Recently we have noted here
and here that
the reauthorization of the America
COMPETES Act--one of the nation's key vehicles for keeping the
nation competitive--seemed to be proceeding well, with the addition of
several important updates, including language embracing the Department
of Energy’s Energy Innovation Hubs, a related
pilot for clean
energy regional consortia, and a new regional innovation clusters
title.
Well, we spoke too soon. Hours after an amendment to add the Regional Energy Innovation Consortia program to the America COMPETES Act as a pilot program passed on the floor of the House by an encouraging vote of 254-173, a mischievous amendment that linked a hard-to-vote-against ban on federal salaries going to workers who look at pornography on government computers to major cuts in the bill prevailed and has now thrown the whole bill into uncertainty.
Thanks to the amendment by Ranking House Science & Technology Committee Member Ralph Hall (R-Tex.), Science & Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) has at least for now had to yank a bill that has now been shorn of the needed hubs, consortia, and clusters elements as well as critical funding increases for core innovation agencies.
To read the full, original article click on this link: America DRIFTS: Fiddling While The Nation Stagnates On Innovation | The New Republic
Author: Mark Muro
