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GSA TODAY | DECEMBER 2016 2015–2016 GSA-USGS Congressional Senator Edward J. Markey’s (D-MA) office, where I served as the
Science Fellow Final Report GSA-USGS Congressional Science Fellow, has contributed to the
creation of this new bill. In my role as a Fellow I had the opportu-
Geoscience nity to work on this legislation and draft the Senator’s statements
COMPETES for hearings.
Karen Paczkowski During a hearing on 11 May 2016, Senator Markey stated, “Our
funding decisions for basic science research should be guided by
The America COMPETES Act (Creating Opportunities to the possibilities promised by science and technology, and not by
Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and politics. A recent version of COMPETES, released and passed by
Science) was introduced in 2007 in response to the National Republicans over in the House, has singled out certain sciences as
Academies of Science report, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: winners and other sciences as losers, authorizing funding
Engaging and Employing America for a Brighter Economic increases for the former and decreases for the later. This narrow
Future.” The report warned that the U.S. was falling behind other view of the scientific process ignores how advances in one area of
countries in federal science, technology, engineering, and math- science drive breakthroughs in seemingly unrelated fields. Science
ematics (STEM) investment, and that America’s position as a operates in a complex research ecosystem, and legislation should
global leader in discovery and innovation was eroding. support the full range of scientific inquiry.” Senator Markey also
entered two letters into the congressional record. The first letter,
The America COMPETES Act set visionary goals for STEM signed by 100 universities, research institutions, and scientific
research and education, recognizing that U.S. leadership in professional societies, and the second letter written by 19 geosci-
discovery and innovation depends on robust support for basic ence organizations including GSA, the American Geophysical
science research. The act set in motion a plan to double the Union, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists,
funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), National both provide concrete examples of how geoscience plays an essen-
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Department tial role in tackling national challenges in water and mineral
of Energy (DOE) Office of Science by 2017. COMPETES passed resources, energy independence, environmental issues, Earth’s
with overwhelming bipartisan support in both the U.S. Senate climate and ocean system, and mitigation of natural hazards. By
and the House of Representatives. However, actual funding levels entering these letters into the congressional record during the
have fallen far short of the act’s original visionary trajectory, and hearing, Senator Markey highlighted the important role geosci-
since the law’s expiration in 2013, Congress has been deeply ence plays in the U.S. innovation ecosystem and economic health.
divided on a new authorization bill.
On 22 June 2016, the Senate revision of COMPETES was released.
One particular sticking point has been the proposal to give The bill, renamed the American Innovation and Competitiveness
Congress more direct control over funding of NSF directorates. Act (S. 3084), took the findings the Senate had gathered from the
A new version of COMPETES introduced in 2015 in the House STEM research, education, and industry communities and laid
would reduce funding for the geosciences and social sciences, while out a bipartisan vision for U.S. STEM research and education. It
other sciences would see funding increases. In response, the Senate authorizes a 4% annual funding increase for basic STEM research,
instead drafted a bill to recapture the original vision of the 2007 in alignment with the American Innovation Imperative, a call to
COMPETES Act. A bipartisan Innovation and Competitiveness action led by nine large U.S. corporations and signed by more
Working Group held a series of stakeholder roundtables to explore than 500 leading organizations from American industry, higher
federal research and development policy priorities. The working education, and science and engineering organizations. The bill
group was led by Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Gary Peters also defends the NSF peer review process as a gold standard and
(D-MI), both members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, authorizes programs to improve tech-to-market transfer and
Science, and Transportation, which is the Committee responsible manufacturing practices to get more American discoveries out of
for reauthorizing funding levels and policy directions for the federal the lab and into people’s lives.
agencies covered by COMPETES.
Working with Massachusetts’ constituents like the Museum of
U.S. STEM research and education has been a key cause of mine Science in Boston, Senator Markey’s office noticed that although the
since my earliest forays into policy as a graduate student, and bill supported STEM education in university settings, it lacked a
section highlighting the importance of informal STEM education.
18 Informal STEM education is an important gateway for inspiring
individuals to pursue careers in STEM fields, and is especially
important for the geosciences. My own dedication to under-
standing the natural world began at a young age with visits to
museums and parks, and exploring the outdoors. Through
Senator Markey’s office, I worked closely with the Museum of
Science, committee staff, and legislative counsel to draft an
amendment to the American Innovation and Competitiveness
Act. The amendment allows NSF to support programs like the
National Informal STEM Education (NISE) Network, a successful,
decade-long program that has connected over 500 organizations
by pairing informal STEM education organizations with cutting-
edge research institutions to ensure the public gets the most
