation: Technology Driving the Future.
    Witnesses: The Honorable Gregory D. Winfree, Assistant 
Secretary for Research and Technology, United States Department 
of Transportation; Dr. Michael Meyer, Chair, Research and 
Technology Coordinating Committee (FHWA), National Academies' 
Transportation Research Board; Dr. Brian Smith, Director, 
Center for Transportation Studies, University of Virginia; Mr. 
Jeffrey J. Owens, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice 
President, Delphi Automotive.

June 16, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: The Science 
and Ethics of Genetically Engineered Human DNA.
    Witnesses: Dr. Victor Dzau, President, Institute of 
Medicine; Dr. Jennifer Doudna, Professor of Biochemistry and 
Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley; Dr. 
Elizabeth McNally, Director, Center for Genetic Medicine, 
Northwestern University; Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, Professor of 
Bioethics and Public Policy and Deputy Director for Policy and 
Administration of the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns 
Hopkins University.

June 17, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee and Energy Subcommittee joint 
hearing: Department of Energy Oversight: Energy Innovation 
Hubs.
    Witnesses: Dr. Harry A. Atwater, Director, Joint Center for 
Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP); Dr. Jess Gehin, Director, 
Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors 
(CASL); Dr. George Crabtree, Director, Joint Center for Energy 
Storage Research (JCESR); and Dr. Alex King, Director, Critical 
Materials Institute (CMI).

June 24, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee and Energy Subcommittee joint 
hearing: U.S. Energy Information Administration Report: 
Analysis of the Impacts of the EPA's Clean Power Plan.
    Witnesses: Howard Gruenspecht, Deputy Administrator, U.S. 
Energy Information Administration (EIA); Mr. Stephen Eule, Vice 
President for Climate and Technology, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; 
Dr. Susan Tierney, Senior Advisor, Analysis Group, Inc.; and 
Dr. Kevin Dayaratna, Senior Statistician and Research 
Programmer, The Heritage Foundation.

June 25, 2015

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: Is NSF Properly Managing Its 
Rotating Staff?
    Witnesses: Ms. Allison Lerner, Inspector General, National 
Science Foundation; and Dr. Richard Buckius, Chief Operating 
Officer, National Science Foundation.

July 8, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee and Oversight 
Subcommittees joint hearing: Is the OPM Data Breach the Tip of 
the Iceberg?
    Witnesses: Mr. Michael R. Esser, Assistant Inspector 
General for Audits, Office of Personnel Management; Mr. David 
Snell, Director, Federal Benefits Service Department, National 
Active and Retired Federal Employees Association; Dr. Charles 
Romine, Director, Information Technology Laboratory, National 
Institute of Standards and Technology; Mr. Gregory Wilshusen, 
Director, Information Security Issues, U.S. Government 
Accountability Office.

July 9, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Examining EPA's Regulatory 
Overreach.
    Witness: The Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator, 
Environmental Protection Agency.

July 10, 2015

    Space Subcommittee hearing: The International Space 
Station: Addressing Operational Challenges.
    Witnesses: Mr. Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, 
Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA; Mr. 
John Elbon, Vice President and General Manager, Space 
Exploration, The Boeing Company; The Honorable Paul K. Martin, 
Inspector General, NASA; Ms. Shelby Oakley, Acting Director, 
Acquisition and Sourcing Management, Government Accountability 
Office; and Dr. James A. Pawelczyk, Associate Professor of 
Physiology and Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University.

July 14, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: Advancing Commercial 
Weather Data: Collaborative Efforts to Improve Forecasts Part 
II.
    Witness: The Honorable Manson Brown, Deputy Administrator, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

July 15, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Investigating Contract Misconduct 
at the National Weather Service.
    Witnesses: Mr. Mark Greenblatt, Deputy Assistant General 
for Compliance & Ethics, Office of Inspector General, 
Department of Commerce; Mr. Robert Byrd, Former Chief Financial 
Officer, National Weather Service; and Mr. Peter Jiron, Former 
Deputy Chief Financial Officer, National Weather Service. [Mr. 
Byrd and Mr. Jiron declined to answer questions from the 
Committee and asserted their Fifth Amendment rights.]

July 23, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: The EPA Renewable Fuel Standard Mandate.
    Witnesses: Mr. Matt Smorch, Vice President for Strategy and 
Supply, CountryMark; Dr. Jason Hill, Associate Professor of 
Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of 
Minnesota; Mr. Chuck Red, Vice President of Fuels Development 
for Applied Research Associates, Inc.; and Mr. Tim Reid, 
Director of Engine Design, Mercury Marine.

July 29, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: A Review of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission's Licensing Process.
    Witness: The Honorable Stephen G. Burns, Chairman, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

July 28, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Exploration of the Solar System: 
From Mercury to Pluto and Beyond.
    Witnesses: Dr. John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator, 
Science Mission Directorate, NASA; Dr. Alan Stern, Principal 
Investigator, New Horizons Mission, Southwest Research 
Institute; Dr. Christopher Russell, Principal Investigator, 
Dawn Mission, and Professor of Geophysics and Planetary 
Physics, University of California Los Angeles; Dr. Robert 
Pappalardo, Study Scientist, Europa Mission Concept, Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory, NASA; and Dr. Robert Braun, David and 
Andrew Lewis Professor of Space Technology, Georgia Institute 
of Technology.

September 9, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Holding EPA Accountable for 
Polluting Western Waters.
    Witnesses: The Honorable Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant 
Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, 
Environmental Protection Agency; Mr. Dennis Greaney, President, 
Environmental Restoration LLC; The Honorable Donald Benn, 
Executive Director, Navajo National Environmental Protection 
Agency; The Honorable Dean Bookie, Mayor, Durango, Colorado; 
and, Dr. Mark Williamson, Geochemist, Geochemical Solutions 
LLC.

September 10, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: Examining Vulnerabilities of America's Power Supply.
    Witnesses: Mr. Richard Lordan, Senior Technical Executive, 
Power Delivery & Utilization Sector, Electric Power Research 
Institute; Ms. Nadya Bartol, Vice President of Industry Affairs 
and Cybersecurity Strategist, Utilities Telecom Council; Dr. 
Daniel Baker, Distinguished Professor of Planetary & Space 
Physics; Moog-BRE Endowed Chair of Space Sciences; Director, 
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of 
Colorado Boulder; Dr. M. Granger Morgan, Hamerschlag University 
Professor, Departments of Engineering and Public Policy and of 
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon 
University.

September 11, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: How EPA's Power Plan Will 
Shut Down Power Plants. The purpose of the hearing was to 
examine the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's carbon 
emissions regulations and the impact of this rule on states.
    Witnesses: Mr. Craig Butler, Director, Ohio Environmental 
Protection Agency; Dr. Bryan Shaw, Chairman, Texas Commission 
on Environmental Quality; and Mr. Jason Eisdorfer, Utility 
Program Director, Oregon Public Utility Commission.

September 18, 2015

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: NEON Warning Signs: Examining the 
Management of the National Ecological Observatory Network.
    Witnesses: Dr. James L. Olds, Assistant Director, 
Directorate for Biological Sciences, National Science 
Foundation; Dr. James P. Collins, Chairman of the Board, 
National Ecological Observatory Network, Inc.

September 29, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Astrobiology and the Search for 
Life Beyond Earth in the Next Decade.
    Witnesses: Dr. Ellen Stofan, Chief Scientist, NASA; Dr. 
Jonathan Lunine, David D. Duncan Professor in the Physical 
Sciences, and Director, Center for Radiophysics and Space 
Research, Cornell University; Dr. Jacob Bean, Assistant 
Professor, Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 
Geophysics, University of Chicago; Dr. Andrew Siemion, 
Director, SETI Research Center, University of California, 
Berkeley.

September 30, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Dyslexia and the Need to READ: H.R. 
3033, the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia 
Act.
    Witnesses: Ms. Barbara Wilson, Co-Founder and President, 
Wilson Language Training; Dr. Paula Tallal, Senior Research 
Scientist, Center for Human Development, University of 
California, San Diego, Adjunct Professor, Salk Institute for 
Biological Studies, Founder and Director, Scientific Learning 
Corporation; and Dr. Rachel Robillard, Assistant Director, 504 
Services and Response to Intervention, Austin Independent 
School District.

October 9, 2015

    Space Subcommittee hearing: Deep Space Exploration: 
Examining the Impact of the President's Budget.
    Witnesses: Mr. Doug Cooke--Owner, Cooke Concepts and 
Solutions and former NASA Associate Administrator for 
Exploration Systems; Mr. Dan Dumbacher, Professor of Practice, 
Purdue University and former NASA Deputy Associate 
Administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission 
Directorate.

October 21, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: Cybersecurity for Power Systems.
    Witnesses: Mr. Brent Stacey, Associate Lab Director for 
National & Homeland Science and Technology, Idaho National Lab; 
Mr. Bennett Gaines, Senior Vice President, Corporate Services 
and Chief Information Officer, FirstEnergy Service Company; Ms. 
Annabelle Lee, Senior Technical Executive in the Power Delivery 
and Utilization Sector, Electric Power Research Institute; and 
Mr. Greg Wilshusen, Director of Information Security Issues, 
Government Accountability Office.

October 22, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: EPA's 2015 Ozone Standard: Concerns 
Over Science and Implementation.
    Witnesses: The Honorable Jeffrey Holmstead, Partner, 
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP; Mr. Seyed Sadredin, Executive 
Director and Air Pollution Control Officer, San Joaquin Valley 
Air Pollution Control District; Dr. Elena Craft, Senior Health 
Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund; and Dr. Michael 
Honeycutt, Director, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 
Toxicology Division.

October 27, 2015

    Full Committee Hearing: A Review of Progress by the 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology 
Directorate.
    Witness: The Honorable Reginald Brothers, Under Secretary 
for Science and Technology, Department of Homeland Security.

October 28, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee Hearing--A Review of 
the Networking and Information Technology Research and 
Development (NITRD) Program.
    Witnesses: Dr. Keith Marzullo, Director, National 
Coordination Office, The Networking and Information Technology 
Research and Development Program; Dr. Gregory D. Hager, Mandell 
Bellmore Professor, Department of Computer Science, Johns 
Hopkins University, Co-Chair, NITRD Working Group, The 
President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; Dr. 
Edward Seidel, Director, National Center for Supercomputing 
Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

November 3, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: The Renewable Fuel Standard: A Ten Year Review of 
Costs and Benefits.
    Witnesses: Dr. Terry Dinan, Senior Advisor, Congressional 
Budget Office; Mr. Ed Anderson, CEO and President of WEN-GAP, 
LLC; Dr. John DeCicco, Research Professor, University of 
Michigan Energy Institute; Mr. Brooke Coleman, Executive 
Director, Advanced Biofuels Business Council; and Mr. Charles 
Drevna, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Institute for Energy 
Research.

November 5, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Examining EPA's Predetermined 
Efforts to Block the Pebble Mine.
    Witnesses: The Honorable William S. Cohen, Chairman and 
Chief Executive Officer, The Cohen Group; Mr. Charles Scheeler, 
Senior Counsel, DLA Piper; Mr. Tom Collier, Chief Executive 
Officer, Pebble Limited Partnership; and the Honorable Rick 
Halford, Former Alaska Senate President.

November 17, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee and Space Subcommittee joint 
hearing: Exploring Commercial Opportunities to Maximize Earth 
Science Investments.
    Witnesses: Dr. Scott Pace, Director of the Space Policy 
Institute, George Washington University; Dr. Walter Scott, 
Founder and Chief Technical Officer, DigitalGlobe; Mr. Robbie 
Schingler, Co-Founder and President, PlanetLabs; Dr. Samuel 
Goward, Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Maryland 
at College Park; Dr. Antonio Busalacchi, Professor and Director 
of the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, 
University of Maryland.

November 18, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: The Administration's Empty Promises 
for the International Climate Treaty.
    Witnesses: Dr. Anne Smith, Senior Vice President, NERA 
Economic Consulting; Mr. Bill Magness, Senior Vice President, 
Governance, Risk and Compliance, Electric Reliability Council 
of Texas; Ms. Katie Dykes, Deputy Commissioner, Connecticut 
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Chair, 
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc.; and Mr. Chip 
Knappenberger, Assistant Director, Center for the Study of 
Science, Cato Institute.

November 18, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: Recommendations of the 
Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy 
Laboratories.
    Witnesses: Mr. TJ Glauthier, Co-Chair, Commission to Review 
the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories; Dr. 
Jared Cohon, Co-Chair, Commission to Review the Effectiveness 
of the National Energy Laboratories; and Dr. Peter Littlewood, 
Director, Argonne National Laboratory.

December 1, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Pitfalls of Unilateral Negotiations 
at the Paris Climate Change Conference.
    Witnesses: Mr. Oren Cass, Senior Fellow, Manhattan 
Institute for Policy Research; Mr. Andrew Grossman, Associate, 
Baker & Hostetler LLP; Dr. Andrew Steer, President and CEO, 
World Resources Institute; and Dr. Bjfrn Lomborg, President, 
Copenhagen Consensus Center.

December 3, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: H.R. 4084, the Nuclear Energy 
Innovation Capabilities Act.
    Witnesses: Mr. John Kotek, Acting Assistant Secretary, 
Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy; Dr. Dale 
Klein, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, University of 
Texas; and Mr. Ray Rothrock, Partner Emeritus, Venrock.

December 8, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: The Future of 
Biotechnology: Solutions for Energy, Agriculture and 
Manufacturing.
    Witnesses: Dr. Mary Maxon, Biosciences Principal Deputy, 
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Dr. Steve Evans, Fellow, 
Advanced Technology Development, Dow AgroSciences; Dr. Reshma 
Shetty, Co-Founder, Ginkgo Bioworks; Dr. Martin Dickman, 
Distinguished Professor and Director, Institute for Plant 
Genomics and Biotechnology, Texas A&M University; and Dr. Zach 
Serber, Co-Founder and Vice President of Development, Zymergen.

December 10, 2015

    Environment Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: An Overview of the Nation's Weather Satellite Programs 
and Policies.
    Witnesses: Dr. Stephen Volz, Assistant Administrator, 
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information 
Services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and 
Mr. David Powner, Director, Information Technology Management 
Issues, Government Accountability Office.

January 8, 2016

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: Cybersecurity: What the Federal 
Government Can Learn from the Private Sector.
    Witnesses: Mr. John B. Wood, Chief Executive Officer and 
Chairman, Telos Corporation; Dr. Martin Casado, Senior Vice 
President and General Manager, Networking and Security Business 
Unit, VMWare; Mr. Ken Schneider, Vice President of Technology 
Strategy, Symantec Corporation; and, Mr. Larry Clinton, 
President and Chief Executive Officer, Internet Security 
Alliance.

February 2, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Paris Climate Promise: A Bad Deal 
for America.
    Witnesses: Mr. Steve Eule, Vice President for Climate and 
Technology, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Dr. John Christy, 
Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director of the Earth 
System Science Center, University of Alabama in Huntsville; Dr. 
Andrew Steer, President and CEO, World Resources Institute; and 
Mr. Steven Groves, The Bernard and Barbara Lomas Senior 
Research Fellow, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, The 
Heritage Foundation.

February 4, 2016

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: A Review of Recommendations for NSF 
Project Management Reform.
    Witnesses: Ms. Cynthia Heckmann, Project Director, National 
Academy of Public Administration; Dr. Richard Buckius, Chief 
Operating Officer, National Science Foundation; and, Ms. 
Allison Lerner, Inspector General, National Science Foundation.

February 3, 2016

    Space Subcommittee hearing: Charting a Course: Expert 
Perspectives on NASA's Human Exploration Proposals.
    Witnesses: Mr. Tom Young, Former Director, Goddard Space 
Flight Center, NASA; Former President and Chief Operating 
Officer, Martin Marietta Corporation; Dr. John C. Sommerer, 
Chair, Technical Panel, Pathways to Exploration Report, 
National Academy of Sciences; and, Dr. Paul Spudis, Senior 
Scientist, Lunar and Planetary Institute.

February 10, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Midnight Regulations: Examining 
Executive Branch Overreach.
    Witnesses: Ms. Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO, Small 
Business & Entrepreneurship Council; Mr. Jerry Bosworth, 
President, Bosworth Air Conditioning; Ms. Kateri Callahan, 
President, Alliance to Save Energy; and Mr. Sam Batkins, 
Director of Regulatory Policy, American Action Forum.

February 24, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Unlocking the Secrets of the 
Universe: Gravitational Waves.
    Witnesses: Dr. Fleming Crim, Assistant Director, 
Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National 
Science Foundation; Dr. David Reitze, Executive Director of 
LIGO, California Institute of Technology; Dr. Gabriela 
Gonzalez, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State 
University; and, Dr. David Shoemaker, Director, LIGO 
Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

February 25, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: The Space Leadership Preservation 
Act and the Need for Stability at NASA.
    Witnesses: The Honorable John Culberson, chairman of the 
Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee of the House 
Appropriations Committee; Dr. Michael Griffin, Former 
Administrator, NASA; Colonel Eileen Collins, USAF (Ret.); 
Commander, STS-93 and 114; and Pilot, STS-63 and 94; and former 
Chair, Subcommittee on Space Operations, NASA Advisory Council; 
Ms. Cristina Chaplain, Director, Acquisitions and Sourcing 
Management, Government Accountability Office (GAO).

March 2, 2016

    Research & Technology Subcommittee hearing: Smart Health: 
Empowering the Future of Mobile Apps.
    Witnesses: Mr. Morgan Reed, Executive Director, The App 
Association; Dr. Bryan F. Shaw, Assistant Professor, Department 
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Baylor University; Mr. Howard 
Look, President, CEO and Founder, Tidepool; Dr. Gregory Krauss, 
Professor of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital; and, Mr. 
Jordan Epstein, CEO & Founder, Stroll Health.

March 3, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: Department of Energy Oversight: DOE Loan Programs.
    Witnesses: Mr. Mark McCall, Executive Director, Loan 
Program Office, U.S. Department of Energy; Dr. Frank Rusco, 
Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government 
Accountability Office; Gregory Kats, President, Capital E; and 
Mr. Nick Loris, Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow, Thomas A. Roe 
Institute for Economic Policy Studies, Heritage Foundation.

March 15, 2016

    Oversight Subcommittee hearing: Racing to Regulate: EPA's 
Latest Overreach on Amateur Drivers.
    Witnesses: The Honorable Patrick McHenry, Member, U.S. 
House of Representatives; Mr. Christopher Kersting, President 
and CEO, Specialty Equipment Marketing Association; Mr. Ralph 
Sheheen, Managing Partner and President, National Speed Sports 
News; and Mr. Brent Yacobucci, Section Research Manager, Energy 
and Minerals Section, Congressional Research Service.

March 16, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: An Overview 
of the Budget Proposal for the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witness: Dr. Willie E. May, Under Secretary of Commerce for 
Standards and Technology and Director, National Institute of 
Standards and Technology.

March 16, 2016

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: An Overview of the Budget 
Proposal for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witness: The Honorable Kathryn Sullivan, Undersecretary for 
Oceans and Atmosphere, U.S. Department of Commerce, and 
Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

March 17, 2016

    Space Subcommittee hearing: An Overview of the Budget 
Proposal for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witness: The Honorable Charles F. Bolden, Jr., 
Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

March 22, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: An Overview 
of the Budget Proposal for the National Science Foundation for 
Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witnesses: The Honorable France Cordova, Director, National 
Science Foundation; Dr. Dan E. Arvizu, Chairman, National 
Science Board.

March 22, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: An Overview of the Budget Proposal 
for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witness: The Honorable Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy, 
U.S. Department of Energy.

March 23, 2016

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: Examining EPA's Regional 
Haze Program: Regulations Without Visible Benefits.
    Witnesses: Mr. William Yeatman, Senior Fellow, Competitive 
Enterprise Institute; Mr. Thomas P. Schroedter, Executive 
Director and General Counsel, Oklahoma Industrial Energy 
Consumers; Mr. Bruce Polkowsky, Environmental Policy 
Consultant; and Mr. Aaron M. Flynn, Partner, Hunton & Williams.

April 14, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: Can the IRS 
Protect Taxpayers' Personal Information?
    Witnesses: The Honorable John Koskinen, Commissioner, 
Internal Revenue Service, the Honorable J. Russell George, 
Inspector General, Treasury Inspector General for Tax 
Administration; and, Mr. Gregory Wilshusen, Director, 
Information Security Issues, U.S. Government Accountability 
Office.

April 19, 2016

    Space Subcommittee hearing: The Commercial Space Launch 
Industry: Small Satellite Opportunities and Challenges.
    Witnesses: Mr. Elliot Pulham, Chief Executive Officer, 
Space Foundation and Mr. Eric Stallmer, President, Commercial 
Spaceflight Federation (CSF).

April 20, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: An Overview of Fusion Energy 
Science.
    Witnesses: Dr. Bernard Bigot, Director General, ITER 
Organization; Dr. Stewart Prager, Director, Princeton Plasma 
Physics Laboratory; and Dr. Scott Hsu, Scientist, Physics 
Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

April 28, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Examining EPA's Predetermined 
Efforts to Block the Pebble Mine Part II.
    Witness: The Honorable Dennis McLerran, Administrator, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10.

May 11, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: Department of Energy 
Oversight: Office of Fossil Energy.
    Witness: The Honorable Chris Smith, Assistant Secretary, 
Office of Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.

May 12, 2016

    Oversight Subcommittee hearing: FDIC Data Breaches: Can 
Americans Trust that Their Private Banking Information Is 
Secure?
    Witnesses: Mr. Fred W. Gibson, Acting Inspector General, 
FDIC and Mr. Lawrence Gross, Jr., Chief Information Officer and 
Chief Privacy Officer, FDIC.

May 18, 2016

    Space Subcommittee hearing: Next Steps to Mars: Deep Space 
Habitats.
    Witnesses: Mr. Jason Crusan, Director, Advanced Exploration 
Systems (AES), Human Exploration and Operations Mission 
Directorate, NASA; Mr. John Elbon, Vice President and General 
Manager, Space Exploration, Boeing Defense, Space, and 
Security, The Boeing Company; Ms. Wanda Sigur, Lockheed Martin 
Corporation; Mr. Frank Culbertson, President, Space Systems, 
Orbital-ATK; and, Mr. Andy Weir, Author, The Martian.

May 25, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Science of Zika: The DNA of an 
Epidemic.
    Witnesses: Dr. Kacey Ernst, Associate Professor, Department 
of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Arizona; Dr. 
Daniel Neafsey, Associate Director, Genomic Center for 
Infectious Disease, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Dr. 
Steven Presley, Professor, Department of Environmental 
Toxicology, Texas Tech University; and, Mr. Hadyn Parry, Chief 
Executive Officer, Oxitec.

May 26, 2016

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: Impact of EPA's Clean 
Power Plan on States.
    Witnesses: The Honorable E. Scott Pruitt, Attorney General, 
State of Oklahoma; Ms. Brianne Gorod, Chief Counsel, 
Constitutional Accountability Center; and The Honorable Charles 
McConnell, Executive Director, Energy and Environment 
Initiative, Rice University.

June 8, 2016

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: Private Sector Weather 
Forecasting: Assessing Products and Technologies.
    Witnesses: Mr. Barry Myers, CEO, AccuWeather; Mr. Jim 
Block, Chief Meteorological Officer, Schneider Electric; Dr. 
Neil Jacobs, Chief Scientist, Panasonic Weather Solutions, 
Panasonic; Dr. Antonio Busalacchi, Director, Earth System 
Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland; and Dr. Sandy 
MacDonald, Director, Numerical Weather Prediction, Spire 
Global.

June 15, 2016

    Space Subcommittee hearing: Human Spaceflight Ethics and 
Obligations: Options for Monitoring, Diagnosing, and Treating 
Former Astronauts.
    Witnesses: Dr. Richard Williams, Chief Health and Medical 
Officer, NASA; Captain Chris Cassidy, United States Navy (USN); 
Chief, Astronaut Office, NASA; Captain Scott Kelly (USN, Ret.), 
Former Astronaut, NASA; Captain Michael Lopez-Alegria (USN, 
Ret.), President, Association of Space Explorers-USA; Former 
Astronaut, NASA; and, Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, Professor of Bioethics 
and Public Policy, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics; 
Chairman, Committee on the Ethics, Principles and Guidelines 
for Health Standards for Long Duration and Exploration 
Spaceflights, Board on Health Sciences Policy, National 
Academies of Sciences.

June 15, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: Innovation in Solar Fuels, 
Electricity Storage, and Advanced Materials.
    Witnesses: Dr. Nate Lewis, Professor, California Institute 
of Technology; Dr. Daniel Scherson, Professor, Case Western 
Reserve University; Dr. Collin Broholm, Professor, Johns 
Hopkins University; and Dr. Daniel Hallinan Jr., Assistant 
Professor, Florida A&M University--Florida State University 
College of Engineering.

June 16, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: SBIR/STTR 
Reauthorization: A Review of Technology Transfer.
    Witnesses: Dr. Pramod Khargonekar, Assistant Director, 
National Science Foundation; Dr. Michael Lauer, Deputy 
Director, National Institutes of Health; Dr. Patricia Dehmer, 
Deputy Director for Science Programs, Office of Science, 
Department of Energy; and, Dr. Jilda D. Garton, Vice President 
for Research and General Manager, Georgia Tech Research 
Corporation.

June 22, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Ensuring Sound Science at EPA.
    Witness: The Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency.

July 7, 2016

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: Examining the Nation's 
Current and Next Generation Weather Satellite Programs.
    Witnesses: Dr. Stephen Volz, Assistant Administrator, 
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information 
Services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Mr. 
David Powner, Director, Information Technology Management 
Issues, Government Accountability Office; Mr. Ralph Stoffler, 
Director of Weather, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, U.S. 
Air Force; and Ms. Cristina Chaplain, Director, Acquisition and 
Sourcing Management, Government Accountability Office.

July 12, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee and Space Subcommittee 
hearing: Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Astrobiology.
    Witnesses: Dr. Paul Hertz, Director, Astrophysics Division, 
NASA; Dr. Jim Ulvestad, Director, Division of Astronomical 
Sciences, NSF; Dr. Angela Olinto, Chair, Astronomy and 
Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC), and Homer J. Livingston 
Professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Enrico 
Fermi Institute, University of Chicago; Dr. Shelley Wright, 
Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego, 
Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, Breakthrough Listen 
Advisory Committee; and Dr. Christine Jones, Senior 
Astrophysicist, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 
President, American Astronomical Society.

July 14, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Evaluating FDIC's Response to Major 
Data Breaches: Is the FDIC Safeguarding Consumers' Banking 
Information?
    Witnesses: Mr. Martin J. Gruenberg, Chairman, FDIC and Mr. 
Fred W. Gibson, Acting Inspector General, FDIC.

September 7, 2016

    Space Subcommittee hearing: Commercial Remote Sensing: 
Facilitating Innovation and Leadership.
    Witnesses: Mr. Kevin O'Connell, President and CEO, 
Innovative Analytics and Training LLC; Former Chair, Federal 
Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES); Mr. 
Kevin Pomfret, Executive Director, Centre for Spatial Law and 
Policy; Ms. Michele R. Weslander Quaid, President, Sunesis 
Nexus LLC; Mr. Michael Dodge, Assistant Professor, Department 
of Space Studies, University of North Dakota; and, Ms. Joanne 
Gabrynowicz, Professor Emerita, University of Mississippi 
School of Law.

September 8, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee and Middle East and North Africa 
Subcommittee (Foreign Affairs Committee) joint hearing: Eastern 
Mediterranean Energy: Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. 
Regional Priorities.
    Witnesses: Mr. Amos J. Hochstein, Special Envoy, Bureau of 
Energy Resources, U.S. Department of State; and The Honorable 
Jonathan Elkind, Assistant Secretary, Office of International 
Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy.

September 13, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Protecting the 2016 Elections from 
Cyber and Voting Machine Attacks.
    Witnesses: Dr. Charles H. Romine, Director, Information 
Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology; the Honorable Tom Schedler, Secretary of State, 
State of Louisiana; Mr. David Becker, Executive Director, The 
Center for Election Innovation & Research; and, Dr. Dan S. 
Wallach, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Rice 
Scholar, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University.

September 14, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Affirming Congress' Constitutional 
Oversight Responsibilities: Subpoena Authority and Recourse for 
Failure to Comply with Lawfully Issued Subpoenas.
    Witnesses: Mr. Jonathan Turley, J.B. & Maurice C. Shapiro 
Professor of Public Interest Law at The George Washington 
University Law School; Mr. Ronald D. Rotunda, Doy and Dee 
Henley Chair and Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at 
Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law; Ms. Elizabeth 
Price Foley, Professor of Law at Florida International 
University College of Law; and Mr. Charles Tiefer, Professor of 
Law at University of Baltimore; Former Acting General Counsel, 
U.S. House of Representatives.

September 21, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: Examining Misconduct and Intimidation of Scientists by 
Senior DOE Officials.
    Witnesses: Dr. Sharlene Weatherwax, Associate Director, 
Biological and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of 
Energy; and Dr. Noelle Metting, Radiation Biologist, U.S. 
Department of Energy.

September 27, 2016

    Space Subcommittee hearing: Are We Losing the Space Race to 
China?
    Witnesses: The Honorable Dennis C. Shea, Chairman, U.S.-
China Economic and Security Review Commission; Mr. Mark Stokes, 
Executive Director, Project 2049 Institute; Mr. Dean Cheng, 
Senior Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center, Heritage 
Foundation; and Dr. James Lewis, Senior Vice President and 
Director, Strategic Technologies Program, Center for Strategic 
& International Studies.

September 29, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: Academic 
Research Regulatory Relief: A Review of New Recommendations.
    Witnesses: Dr. Larry R. Faulkner, President Emeritus, The 
University of Texas at Austin; Mr. John Neumann, Director, 
Natural Resources and Environment Team, Government 
Accountability Office; Mr. Jim Luther, Associate Vice President 
for Finance & Compliance Officer, Duke University; and, Dr. 
Angel Cabrera, President, George Mason University.

                       SUMMARY OF OVERSIGHT PLAN

    House Rule X sets the Committee's legislative jurisdiction 
while also assigning broad oversight responsibilities. Rule X 
also assigns the Committee special oversight responsibility for 
``reviewing and studying, on a continuing basis, all laws, 
programs, and Government activities dealing with or involving 
non-military research and development.'' The Committee 
appreciates the special function entrusted to it and will 
continue to tackle troubled programs and search for waste, 
fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in non-military research and 
development programs regardless of where they may be found.
    Much of the oversight work of the Committee is carried out 
by and through the Oversight Subcommittee. However, oversight 
is conducted by every Subcommittee and the full Committee. All 
components of the Committee take their oversight charge 
seriously and work cooperatively to meet the Committee's 
oversight responsibilities.
    The Committee also routinely works with the U.S. Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspectors General (IG) of 
the agencies under its jurisdiction to maintain detailed 
awareness of the work of those offices. The Committee currently 
has numerous outstanding requests with the GAO. These include 
bipartisan requests as well as those signed by multiple 
Committee Chairmen with shared interests.
    The Committee continues to be concerned about allegations 
of intimidation of science specialists in federal agencies, 
suppression or revisions of scientific finding, and 
mischaracterization of scientific findings because of political 
or other pressures. The Committee's oversight will include 
examination of allegations, and will also involve the 
development and implementation of scientific integrity 
principles within the executive branch.
    Oversight is commonly driven by emerging events. While the 
Committee continues to address new issues and topics as they 
transpire, the following is a summary of the Committee's 
Oversight Plan approved in February, 2015.

Energy

Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science

    The Committee will conduct oversight of Office of Science 
programs to review prioritization across, and management 
within, its major program areas. Special attention will also be 
given to the cost, operation, and maintenance of DOE's existing 
and planned major facilities.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) R&D

    The Committee will undertake efforts to improve focus, 
prioritization, and transparency of EERE programs, and provide 
close oversight to ensure that programs are managed 
efficiently, duplication is limited, and funding is allocated 
appropriately and effectively.

Nuclear Energy R&D

    The Committee will provide oversight of the nation's 
nuclear R&D activities. DOE, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
and industry stakeholders are working to advance reactor 
construction of new nuclear reactors. The Committee will 
examine how DOE R&D can best contribute to this goal through 
the advancement of various nuclear energy technologies.

Fossil Energy R&D

    In the 114th Congress, the Committee will continue to 
ensure that fossil fuel R&D programs are appropriately focused 
and managed efficiently. Expected areas of oversight include 
coal R&D prioritization and program management and oil and gas 
R&D efforts.

Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy (ARPA-E)

    The Committee will undertake oversight of ARPA-E program 
funding and management in the 114th Congress, examining the 
appropriate role for and focus of ARPA-E in the context of 
DOE's numerous other clean energy-focused programs and 
activities.

DOE Loan Guarantees

    Program management problems associated with past DOE loan 
guarantees in recent years call for greater attention by the 
Committee. Ensuring the program minimizes risk to taxpayers and 
addresses previously identified problems will be a priority in 
the 114th Congress.

DOE Contract Management

    DOE programs have come under frequent scrutiny for contract 
management practices. GAO designated DOE's contract management 
as high-risk in 1990 and continues to identify areas of 
potential waste, fraud, and abuse.

Environment

Science and R&D at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

    The Committee will continue to conduct oversight of EPA's 
management of science and its use of science in the decision 
making process, including lab management, regulatory science, 
transparency, and risk assessment. In particular, the Committee 
will examine how to better integrate science into the 
Administration's regulatory decision-making process. This 
includes how EPA uses and manages scientific data to reach its 
regulatory conclusions.

Risk Assessment

    As the number and complexity of regulations increases 
throughout federal and state governments, the risk assessments 
that inform those decisions are garnering more attention. The 
Committee will continue to oversee how risk assessments are 
developed and how they are used in the regulatory process to 
ensure that policies are based on the best science available.

Climate Research Activities

    The Committee will continue to monitor the broad array of 
programs addressing climate change issues across the Federal 
government to ensure that existing programs are necessary, 
appropriately focused, effectively coordinated, and properly 
organized to prevent duplication of efforts and waste taxpayer 
resources.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather 
        Forecasting

    The Committee will examine funding prioritization and 
program management challenges related to the NOAA's mission to 
understand and predict changes in weather, particularly as they 
relate to severe weather events that threaten life and 
property.

NASA Earth Science

    The Committee will monitor NASA's efforts to prioritize, 
plan, and implement Earth science missions within cost and 
schedule. Particular attention will be paid to programs that 
exceed cost estimates to ensure they do not adversely impact 
the development and launch of other NASA priorities.

NOAA Satellite Modernization

    The Committee will continue its close monitoring of 
satellite modernization at NOAA. The restructured Joint Polar 
Satellite System (JPSS) will continue to draw the Committee's 
attention, as will the Geostationary Operational Environmental 
Satellites and the broader issues of research-to-operations 
planning and data continuity.

Research and Technology

National Science Foundation (NSF)

    The Committee will continue to oversee the NSF, looking for 
ways to trim duplicative and unused programs in an effort to 
maximize available resources. The innovative work of the 
National Science Foundation is important to the economic 
prosperity and competitiveness of the United States. However, 
there are various activities within the Foundation that may go 
beyond the mission of the agency and require more scrutiny and 
potential cuts in order to ensure that federal investments in 
basic science remain primarily focused on research that 
actually benefits the Nation.

Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics (STEM) K-12 Oversight

    Members of the Committee have expressed interests in 
improving STEM education activities from pre-K through graduate 
and continuing education in order to cultivate a top-notch 
future scientific and technical workforce, including well-
qualified teachers in STEM fields. Determining the appropriate 
forms of federal support for these outcomes is important to the 
Committee. While STEM education is critical to maintaining the 
scientific and technical workforce essential to our 
competitiveness, many duplicative, wasteful, or simply unused 
programs exist across a number of federal agencies and must be 
more closely examined and, where warranted, cut.

U.S. Antarctic and Arctic Programs

    The U.S. has conducted operations on the Antarctic 
continent under the terms of the Antarctic Treaty System since 
1959, and U.S. research activities in the Arctic predate that. 
The NSF serves as the steward for U.S. interests in Antarctica. 
Research in these extreme regions is a fundamental component to 
understanding the Earth and its systems. The future of the 
icebreaker fleet that provides vital logistical support for NSF 
activities in the harsh polar environments continues to be of 
concern.

NSF Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) 
        Program

    The Committee will continue to monitor and oversee NSF's 
MREFC program, including how priorities for projects are 
developed, long-term budgeting for such priorities, the 
management of cooperative agreements, and decision-making with 
regards to ever-changing scientific community needs.

Cybersecurity

    The Committee has continuously stressed the protection of 
the nation's cyber-infrastructure, which underpins much private 
and public activity. The Committee will continue to provide 
critical oversight of how NIST, DHS and NSF address this 
important topic and will be particularly interested in how 
federal agencies balance security mandates with the ability to 
allow technological development through innovation. The 
Committee will also continue to conduct oversight of agency 
efforts to protect information technology systems. Threats and 
intrusions increase as GAO and IG recommendations go 
unaddressed. The Committee will ensure that agencies comply 
with existing statutes and address outside recommendations in a 
timely manner.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

    The Committee will conduct program oversight for NIST, and 
other programs in the Department of Commerce, paying special 
attention to the evaluation of their alignment with and impact 
on industry. In another area of NIST, the Committee is aware 
that America's competitive position can be dramatically 
improved, or weakened, depending on how standards for different 
products and processes are developed. NIST is the only federal 
agency with long-term expertise in this arena, and the 
Committee is concerned that the cooperation on standards 
development across agencies is less than optimal.

Advanced Technologies

    The Committee will examine R&D programs to ensure that they 
are focused in areas that support the most promising new areas 
of technology, including technology in the bio, nano, energy 
and health sectors. The Committee will also examine NIST's role 
in the development of the smart grid, the management of cross-
agency information technology (NITRD) and nanotechnology (NNI) 
research programs, and measurement science underpinning the 
biotechnology industry.

Department of Transportation (DOT) R&D Programs

    The Committee will conduct oversight with regard to 
implementation of MAP-21 and related surface transportation R&D 
programs within the federal government, with a particular focus 
on strategic planning, performance metrics, effectiveness and 
redundancy elimination.

Economic Competitiveness and Job Creation

    The Committee will conduct oversight of policies enacted by 
the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR), and 
ensure that it is focused on the most promising innovations.

Natural Hazards

    The Committee has supported interagency research programs 
to mitigate the damage caused by natural disasters such as 
earthquakes, windstorms, and fires by developing early warning 
systems and improved building and infrastructure design. The 
Committee will continue to evaluate programs to protect 
Americans from these and other hazards.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology

    The Committee will continue to monitor the maturation of 
DHS, particularly the effectiveness and organization of the 
Science and Technology Directorate, and the research and 
technology programs associated with the Domestic Nuclear 
Detection Office.

Space

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Human Space Flight 
        Program

    The Committee will continue to provide oversight of NASA's 
human spaceflight program as it undergoes a period of 
uncertainty and transition following various Administration 
proposals. Specific attention will be paid to the feasibility 
of NASA's plans and priorities relative to their resources and 
requirements.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Commercial Space Transportation

    FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) 
licenses commercial launch vehicles. An area of increasing 
interest is the emergence of a number of fledgling commercial 
human suborbital space flight ventures. In addition to its 
oversight of the FAA's AST, the Committee will examine the 
progress of the emerging personal space flight industry, as 
well as the challenges it faces.

NASA Space Science

    The Committee will monitor NASA's efforts to prioritize, 
plan, launch, and operate space science missions within cost 
and schedule. Particular attention will be paid to programs 
that exceed cost estimates to ensure they do not adversely 
impact the development and launch of other missions.

FAA Research and Development (R&D) Activities

    The Committee will oversee the R&D activities at the FAA to 
ensure that they lead to improvements in the U.S. Aerospace 
sector. The Committee has a particular interest in the 
performance of the Joint Planning and Development Office 
(JPDO), and FAA's management of its Next Generation Air 
Transportation System (NextGen) program.

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS)

    The Committee will evaluate the ability, cost, safety, and 
reliability of commercial providers to meet NASA requirements 
to deliver cargo and crew to the ISS.

International Space Station (ISS) Utilization and Operation

    The plans for operation and utilization of the ISS will 
continue to draw the Committee's attention as NASA attempts to 
fully utilize the unique research opportunities that the 
facility offers, while exclusively relying on logistical 
services from commercial and foreign providers. Given the 
significant national investment to date in the facility, 
Congress has directed that NASA maintain a strong research and 
technology program to take advantage of ISS' unique 
capabilities.

Aeronautics Research

    The Committee plans to examine NASA's ability to support 
the interagency effort to modernize the nation's air traffic 
management system, the development of unmanned aviation systems 
(UAS), as well as its ability to undertake important long-term 
R&D on aircraft safety, emissions, noise, and energy 
consumption--R&D that will have a significant impact on the 
quality of life and U.S. competitiveness in aviation.

NASA Contract and Financial Management

    A perennial topic on GAO's high risk series, NASA financial 
management will continue to receive attention from the 
Committee. The Committee will also monitor NASA's contract 
management to ensure acquisitions are handled appropriately.

Near Earth Objects

    Congress has provided guidance to NASA relating to Near 
Earth Objects. The Committee will continue to monitor NASA's 
compliance with that direction, as well as determine whether 
additional oversight is necessary.

 SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TAKEN AND RECOMMENDATIONS MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE 
                             OVERSIGHT PLAN


Energy

Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science

    The Committee conducted extensive oversight of Office of 
Science programs, focusing specifically on the Obama 
administration's efforts to cut basic science in furtherance of 
the President's Climate Action Plan. Hearings addressing the 
Office of Science include ``An Overview of the Budget Proposal 
for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2016'' (02/25/
2015); ``Innovations in Battery Storage for Renewable Energy'' 
(05/01/2015); ``Department of Energy Oversight: Energy 
Innovation Hubs'' (06/17/2015); ``An Overview of the Budget 
Proposal for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2017'' 
(03/22/2016); ``An Overview of Fusion Energy Science'' (04/20/
2016); ``SBIR / STTR Reauthorization: A Review of Technology 
Transfer'' (06/16/2016); and ``Innovation in Solar Fuels, 
Electricity Storage, and Advanced Materials'' (06/15/2016).
    The Committee also conducted bipartisan oversight of the 
ITER project, an international collaboration to construct a 
first-of-a-kind nuclear fusion reactor authorized by Congress. 
This collaboration includes the European Union, Russian 
Federation, China, Republic of Korea, Japan, and India. The 
Committee addressed the challenge of ITER in a hearing entitled 
``An Overview of Fusion Energy Science'' (04/20/2016).
    To address the misplaced priorities and resources within 
the Office of Science, the Committee advanced legislation to 
address key Committee priorities, including bipartisan 
legislation authorizing the DOE to upgrade its super computers 
(H.R. 874, the American Supercomputing Act); bipartisan 
legislation authorizing basic and applied R&D to support 
innovation of solar fuels (H.R. 5638, the Solar Fuels 
Innovation Act) and battery technology (H.R. 5640, the Battery 
Storage Innovation Act); and bipartisan legislation authorizing 
research on low dose radiation research (H.R. 35, the Low Dose 
Radiation Research Act), the subject of the Committee's 
investigation on DOE management intimidating and retaliating 
against scientists.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) R&D

    The Committee held a series of hearings conducting 
oversight of EERE programs, including ``An Overview of the 
Budget Proposal for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 
2016'' (02/25/2015); ``Department of Energy Oversight: Office 
of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy'' (03/24/2015); 
Innovations in Battery Storage for Renewable Energy'' (05/01/
2015); ``Department of Energy Oversight: Energy Innovation 
Hubs'' (06/17/2015); ``An Overview of the Budget Proposal for 
the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2017'' (03/22/2016); 
``Innovation in Solar Fuels, Electricity Storage, and Advanced 
Materials'' (06/15/2016); and ``Eastern Mediterranean Energy: 
Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Regional Priorities'' 
(09/08/2016).
    Legislation to address the focus, prioritization, and 
transparency of EERE programs was included H.R. 1806, The 
America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, which passed the House on 
05/20/2015. H.R. 1806 reauthorized EERE research, development, 
demonstration, and commercial application of renewable energy 
and energy efficiency technology. This legislation repealed 
outdated programs and included specific direction to streamline 
the EERE portfolio, reduce duplication and identify activities 
that could be better undertaken by states, institutions of 
higher education, or the private sector, and areas of sub-par 
performance.
    The Committee also sent oversight letters to the Department 
of Energy regarding EERE programs, including addressing the 
Home Energy Auditing Standards in letters to Secretary Moniz on 
01/12/2016 and 02/11/2016.

Nuclear Energy R&D

    The Committee conducted oversight of the Department's 
current spending and related activities in research, 
development, demonstration, and commercial application of 
nuclear energy technologies through a series of hearings in the 
114th Congress, including ``An Overview of the Budget Proposal 
for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2016'' (02/25/
2015); ``Nuclear Energy Innovation and the National Labs'' (05/
13/2015); ``Subcommittee on Energy Hearing--Department of 
Energy Oversight: Energy Innovation Hubs'' (06/17/2015); ``A 
Review of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Licensing 
Process'' (07/29/2015); ``H.R. 4084, the Nuclear Energy 
Innovation Capabilities Act'' (12/03/2015); and ``An Overview 
of the Budget Proposal for the Department of Energy for Fiscal 
Year 2017'' (03/22/2016).
    The Committee also conducted oversight of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission's capabilities to license advanced 
reactor technologies and effectively collaborate with the DOE 
on related R&D activities through extensive meetings with 
industry stakeholders, DOE, and NRC staff, and the Committee's 
first hearing with the NRC Commissioner in July 2015, ``A 
Review of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Licensing 
Process'' (07/29/2015).
    Legislation to address the focus, prioritization, and 
transparency of the Department's Nuclear Energy R&D programs 
was included in H.R. 1806, which reauthorized nuclear energy 
research, development, demonstration, and commercial 
application of renewable energy and energy efficiency 
technology.
    The Committee also drafted bipartisan legislation (H.R. 
4084) authorizing nuclear energy research, development, and 
demonstration activities. This legislation focuses federal 
spending on enabling research, development, and demonstration 
activities that the private sector is not able to undertake. 
This legislation was taken up by the Senate as a bipartisan 
companion bill (Crapo-Whitehouse-Risch-Booker-Hatch).
    The Committee also conducted oversight of the Department's 
role for implementation and related research and development 
activities for the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive 
Plan of Action). The Committee sent letters to the DOE and FBI 
related to this work as part of an ongoing investigation on 06/
21/2016 and 10/18/2016.

Fossil Energy R&D

    The Committee held a series of hearings conducting 
oversight of fossil energy programs, including ``An Overview of 
the Budget Proposal for the Department of Energy for Fiscal 
Year 2016'' (02/25/2015); ``An Overview of the Budget Proposal 
for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2017'' (03/22/
2016); ``Department of Energy Oversight: Office of Fossil 
Energy'' (05/11/2016); and ``Eastern Mediterranean Energy: 
Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Regional Priorities'' 
(09/08/2016).
    Legislation to address the focus, prioritization, and 
transparency of fossil energy programs, by reauthorizing 
research, development, demonstration, and commercial 
application of fossil energy technology was included in H.R. 
1806. This legislation included specific direction to 
streamline the fossil energy portfolio, reduce duplication and 
identify activities that could be better undertaken by states, 
institutions of higher education, or the private sector, and 
areas of sub-par performance.

Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy (ARPA-E)

    The Committee conducted oversight of ARPA-E programs 
through reviews of the DOE budget request, including in two 
hearings, ``An Overview of the Budget Proposal for the 
Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2016'' (02/25/2015); and 
``An Overview of the Budget Proposal for the Department of 
Energy for Fiscal Year 2017'' (03/22/2016). In order to address 
the funding and management of ARPA-E programs, the Committee 
reauthorized ARPA-E, but significantly reduced funding for the 
controversial program, and included direction to require 
program applicants to prove they could not receive funding from 
a private entity in H.R. 1806.

DOE Loan Guarantees

    The Committee conducted oversight of the DOE loan programs 
through several hearings, including ``An Overview of the Budget 
Proposal for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2016'' 
(02/25/2015); ``Department of Energy Oversight: The DOE Loan 
Guarantee Program'' (03/03/2016); and ``An Overview of the 
Budget Proposal for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 
2017'' (03/22/2016).
    The Committee also conducted a year-long investigation into 
the management of the DOE loan guarantee program, focusing on 
the Department's decision to expand loan guarantee program 
eligibility to distributed energy and state funded energy 
projects, the bankruptcy of companies associated with the loan 
guarantee program, and Congressional access to documents 
outlining the financial stability of the existing loan 
guarantee portfolio.
    The Committee sent letters to Secretary Moniz regarding the 
DOE loan program on 09/08/2015, 12/09/2015, and 06/01/2016, and 
conducted numerous staff briefings and document reviews with 
DOE loan program office staff.

DOE Management

    The Committee conducted oversight of DOE laboratory 
management and contract competition to select management for 
the DOE national laboratories, conducting several hearings 
examining the labs in the 114th Congress. These hearings 
include ``An Overview of the Budget Proposal for the Department 
of Energy for Fiscal Year 2016'' (02/25/2015); 
``Recommendations of the Commission to Review the Effectiveness 
of the National Energy Laboratories'' (11/18/2015); and ``An 
Overview of the Budget Proposal for the Department of Energy 
for Fiscal Year 2017'' (03/22/2016).
    The Committee worked extensively with the Commission to 
Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories 
(CRENEL) to understand contract and management challenges in 
the current lab system, and to address opportunities for reform 
to improve the efficiency of lab operations.
    The Committee also commissioned a GAO study comparing the 
overhead costs, effectiveness, and achievements of the DOE 
research programs, including the Office of Science and applied 
research programs in energy efficiency and renewable energy 
(EERE) and nuclear energy. This study required extensive data 
collection and is expected to be finalized by January 2017.
    To address the management challenges within the DOE 
national labs, the Committee drafted H.R. 1158, the Department 
of Energy Laboratory Modernization and Technology Transfer Act 
of 2015. This bipartisan legislation reforms the DOE's 
laboratory management practice and emphasizes the need to make 
laboratories more accessible to the private sector.

Scientific Integrity

    The Committee conducted oversight, wrote letters to 
Secretary Moniz (02/03/2016, 02/26/2016, 04/28/2016, and 06/09/
2016), held transcribed interviews, and held a hearing entitled 
``Examining Misconduct and Intimidation of Scientists by Senior 
DOE Officials'' (09/21/2016) pursuant to the Committee's 
investigation on DOE management intimidating and retaliating 
against scientists.

Environment

Science and R&D at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

    The Committee has held multiple oversight hearings on EPA's 
regulatory actions, including: ozone NAAQS, Clean Power Plan, 
methane, regional haze, 404c permitting (Pebble Mine) and 
energy efficiency. These hearings examined the lack of science 
used to justify agency regulations, as well as examining the 
role that politics rather than science influences policy. The 
Committee has also written numerous letters to EPA, USDA, NPS, 
and DOT requesting documents and communications relating to 
regulations initiated or overseen by these Agencies.
    The Committee also conducted oversight of current and 
former EPA employees for potential violations of the anti-
Lobbying Act. The House passed H.R. 1029 (Science Advisory 
Board Reform Act of 2015) and H.R. 1030 (Secret Science Reform 
Act of 2015)--these two bills would bring greater transparency 
and accountability to both the scientific and the regulatory 
process within all federal regulations.

Climate Research Activities

    The Committee requested a GAO report on federal climate 
change policies to review instances of duplication and waste. 
The Committee has monitored the climate change activities of 
the Administration, including the examination of the Climate 
Action Plan.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather 
        Forecasting

    The Committee held multiple hearings on the state of 
weather forecasting in prediction, including the role of 
government agencies as well as the growing private sector 
weather services. The House passed H.R. 1561, the Weather 
Research and Forecasting Innovation Act, which will increase 
our weather forecasting skill by targeted funding for new 
weather technologies and research.

NOAA Satellite Modernization

    The Committee held multiple hearings on the current state 
of NOAA satellites. The Committee has been very critical of the 
continued high costs, delays, and mismanagement of the 
programs, and has called for NOAA to implement other strategies 
to strengthen our Nation's weather satellite constellation, 
including implementation commercial weather data. The Committee 
included commercial weather language in H.R. 1561, the Weather 
Research and Forecasting Innovation Act, which will increase 
our ability to accurately predict weather when faced with 
government delays or even failures.

NASA Earth Science

    The Committee has continued to monitor NASA's earth science 
portfolio, including the potential for duplicative activities 
related to climate change research.

Risk Assessment

    The House passed H.R. 1029 (Science Advisory Board Reform 
Act of 2015) which would ensure that risk assessments are 
conducted in an open and transparent way, while eliminating 
conflicts of interest. The Committee has also conducted 
oversight on EPA's handling of its evaluation of glyphosate, in 
addition to several other chemicals. From this oversight 
activity, the Committee continues to monitor and evaluate the 
manner that federal agencies use risk assessments to make 
regulatory and policy decisions.

Research and Technology

National Science Foundation (NSF)

    The Committee reviewed more than 50,000 NSF research grants 
made during the past half-dozen years. This was the first 
systematic review of NSF grant-making by Congress. The result 
of this huge undertaking was identifying and cataloging several 
thousand questionable NSF awards. Examples of such questionable 
expenditures of taxpayer money include $700,000 to underwrite a 
climate change musical, $250,000 for trips to Norway to compile 
information about local tourism, and $700,000 to support a 
study of ancient fishing practices on Lake Victoria (Africa).

Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics (STEM) K-12 Oversight

    The Committee elicited hearing testimony about the 
proliferation of categorical, often overlapping federally-
funded STEM programs. Although witnesses provided anecdotal 
information about the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of these 
programs, the overarching concern was that there was no 
objective information about STEM program outcomes, i.e., no 
basis for measuring success and judging the return-on-
investment for taxpayers. In contrast, leaders of several 
privately funded STEM initiatives described detailed, 
longitudinal results that depicted significant increases in 
STEM interest, STEM studies, and STEM careers.
    Another important result of STEM oversight hearings was 
highlighting that computer science was not a core STEM 
discipline. The Committee reported, the House approved, and the 
President signed into law the STEM Education Act of 2015, which 
added computer science to the definition of STEM and bolstered 
informal, privately-sponsored STEM education initiatives.
    As part of broader legislation which included reauthorizing 
STEM programs under the Committee's jurisdiction, the Committee 
also required that outcomes data be collected systematically 
and used to assess the effectiveness and worth of publicly-
funded STEM programs.

U.S. Antarctic and Arctic Programs

    A 2015 Committee CODEL to the Antarctic provided ten 
Members with a first-hand look at the physical infrastructure 
that supports U.S. scientific activity, including the 
insufficiency of U.S. resources to meet ice-breaking 
requirements and the problems that accompany U.S. reliance on 
other nations' ice-breaking resources. (This was the first 
Congressional oversight trip to the Antarctic and the U.S. 
multi-billion dollar investment there in several years.)

NSF Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) 
        Program

    Reports by the NSF Inspector General and information from a 
whistleblower/federal auditor stimulated Committee information 
gathering and a series of oversight hearings that revealed 
massive mismanagement of a $440 million NSF research facility 
construction project and improper and possibly illegal 
expenditures of millions of taxpayer dollars on lobbying, 
lavish parties and foreign travel by the non-profit developer 
hired by NSF. Committee oversight forced NSF to: acknowledge a 
$110 million total cost over-run, fire the non-profit and make 
major changes in NSF internal and external policies and 
procedures in order to protect taxpayer funds from waste and 
abuse.

Government-wide R&D Initiatives in Emerging Fields

    The Committee held a series of oversight hearings that 
brought forward information about scientific breakthroughs and 
taxpayer investments in emerging technologies. These included: 
NSF-funded research which yielded the ground-breaking discovery 
of gravitational waves; the creation of new gene-editing tools 
(e.g., CRISPR) with virtually limitless possibilities for 
benefiting mankind and a considerable potential for misuse; 
development of autonomous vehicle technology and associated 
cyber/safety issues; and inter-agency collaboration in network 
information and technology research aimed at advances in 
emerging fields like cyber-physical systems, quantum computing 
and more.

Cybersecurity

    The Committee's jurisdiction includes the Federal 
Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) and the 
National Institute for Standards and Technology, which conducts 
research that informs its cyber security standards for federal 
agencies and cyber security guidelines for the private sector. 
Conspicuous cyber-security incidents and heightened concerns 
about private and public organizations' vulnerabilities to 
foreign-sponsored cyber-attacks dominated Committee oversight 
in this area. Oversight hearings focused on both public and 
private cyber-attacks, including a series of hearings about the 
risks of health insurance enrollment at healthcare.gov, the 
massive breach of sensitive data at the Office of Personnel 
Management, and poor or non-existent communications between 
private sector cyber researchers and practitioners and federal 
agencies. Of overarching concern was the consistent non-
compliance of federal agencies with NIST standards, as required 
by FISMA.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

    The Committee conducted a series of hearings about two 
serious lapses in physical security at NIST campuses: an 
explosion and fire caused by an illegal meth ``factory'' 
operated in a NIST laboratory by a NIST security officer and 
the unauthorized entry into a secure NIST laboratory which 
contained hazardous materials.
    As part of its focus on cyber security problems, the 
Committee elicited information from NIST and others about the 
sufficiency and completeness of NIST cyber security standards 
for federal agencies, the evolving threats of foreign cyber-
attacks on federal agencies, and NIST responsiveness to federal 
agency requests for information and advice.

Advanced Technologies

    Committee oversight in this area included two hearings 
about cross-agency networking and information technology 
collaborations under the NITRD Act, the development of 
international standards for nanotechnology, and the efficiency 
and physical condition of NIST laboratories.

Department of Transportation (DOT) R&D Programs

    Committee hearings featured U.S. DOT and private industry 
experts and focused on development of technologies to support 
autonomous vehicles. Knowledge gleaned from these hearings 
informed Committee contributions to subsequent surface 
transportation legislation.

Economic Competitiveness and Job Creation

    In preparation for 2017 reauthorization of SBIR/STTR, the 
Committee conducted one oversight hearing and prepared for a 
subsequent one that will feature a GAO report on waste, fraud 
and abuse.

United States Fire Administration (USFA)

    The Committee's professional staff met with federal agency 
and first-responder representatives to monitor the affected 
programs.

Natural Hazards

    The Committee held hearings about interagency research 
programs for windstorms and fires and also organized meetings 
on these subjects and earthquake hazards. In particular, the 
Committee meetings with the several affected federal agencies 
focused on the need to do a better job of coordinating among 
agencies and tracking the dollar amount of federal activities.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology

    The Committee conducted several hearings and meetings with 
DHS senior officials about the Science and Technology 
Directorate's direction and performance, including the 
efficiency and effectiveness of the processes through which the 
Directorate considers and vets emerging new technologies for 
homeland security requirements.

Space

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Human Space Flight 
        Program

    The Committee held five hearings that pertain to NASA's 
human spaceflight program They covered topics including 
international competitiveness in human exploration, deep space 
habitation, the need for stability in NASA's human exploration 
program, and general exploration goals within the solar system. 
The Committee also held one hearing on the ethics and 
obligations of healthcare for NASA. This was followed up by a 
markup to review H.R. 6076, To Research, Evaluate, Assess, and 
Treat Astronauts Act, which is the response to that hearing. In 
October, 2016, Chairman Smith sent a letter to Charles Bolden, 
NASA administrator, requesting the un-redacted decision 
memoranda for the Space Launch System and Orion crew vehicle 
programs, which had completed Key Decision Point C. Committee 
staff has also toured facilities related to those programs at 
Kennedy Space Center and Stennis Space Center.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Commercial Space Transportation

    The Subcommittee on space convened to discuss challenges 
and opportunities facing the small satellite community. 
Chairman Smith and Chairman Babin sent a letter to the Federal 
Aviation Administration requesting an un-redacted report on the 
October 28, 2014 failure of an Orbital ATK Antares rocket. 
Orbital ATK had provided the report to FAA. The Committee is 
actively participating in conversations related to mission 
authorization, space situational awareness, and space traffic 
management.

NASA Space Science

    The Committee held a hearing to monitor the status of the 
James Webb Space Telescope and continues to receive progress 
reports on the project. The Committee also held hearings to 
better understand the status of research in astronomy, 
astrophysics, and astrobiology. The Space Subcommittee held a 
joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Environment to discuss 
ways to maximize earth science investments through commercial 
opportunities. Chairman Smith sent a letter to NASA requesting 
copies of NASA's Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study, 
Sustainable Land Imaging Reduced Instrument Envelope Study, and 
the Sustainable Land Imaging Business Model Study.
    The Committee is also monitoring the development of 
spacecraft to conduct space science. Chairman Smith and 
Chairman Babin sent a letter to the Government Accountability 
Office requesting information on the status of the US reserve 
of plutonium-238. This element can be used as a power source 
for space probes and its quantity and production influences 
space science missions. Committee staff also visited the NASA's 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory to conduct oversight on the work that 
is being done there on spacecraft.

FAA Research and Development (R&D) Activities

    The Committee held a hearing on unmanned aircraft systems 
(UAS). The hearing informed the Committee on advancements in 
UAS research and development, UAS research and development 
policy, and UAS integration in to the National Airspace System. 
Each of these issues will be of particular use to the Committee 
for FAA and NASA reauthorizations. The Committee ordered 
reported H.R. 4489, the FAA Leadership In Groundbreaking High-
Tech Research and Development Act which reauthorizes Federal 
Aviation Administration (FAA) research and development (R&D) 
programs for FY2016-FY2019. The Committee requested a GAO 
report on FAA's R&D activities, which included the overall 
efficiency of its efforts and coordination between other 
government and private R&D efforts. Committee staff traveled to 
FAA's William Hughes Technical Center to meet with FAA staff, 
receive briefings on key FAA R&D activities, and engage in 
general oversight activities.

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS)

    The Committee held a hearing to review NASA's efforts to 
develop and acquire safe, reliable, and affordable crew 
transfer services to the International Space Station (ISS). The 
hearing examined the progress of NASA's Commercial Crew 
Program, its acquisition model, and future challenges for the 
program as the contractors move towards certification. The 
Committee reported H.R. 2262, U.S. Commercial Space Launch 
Competitiveness Act, which was signed into law and reported 
H.R. 1508, the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act 
of 2015, which promotes the development of a United States 
commercial space resource exploration and utilization industry 
and to increase the exploration and utilization of resources in 
outer space. The Committee conducted oversight into NASA's 
investigation of launch accidents involved with COTS and Cargo 
Resupply Services programs.

International Space Station (ISS) Utilization and Operation

    The Committee held a hearing on NASA's plans for ISS. The 
hearing examined the current status of ISS, evaluated NASA's 
plans for dealing with operational and maintenance challenges, 
the status of the ISS partnership, how NASA is utilizing the 
ISS to enable future deep space exploration, and the 
Administration's request to extend ISS operations to 2024. The 
Committee also hosted an ISS Downlink for Committee Members. 
Staff attended the Space Commerce Conference and Exhibition in 
Houston to keep abreast of developments in the space industry 
and engage with governmental and non-governmental policy-makers 
off the Hill and engage in general oversight activities.

Aeronautics Research

    The Committee held a hearing on civil aeronautics research 
to inform the Committee's reauthorization of the Federal 
Aviation Administration's research, engineering, and 
development programs. Staff traveled to NASA Armstrong Flight 
Research Center to meet with NASA staff, received briefings on 
key NASA Armstrong aeronautics activities, and engaged in 
general oversight activities. The Committee hosted a forum on 
American aeronautics.

NASA Contract and Financial Management

    The Committee held multiple hearings on NASA's budget 
proposal and the President's budget. These hearings reviewed 
and provided oversight for budget requests. The House passed 
H.R. 2039, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
Authorization Act for 2016 and 2017, that authorized the 
programs of NASA. The Committee also conducted oversight 
requesting information from NASA regarding the reasoning behind 
certain decisions regarding the balance of funds within 
programs.

Near Earth Objects

    The Committee held a hearing to examine the options for 
intermediate missions as well as research, technology, and 
systems needed before NASA can safely and effectively carry out 
a human mission to Mars, while maintaining a constancy of 
purpose and steady technical progress through the next 
Presidential Administration and beyond.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Commercial 
        Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office

    The Committee held a hearing to examine the current state 
of the space-based remote sensing industry. The hearing covered 
the scientific and technical advances in the fields of space-
to-earth and space-to-space remote sensing and also assessed 
existing United States law and regulation governing private 
remote sensing space systems, including whether there is a need 
to reform existing law and regulation. The Committee reported 
H.R. 2261, the Commercial Remote Sensing Act of 2015 to the 
House, which facilitates the continued development of the 
commercial remote sensing industry and protect national 
security and H.R. 2263, the Office of Space Commerce Act, which 
renames the Office of Space Commerce. The Committee has also 
conducted oversight regarding updates from NOAA to discuss any 
statutory updates necessary to licensing private remote sensing 
space system.

               SUMMARY OF ADDITIONAL OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES


Oversight of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 
        (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS)

    In July 2015, the Committee held a hearing entitled 
Investigating Contract Misconduct at the National Weather 
Service. The hearing examined findings by the Department of 
Commerce Inspector General (OIG) regarding contract misconduct 
at the NWS. Additionally, the hearing addressed allegations 
regarding exertion of influence by a senior official to obtain 
employment for an immediate family member at the NWS.
    The primary source of information discussed at the hearing 
is contained in the OIG report Investigation into Alleged 
Contracting Misconduct and Exertion of Improper Influence 
Involving a Senior National Weather Service Official issued 
June 2015. In 2009, then-Deputy Chief Financial Officer Peter 
Jiron intended to retire from the NWS. Mr. Jiron's supervisor, 
then-Chief Financial Officer Robert Byrd, suggested Mr. Jiron 
return to the NWS post-retirement as a consultant. One month 
before officially retiring from the NWS, Mr. Jiron negotiated 
the terms of his consultancy, drafted and edited the associated 
Statement of Work, drafted terms and conditions of his contract 
with NWS as a consultant, and eventually signed the consulting 
agreement with NWS in April 2010. In total, Mr. Jiron's 
consulting contract lasted 21 months, costing tax payers 
$471,875 including $50,000 in post-retirement housing. All of 
Mr. Jiron's alleged actions relating to post-retirement 
contracts were approved by his supervisor, Mr. Byrd.
    In addition, the OIG found evidence that Mr. Jiron may have 
attempted to influence NWS officials when seeking to find 
employment for an immediate family member in a NWS office. 
According to an Administrative Official, Mr. Jiron ``offered to 
exert influence to have the Administrative Official promoted 
from the GS-13 position he held at the time to a higher-paid 
GS-14 position if he assisted'' in getting Mr. Jiron's family 
member hired. Ultimately, the Administrative Official alerted 
his supervisor, and Mr. Jiron's family member was not hired.
    The OIG indicated that Mr. Jiron's alleged improprieties 
may have violated numerous federal laws and regulations, 
including criminal statutes. Specifically, the criminal 
conflict-of-interest statute prohibits federal employees from 
acting in their official capacity in matters that will affect 
their financial interests. Additionally, federal regulations 
prohibit Executive Branch employees from using a government 
position to benefit themselves. According to the OIG, Mr. 
Jiron's creation of his consulting position while employed at 
NWS and arranging for the future payment of his housing 
expenses was a conflict of interest that benefited himself. 
Furthermore, Mr. Jiron allegedly violated 18 U.S.C. Sec. 201, 
which criminalizes bribing government officials, when he 
attempted to influence NWS employees to hire his immediate 
family member.
    Further, the OIG found the ``lack of understanding about 
applicable laws and regulations on the part of multiple'' 
agency officials so concerning that the OIG is ``taking steps 
to ascertain whether this matter is indicative of a more 
systemic revolving door' contracting problem within 
[NOAA].''\1\ According to Mr. Byrd, this type of behavior is 
``just the way business is done'' at the agency.\2\ Several 
people interviewed by the OIG expressed a similar belief that 
these practices are commonplace.\3\ For instance, ``one of the 
highest-ranking NWS leadership officials wondered aloud during 
her OIG interview `why we have all these people that retire and 
then we go and hire them to come back.'''\4\ Moreover, the 
Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO) Representative that 
facilitated Mr. Jiron's contract told investigators that NOAA 
employees returning post-retirement ``happens all the 
time.''\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\U.S. Dep't of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, 
Investigation into Alleged Contracting Misconduct and Exertion of 
Improper Influence Involving a Senior National Weather Service Official 
(June 2015). Found at: http://www.oig.doc.gov/OIGPublications/OIG-12-
0447-I.pdf.
    \2\Id.
    \3\Id.
    \4\Id.
    \5\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The findings from this report prompted the OIG to conclude 
that some of Senior Official's conduct may have been criminal 
in nature, and as such referred the matter to both the Office 
of Government Ethics and to the Department of Justice for 
prosecution, but the relevant prosecutors declined to pursue 
charges. The Committee held a hearing and conducted oversight 
to highlight the issue and deter similar activity in the future 
from occurring at NOAA and NWS.

Oversight of Physical Security at National Institute of Standards 
        (NIST)

    On Saturday July 19, 2015, an explosion at a National 
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) facility in 
Gaithersburg, Maryland was caused by the manufacturing of the 
illegal drug methamphetamine. A NIST Police Officer resigned 
July 19, the day after he was injured during an explosion. As a 
result of this incident, the Committee began asking questions 
related to NIST security. On July 22, 2015, the Chairman sent 
Secretary Penny Pritzker a request for documents and 
information related to the incident at NIST.
    Over the course of the investigation, it became clear that 
there was a pattern of misconduct and mismanagement at NIST 
Police Services. On September 30, 2015, Chairman Smith 
requested additional documents and information related to 
building access and personnel matters as well as documents 
related to alleged abuse of personnel standards such as misuse 
of overtime pay at NIST Police Services or misuse of government 
equipment. Between September and December 2015, the Committee 
continued to receive documents from NIST and Committee staff 
toured NIST facilities on October 6, 2015. On December 4, 2015, 
the Chairman sent yet another letter to Director Mays at NIST 
requesting additional documents after Committee staff learned 
that NIST was not being candid and forthcoming. On January 7, 
2016, the NIST security officer responsible for the laboratory 
explosion was sentenced to 41 months in jail.
    The Science Committee, the authorizing and oversight 
committee for NIST, has a legitimate interest in the safety of 
NIST employees and ensuring that agency property is not used to 
produce illegal drugs. The employee who was injured while 
manufacturing methamphetamine on the NIST campus was not a low 
level employee, but the former acting Chief of Police in charge 
of NIST security. Documents reviewed by the Committee indicate 
that time and attendance fraud occurs regularly at NIST Police 
Services. In one instance, the officer in question allegedly 
worked 84 hours of overtime during a two-week period while also 
covering his full-time shifts. It also appears that police 
equipment worth thousands of dollars is unaccounted for or 
missing from the police force. These allegations raise serious 
questions about the lack of internal agency controls at NIST. 
During April and May 2016, Committee staff conducted 
transcribed interviews of two NIST employees hoping to better 
understand the management challenges at the agency.
    Information obtained by the Committee shows a culture of 
waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct at NIST Police Services. 
Agency officials were apparently aware of officer's conduct but 
failed to take appropriate disciplinary actions and even 
selected him as interim chief of police despite his misconduct. 
It is clear Congress must better monitor those with access to 
our nation's high-tech research facilities. Researchers at our 
nation's high-tech labs deserve to be safe from this sort of 
criminal activity. The American people expect the federal 
government to exercise responsible stewardship of their tax 
dollars.

Oversight of Agency Information Technology Security

    FDIC's Cybersecurity Posture--Pursuant to the Committee's 
legislative jurisdiction over portions of the Federal 
Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA), the 
Committee receives an annual FISMA report from each department 
and agency subject to the statute. As part of routine reviews 
of FISMA reports, Committee staff noted an anomaly in the 
FDIC's report. Additionally, on March 18, 2016, the Committee 
received written notice, as required by FISMA, of a major 
information technology (IT) security breach. In an effort to 
better understand the circumstances of this breach, on April 8, 
2016, Chairman Smith sent a letter to FDIC Chairman Gruenberg 
requesting documents, information, and a briefing from the 
agency.
    The breach reported to Congress on March 18, 2016, involved 
an employee who obtained sensitive data for 44,000 individuals 
prior to separating from employment at the agency on February 
26, 2016. The FDIC represented to that the separating employee 
inadvertently downloaded the information to a portable storage 
device referred to as a thumb drive and removed it from the 
premises. Upon learning of the incident three days later, FDIC 
personnel worked to recover the device. The device was 
ultimately recovered on March 1, 2016.
    The FDIC Acting Inspector General (OIG) contacted the 
Committee relaying information about ongoing audits of the 
agency's cybersecurity posture as well as raising concerns 
about other major breaches that the agency failed to report to 
Congress. The Committee also received credible whistleblower 
allegations stating that the agency was purposefully 
withholding information from Congress related to other major IT 
security breaches. On April 20, 2016, Chairman Smith wrote the 
FDIC requesting information related to other unreported 
breaches that took place in the latter part of 2015.
    Alarmingly, the IG and several whistleblowers told the 
Committee that the agency appeared to be withholding documents 
from the Committee even after twice certifying verbally that 
they had produced all responsive documents. Allegations of 
withholding documents led Chairman Smith to send a May 10, 
2016, letter to the IG requesting all documents not produced by 
the agency. On May 12, 2016, the Oversight Subcommittee held a 
hearing on this matter. Witnesses were the Chief Information 
Officer Lawrence Gross and the IG. At the hearing Members noted 
numerous inconsistencies in Gross' testimony. These 
inconsistencies were outlined in a May 19, 2016, letter to the 
FDIC from Chairman Smith and Subcommittee Chairman Loudermilk. 
The Committee subsequently learned of multiple other breaches 
involving sensitive financial information and held a follow-up 
hearing with Chairman Greenberg on July 14, 2016. During this 
hearing, the Committee learned about an advanced persistent 
threat which infected the FDIC's system for approximately three 
years beginning in 2010.
    In conjunction with the July 2016 hearing, the Committee 
released an interim staff report finding the following: (1) the 
FDIC Chief Information Officer has created a toxic work 
environment, misled Congress, and retaliated against 
whistleblowers, (2) the FDIC deliberately evaded Congressional 
oversight, and (3) the FDIC has historically experienced 
deficiencies related to its cybersecurity posture and those 
deficiencies continue to the present. The interim was based on 
numerous interviews with whistleblowers and extensive document 
review. To date, Committee staff has conducted seven 
transcribed interviews and reviewed thousands of documents. The 
Committee will continue its investigation in conjunction with 
the Inspector General's Office, which has a number of related 
and ongoing reviews underway.

Oversight of the ``Green 20'' and others

    The 114th Congress Science Committee oversight plan states 
that the Committee will review ``Academic/Industry 
Partnerships.'' As part of this effort in May 2016, the 
Committee began conducting oversight of the effects of 
investigations launched by certain attorneys general, the self-
proclaimed ``Green 20,'' to use various legal channels to 
advance their views on climate change.
    In support of this effort, the Attorney General of New 
York, the Attorney General of Massachusetts, and the U.S. 
Virgin Islands Attorney General\6\ issued broad subpoenas for 
documents. The subpoenas demand documents, information, and the 
research of numerous scientists (at Exxon, nonprofit groups, 
universities, and other organizations) seemingly for the 
purpose of passing judgment on the quality and conclusions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\In the latter part of May 2016, the Attorney General of the U.S. 
Virgin Islands rescinded his subpoena.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On May 18, 2016, thirteen Members of the Committee sent 
letters to 17 state attorneys general and eight activist 
environmental organizations. These letters requested documents 
and information related to their coordinated efforts to deprive 
companies, nonprofit organizations, scientists and scholars of 
their First Amendment rights.
    Between May 31 and June 3, 2016, the Green 20 and the 
activist environmental groups responded to the Science 
Committee. They raised various legal objections to the 
Committee's investigation. All their arguments are flawed. 
After the Chairman's voluntary requests were met with 
unyielding objections, he was left with no option other than to 
issue July 13, 2016, subpoenas to the refusing parties--the New 
York and Massachusetts Attorneys General as well as several 
environmental activist groups.
    The Committee is on strong legal and jurisdictional grounds 
with regard to the requests in our letters. In particular, this 
Committee has a duty to protect scientists & their research 
from the potential chilling effect of these legal actions. 
Additionally, the Committee is concerned that legal actions 
such as those undertaken by the ``Green 20'' could negatively 
affect research and development funding in both the public and 
private sectors as well as partnerships between the two 
sectors.
    The Committee has a responsibility to ensure that taxpayer 
dollars authorized and appropriated by Congress are not being 
misspent. The Committee has had a longstanding interest in 
grants funded by NSF, including those awarded to universities 
and private companies. Given the Committee's jurisdiction over 
NSF, the Committee also has an interest in the research funded 
by NSF grants. As you may know, most research is funded by a 
combination of private and government sources.\7\ Like many 
other large energy companies, researchers employed by Exxon 
have received grant awards from federal sources. Additionally, 
NSF and Exxon jointly fund projects and programs such as 
Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students, and 
the American Mathematical Society Task Force on Excellence. 
Further, Exxon partners with universities, themselves 
recipients of millions of dollars in federal funds, to conduct 
research. If, as a result of your investigation, the private 
sector feels pressure to make research funding decisions based 
in part on a desire to avoid burdensome state investigations 
and political or ideological coercion rather than on the basis 
of pure scientific merit, it is this Committee's responsibility 
to identify that imbalance and correct it by directing funding 
elsewhere. The documents and information being sought by the 
Committee subpoena will help inform whether any such imbalance 
or chilling has occurred.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\Science & Engineering Indicators 2016 Report, Chapter 4, https:/
/nsf.gov/statistics/2016/nsb20161/#/report/front-matter (last visited 
Aug. 16, 2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The NSF's Science & Engineering Indicators 2016 delineates 
total U.S. R&D expenditures by source of funds: Business: 
65.2%; Federal government: 26.7%; Universities and colleges: 
3.3%; Nonfederal government 0.9%; Other nonprofit 
organizations: 3.9%. Any disincentive to industry maintaining 
its position as the dominant source of funding for R&D will 
have a detrimental impact on the nation's scientific 
enterprise. If businesses believe that the research they fund 
can be mischaracterized for political or ideological reasons 
and used to build cases of fraud against the company, they will 
have a powerful incentive to cease funding that research and 
instead to direct their funds elsewhere. Similarly, if 
scientists believe that their industry-sponsored research, or 
discussions with industry about research funded by other 
sources, will be subpoenaed if it is in disagreement with the 
beliefs and preferences of state officials or advocacy groups, 
they will have a powerful incentive to cease conducting that 
research or disseminating the results of their research to all 
interested parties. This Committee has an interest in informing 
itself of these trends and effects and potentially offsetting 
any trends or effects that would skew research in one direction 
or another on the basis of non-scientific considerations like 
these.
    Either of these scenarios could result in dramatic cuts to 
or misdirection of research funding by non-federal sources. If 
that occurs, the Committee may be forced to take a host of 
legislative actions, including authorizing increases in federal 
funding for scientific research to make up for the reduction in 
or misdirection of funding from other sources. The documents 
and information demanded in the July 13 subpoena will help 
inform the Committee if such actions are warranted and 
necessary. The Committee continues the tedious process of 
negotiating towards compliance with its subpoenas.

Oversight of former Secretary Hillary Clinton's Email Server

    The Committee continued its oversight of cybersecurity in 
January 2016, by sending letters to information technology (IT) 
companies involved in setting up and maintaining former 
Secretary Clinton's private email server located at her home. 
Questions about the security of the server were raised during a 
Science Committee hearing on January 8, 2016, entitled Cyber 
Security: What the Federal Government Can Learn from the 
Private Sector. The Chairman asked a question related to 
Secretary Clinton's private server and the one of the witnesses 
raised concerns about cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 
Specifically, he articulated concerns about the private network 
because it exposed sensitive or classified information ``in the 
open.'' He also called the arrangement ``illegal.''
    On July 12, Chairman Smith and Sen. Ron Johnson, Chariman 
of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs 
Committee sent letters again to the three of the four companies 
responsible for setting up and maintain former Secretary 
Clinton's private server. The companies refused to voluntarily 
produce documents due and the Chairman authorized staff to 
serve subpoenas duces tecum on three IT companies managing 
former Secretary Clinton's server. Two of the three companies 
responded by producing documents in rolling productions. The 
third company continues to refuse to produce requested 
documents claiming that the Committee is not authorized to 
conduct this investigation. This is false.
    The Committee has undertaken its investigation into the 
cybersecurity posture of former Secretary Clinton's private 
email server pursuant to the authority delegated to it under 
the House Rules. Specifically, as noted above, the Committee is 
charged with oversight of NIST.\8\ NIST is the government 
agency responsible for promulgating guidelines under FISMA. 
Pursuant to FISMA, NIST developed the ``Framework for Improving 
Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity'' (``Framework''), which 
aims to ensure ``the national and economic security of the 
United States'' by managing cybersecurity risk through a series 
of standards and best practices.\9\ The Committee has conducted 
rigorous oversight utilizing this important jurisdiction. For 
example, during the 114th Congress, the Committee conducted 
robust oversight of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's 
cybersecurity posture, holding hearings on the topic on May 12, 
2016, and July 14, 2016.\10\ Additionally, as part of the 
Committee's legislative authority over portions of FISMA, on 
September 21, 2016, the Committee marked up and ordered 
reported to the House H.R. 6066, the Cybersecurity 
Responsibility and Accountability Act of 2016. Depending upon 
the findings of this current investigation related to former 
Secretary Clinton's server and network additional legislation 
may be necessary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\House Rule X(p)(7).
    \9\Nat'l Inst. of Standards & Tech., Framework for Improving 
Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (Feb. 12, 2015), available at 
https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cyber framework/
cybersecurity-framework-021214.pdf.
    \10\H. Comm. on Science, Space, & Tech., Hearing on FDIC Data 
Breaches: Can Americans Trust that Their Private Banking Information Is 
Secure?, 114th Cong. (May 12, 2016); H. Comm. on Science, Space, & 
Tech., Hearing on Evaluating FDIC's Response to Major Data Breaches: Is 
the FDIC Safeguarding Consumers' Banking Information?, 114th Cong. 
(Jul. 14, 2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In a September 28, 2016, letter to Platte River Networks' 
counsel, Chairman Smith provided the company with a final 
opportunity to comply with the Committee's subpoenas and placed 
the company on notice that the Committee would pursue contempt 
if it failed to comply.\11\ After requesting an extension to 
answer Chairman Smith's letter,\12\ the Committee received a 
two sentence letter from Mr. Eichner on October 11, 2016, 
stating: ``Neither I nor any personnel at Platte River Networks 
have anything further to add . . .''\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\Sept. 28, 2016 Letter, supra note 7.
    \12\E-mail from Ken Eichner, Principal, Eichner Law, to Committee 
Staff (Oct. 3, 2016, 1:19 p.m.)
    \13\Letter from Ken Eichner, Principal, Eichner Law Firm, to Hon. 
Lamar Smith, Chairman, H. Comm. on Science, Space, & Tech. (Oct. 11, 
2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     HEARINGS HELD PURSUANT TO CLAUSES 2(n), (o), OR (p) OF RULE XI


Clause 2(n)

February 3, 2015

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: NSF's Oversight of the NEON Project 
and Other Major Research Facilities Developed Under Cooperative 
Agreements.
    Witnesses: Dr. Richard Buckius, Chief Operating Officer of 
the National Science Foundation; Dr. James P. Collins, Chairman 
of the National Ecological Observatory Network; and Ms. Kate 
Manuel, Legislative Attorney for the Congressional Research 
Service.

June 25, 2015

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: Is NSF Properly Managing Its 
Rotating Staff?
    Witnesses: Ms. Allison Lerner, Inspector General, National 
Science Foundation; and Dr. Richard Buckius, Chief Operating 
Officer, National Science Foundation.

July 8, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee and Oversight 
Subcommittees joint hearing: Is the OPM Data Breach the Tip of 
the Iceberg?
    Witnesses: Mr. Michael R. Esser, Assistant Inspector 
General for Audits, Office of Personnel Management; Mr. David 
Snell, Director, Federal Benefits Service Department, National 
Active and Retired Federal Employees Association; Dr. Charles 
Romine, Director, Information Technology Laboratory, National 
Institute of Standards and Technology; Mr. Gregory Wilshusen, 
Director, Information Security Issues, U.S. Government 
Accountability Office.

July 15, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Investigating Contract Misconduct 
at the National Weather Service.
    Witnesses: Mr. Mark Greenblatt, Deputy Assistant General 
for Compliance & Ethics, Office of Inspector General, 
Department of Commerce; Mr. Robert Byrd, Former Chief Financial 
Officer, National Weather Service; and Mr. Peter Jiron, Former 
Deputy Chief Financial Officer, National Weather Service. [Mr. 
Byrd and Mr. Jiron declined to answer questions from the 
Committee and asserted their Fifth Amendment rights.]

September 9, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Holding EPA Accountable for 
Polluting Western Waters.
    Witnesses: The Honorable Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant 
Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, 
Environmental Protection Agency; Mr. Dennis Greaney, President, 
Environmental Restoration LLC; The Honorable Donald Benn, 
Executive Director, Navajo National Environmental Protection 
Agency; The Honorable Dean Bookie, Mayor, Durango, Colorado; 
and, Dr. Mark Williamson, Geochemist, Geochemical Solutions 
LLC.

September 18, 2015

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: NEON Warning Signs: Examining the 
Management of the National Ecological Observatory Network.
    Witnesses: Dr. James L. Olds, Assistant Director, 
Directorate for Biological Sciences, National Science 
Foundation; Dr. James P. Collins, Chairman of the Board, 
National Ecological Observatory Network, Inc.

February 4, 2016

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: A Review of Recommendations for NSF 
Project Management Reform.
    Witnesses: Ms. Cynthia Heckmann, Project Director, National 
Academy of Public Administration; Dr. Richard Buckius, Chief 
Operating Officer, National Science Foundation; and, Ms. 
Allison Lerner, Inspector General, National Science Foundation.

September 21, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: Examining Misconduct and Intimidation of Scientists by 
Senior DOE Officials.
    Witnesses: Dr. Sharlene Weatherwax, Associate Director, 
Biological and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of 
Energy; and Dr. Noelle Metting, Radiation Biologist, U.S. 
Department of Energy.

Clause 2(o)

February 26, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: An Overview 
of the Budget Proposals for the National Science Foundation and 
National Institute of Standards and Technology for Fiscal Year 
2016.
    Witnesses: The Honorable France Cordova, Director, National 
Science Foundation; The Honorable Dan Arvizu, Chairman, 
National Science Board; and Dr. Willie E. May, Acting Director, 
National Institute of Standards and Technology.

February 25, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: An Overview of the Department of 
Energy's Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2016.
    Witness: The Honorable Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy, 
U.S. Department of Energy.

April 16, 2015

    Space Subcommittee hearing: An Overview of the Budget 
Proposal for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
for Fiscal Year 2016.
    Witness: The Honorable Charles F. Bolden, Jr., 
Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
(NASA).

March 16, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: An Overview 
of the Budget Proposal for the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witness: Dr. Willie E. May, Under Secretary of Commerce for 
Standards and Technology and Director, National Institute of 
Standards and Technology.

March 16, 2016

    Environment Subcommittee hearing: An Overview of the Budget 
Proposal for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witness: The Honorable Kathryn Sullivan, Undersecretary for 
Oceans and Atmosphere, U.S. Department of Commerce, and 
Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

March 17, 2016

    Space Subcommittee hearing: An Overview of the Budget 
Proposal for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witness: The Honorable Charles F. Bolden, Jr., 
Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

March 22, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: An Overview 
of the Budget Proposal for the National Science Foundation for 
Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witnesses: The Honorable France Cordova, Director, National 
Science Foundation; Dr. Dan E. Arvizu, Chairman, National 
Science Board.

March 22, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: An Overview of the Budget Proposal 
for the Department of Energy for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Witness: The Honorable Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy, 
U.S. Department of Energy.

Clause 2(p)

January 27, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: The Expanding 
Cyber Threat.
    Witnesses: Ms. Cheri McGuire, Vice President, Global 
Government Affairs & Cybersecurity Policy, Symantec 
Corporation; Dr. James Kurose, Assistant Director, Computer and 
Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate, 
National Science Foundation; Dr. Charles H. Romine, Director, 
Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of 
Standards and Technology; Dr. Eric A. Fischer, Senior 
Specialist in Science and Technology, Congressional Research 
Service; Mr. Dean Garfield, President and CEO, Information 
Technology Industry Council.

February 12, 2015

    Research and Technology Subcommittee and Oversight 
Subcommittee hearing: Can Americans Trust the Privacy and 
Security of their Information on HealthCare.gov?
    Witnesses: Ms. Michelle De Mooy, Deputy Director, Consumer 
Privacy, Center for Democracy and Technology; and Mr. Morgan 
Wright, Principal, Morgan Wright, LLC.

April 23, 2015

    Full Committee hearing: Hydraulic Fracturing: Banning 
Proven Technologies on Possibilities Instead of Probabilities.
    Witnesses: Ms. Christi Craddick, Chairman, Railroad 
Commission of Texas; Dr. Donald Siegel, Jessie Page Heroy 
Professor & Department Chair, The Department of Earth Sciences, 
Syracuse University; Mr. Simon Lomax, Western Director, Energy 
in Depth; and Mr. Elgie Holstein, Senior Director for Strategic 
Planning, Environmental Defense Fund.

July 10, 2015

    Space Subcommittee hearing: The International Space 
Station: Addressing Operational Challenges.
    Witnesses: Mr. Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, 
Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA; Mr. 
John Elbon, Vice President and General Manager, Space 
Exploration, The Boeing Company; The Honorable Paul K. Martin, 
Inspector General, NASA; Ms. Shelby Oakley, Acting Director, 
Acquisition and Sourcing Management, Government Accountability 
Office; and Dr. James A. Pawelczyk, Associate Professor of 
Physiology and Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University.

October 21, 2015

    Energy Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: Cybersecurity for Power Systems.
    Witnesses: Mr. Brent Stacey, Associate Lab Director for 
National & Homeland Science and Technology, Idaho National Lab; 
Mr. Bennett Gaines, Senior Vice President, Corporate Services 
and Chief Information Officer, FirstEnergy Service Company; Ms. 
Annabelle Lee, Senior Technical Executive in the Power Delivery 
and Utilization Sector, Electric Power Research Institute; and 
Mr. Greg Wilshusen, Director of Information Security Issues, 
Government Accountability Office.

October 27, 2015

    Full Committee Hearing: A Review of Progress by the 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology 
Directorate.
    Witness: The Honorable Reginald Brothers, Under Secretary 
for Science and Technology, Department of Homeland Security.

January 8, 2016

    Oversight Subcommittee and Research and Technology 
Subcommittee joint hearing: Cybersecurity: What the Federal 
Government Can Learn from the Private Sector.
    Witnesses: Mr. John B. Wood, Chief Executive Officer and 
Chairman, Telos Corporation; Dr. Martin Casado, Senior Vice 
President and General Manager, Networking and Security Business 
Unit, VMWare; Mr. Ken Schneider, Vice President of Technology 
Strategy, Symantec Corporation; and, Mr. Larry Clinton, 
President and Chief Executive Officer, Internet Security 
Alliance.

February 25, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: The Space Leadership Preservation 
Act and the Need for Stability at NASA.
    Witnesses: The Honorable John Culberson, chairman of the 
Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee of the House 
Appropriations Committee; Dr. Michael Griffin, Former 
Administrator, NASA; Colonel Eileen Collins, USAF (Ret.); 
Commander, STS-93 and 114; and Pilot, STS-63 and 94; and former 
Chair, Subcommittee on Space Operations, NASA Advisory Council; 
Ms. Cristina Chaplain, Director, Acquisitions and Sourcing 
Management, Government Accountability Office (GAO).

March 3, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee joint 
hearing: Department of Energy Oversight: DOE Loan Programs.
    Witnesses: Mr. Mark McCall, Executive Director, Loan 
Program Office, U.S. Department of Energy; Dr. Frank Rusco, 
Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government 
Accountability Office; Gregory Kats, President, Capital E; and 
Mr. Nick Loris, Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow, Thomas A. Roe 
Institute for Economic Policy Studies, Heritage Foundation.

April 14, 2016

    Research and Technology Subcommittee hearing: Can the IRS 
Protect Taxpayers' Personal Information?
    Witnesses: The Honorable John Koskinen, Commissioner, 
Internal Revenue Service, the Honorable J. Russell George, 
Inspector General, Treasury Inspector General for Tax 
Administration; and, Mr. Gregory Wilshusen, Director, 
Information Security Issues, U.S. Government Accountability 
Office.

May 11, 2016

    Energy Subcommittee hearing: Department of Energy 
Oversight: Office of Fossil Energy.
    Witness: The Honorable Chris Smith, Assistant Secretary, 
Office of Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.

May 12, 2016

    Oversight Subcommittee hearing: FDIC Data Breaches: Can 
Americans Trust that Their Private Banking Information Is 
Secure?
    Witnesses: Mr. Fred W. Gibson, Acting Inspector General, 
FDIC and Mr. Lawrence Gross, Jr., Chief Information Officer and 
Chief Privacy Officer, FDIC.

July 14, 2016

    Full Committee hearing: Evaluating FDIC's Response to Major 
Data Breaches: Is the FDIC Safeguarding Consumers' Banking 
Information?
    Witnesses: Mr. Martin J. Gruenberg, Chairman, FDIC and Mr. 
Fred W. Gibson, Acting Inspector General, FDIC.

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                             114th Congress

 Majority Report on Activities of the Committee on Science, Space, and 
                               Technology

    In the 114th Congress the Science Committee Majority has 
been active in writing document request letters to federal 
agencies, issuing subpoenas to various parties, and releasing 
numerous related press releases. This appears to be the metric 
the Majority has used to measure successful oversight. The 
Chairman has boasted that the Committee has issued 25 subpoenas 
this Congress. The Majority has also launched approximately 
three dozen investigations. However, by and large these efforts 
have not been successful in uncovering cases of waste, fraud or 
abuse, identifying inefficient management, or improving the 
effectiveness of federal science and technology programs. On 
the other hand, they have been successful in pushing a partisan 
oversight agenda that has harmed the scientific credibility of 
the Committee and undermined our legitimate investigative 
authority.
    In many of these ``investigations'' the Majority has made 
sensational allegations of mismanagement, or worse, before they 
actually have had any facts in hand. Despite lengthy and 
repeated public statements repeating these unfounded assertions 
these allegations have usually fallen apart once the Majority 
is unable to substantiate their original claims. This push to 
pursue political and ideological investigations has also moved 
the Committee outside of its extensive and legitimate oversight 
jurisdiction on a number of occasions. These tactics have had 
an overwhelmingly negative impact on the reputation of the 
Committee within the broader scientific community.
    A Majority investigation that utilized these questionable 
tactics was not even mentioned once in the Majority's 114th 
Activities Report. During the Majority's investigation of a 
twice peer-reviewed scientific study on climate change by 
scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association 
(NOAA) published in the journal Science in June 2015, the 
Chairman falsely claimed that NOAA's scientists ``altered 
historical climate data to get politically correct results in 
an attempt to disprove the hiatus in global temperature 
increases.'' To date, seventeen months after the Majority 
launched its clearly politically motivated ``investigation,'' 
they have provided ZERO evidence to the public, NOAA, or 
Minority Members or staff of the Science Committee, that would 
validate their bold and false statements.
    The Majority has abused the Committee's legitimate 
oversight powers by its efforts to tarnish the reputation of 
federal scientists, science-based non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs), and federal science agencies that do not 
concur with the Majority's politically biased views.
    The Majority has done this in other ``investigations'' 
during the 114th Congress as well. In an unprecedented act for 
the U.S. Congress, the Chairman of the Science Committee issued 
subpoenas to the New York and Massachusetts State Attorneys 
General (AGs) Offices, as well as multiple non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs), allegedly to investigate these state law 
enforcement agencies for their investigations of ExxonMobil for 
potential fraud. The U.S. Congress has never before issued a 
subpoena to a State Attorney General Office related to a state 
law enforcement investigation. The State AG investigations 
apparently revolve around whether or not ExxonMobil failed to 
disclose internal scientific data it had decades ago to its 
investors and shareholders showing that climate change was a 
reality, that fossil fuel production was contributing to global 
warming, and that these facts could undermine ExxonMobil's 
business in the future. The AG investigations have to do with 
the failure of ExxonMobil's executives to disclose these facts 
to its shareholders and customers, thus potentially engaging in 
fraud. They do not seek to question the conclusions of Exxon's 
scientists who performed their own studies on climate change, 
as the Majority has wrongly and repeatedly claimed on numerous 
occasions in an attempt to suggest these investigations are 
seeking to ``silence'' ExxonMobil's scientists. The irony in 
these allegations, considering the Majority's efforts to 
silence scientists at NOAA and other federal agencies, is 
striking.
    The politically motivated rationale and questionable 
tactics used by the Majority in both the NOAA case and recent 
AG investigation have been broadly condemned by the mainstream 
media. The editorial boards of seven major newspapers, 
including the San Antonio Express-News, The Washington Post, 
The New York Times, The Des Moines Register, The Baltimore Sun, 
The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe have forcefully 
condemned the Majority for launching these clearly political 
investigations.
    The Majority's politically motivated oversight activities 
came to a crescendo in mid-late 2016 with the Committee's 
``investigation'' of former Secretary of State Hillary 
Clinton's private email server. Despite the existence of 
numerous additional investigations of this arrangement (at 
least five other Congressional Committees and two executive 
agencies), including a comprehensive investigation by the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for some reason the 
Majority decided that the Science Committee also needed to 
conduct an investigation of the same issues in the months prior 
to the presidential election. This is also despite the fact 
that the Science Committee has no oversight jurisdiction over 
the Department of State. Unsurprisingly, this transparently 
partisan ``investigation'' produced no new information and 
appears to have been dropped by the Majority in the aftermath 
of the November 8th election.
    The Committee should get back to investigating fact-based 
problems involving waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement at the 
important federal agencies we oversee. The sort of political 
witch-hunts the Majority has engaged in should cease. Certainly 
federal agencies should be investigated when there is actual 
evidence or serious and substantiated allegations of abuse or 
mismanagement. However, the Majority's specific distaste for 
certain well established scientific facts, such as climate 
change, and dislike for federal agencies, including the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has led to repeated 
investigations where facts have taken a back seat to politics. 
The Committee has launched at least one dozen investigations of 
various issues at EPA and written more than two dozen oversight 
letters to the Agency. The Committee has also issued 11 
subpoenas and written at least 36 letters revolving around its 
investigation of the Attorneys General investigating 
ExxonMobil. Some of that correspondence has clearly been 
helpful to ExxonMobil, who has officially submitted some of it 
as part of a lawsuit they filed against the New York and 
Massachusetts Attorney Generals, for instance.
    In another case the Majority questioned an investigation by 
the EPA's Inspector General's (IG's) office, in an effort to 
support a non-U.S. mining company intent on building a proposed 
open pit gold and copper mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska, which is 
home to the largest natural sockeye salmon fishery in the 
world.
    The attention given to these politically motivated efforts 
has led the Committee to simply ignore entire areas of 
important oversight, including the Department of Homeland 
Security's (DHS's) Science & Technology Directorate, that do 
not seem to support the Majority's political rhetoric and anti-
regulatory, science denial, agenda. The Majority held a single 
hearing on DHS in the 114th Congress, for instance, but has not 
written a single oversight-related letter or launched any 
investigations involving the critically important DHS S&T 
Directorate this Congress.
    The Minority is deeply concerned that the Majority's 
repeated misuse and abuse of the legitimate, broad, and 
extremely important oversight authority of the Science 
Committee in the 114th Congress for political purposes will 
have a substantial and long-lasting negative impact on the 
Committee and its ability to conduct necessary and appropriate 
oversight in the future.

                                             Eddie Bernice Johnson.

                                  [all]