[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 153 (Thursday, September 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H8234-H8235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ACT

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 589) to establish 
Department of Energy policy for science and energy research and 
development programs, and reform National Laboratory management and 
technology transfer programs, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:
  Senate amendment:

       Strike title IV.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice 
Johnson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 589, the bill now 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 589, the Department of Energy Research and 
Innovation Act, is the product of more than 4 years of work by the 
Science Committee to advance basic research in science and technology 
and set clear science priorities for the Department of Energy.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues on the Science Committee 
who have sponsored this legislation with me, particularly Ranking 
Member Eddie Bernice Johnson, Vice Chairman Frank Lucas, Energy 
Subcommittee Chairman Randy Weber, Energy Subcommittee Vice Chairman 
Steve Knight, and Energy Subcommittee members Dana Rohrabacher, Mo 
Brooks, Neal Dunn, Randy Hultgren, Marc Veasey, Zoe Lofgren, Dan 
Lipinski, and Paul Tonko, as well as full committee members Barbara 
Comstock, Brian Babin,  Andy Biggs, Clay Higgins, Elizabeth Esty, and 
Ed Perlmutter.
  Six standalone Science Committee energy research bills from last 
Congress are included in this legislation.
  The DOE Research and Innovation Act prioritizes critical basic 
research and science at the DOE national labs. It provides the first 
comprehensive authorization for Office of Science programs, which 
conduct and support more than $6 billion in research each year.
  This legislation also requires DOE to coordinate research across the 
Department. It provides private industry with increased access to the 
unique user facilities and capabilities of the national labs that will 
help to develop advanced technologies for the next generation.
  Title I of H.R. 589 improves the technology transfer process between 
DOE and private industry.
  The innovative early stage research performed at the national labs 
can have great value to the private sector. While the labs consistently 
develop ideas and technology that have commercial potential, Federal 
red tape and bureaucracy discourage the cooperation needed for the 
private sector to take technologies to market.
  Title I enables national lab directors to better partner with 
industry and ensure that the United States can remain a world leader in 
science and technology.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois, Representative 
Randy Hultgren, and the gentleman from Colorado, Representative Ed 
Perlmutter, for their initiative on this issue and for sponsoring 
similar legislation in the last Congress to advance these important 
reforms at our national labs.
  Title II of the legislation requires DOE to better manage and 
coordinate research efforts at the Department of Energy.
  This title also requires DOE to provide a regular analysis of science 
and technology activities within the Department. This will identify key 
areas for collaboration across science and applied research programs, 
and allow the Secretary to identify programs that cost too much and 
could be better undertaken by the private sector.
  Title III establishes priorities and provides statutory direction for 
the basic research programs within the DOE's Office of Science. This 
includes research and basic energy sciences, biological and 
environmental research, high-performance computing, nuclear physics, 
high-energy physics, and fusion energy science.
  These basic research programs are central to the mission of the 
Department. Investment in this research can lead to new scientific 
discoveries that will maintain U.S. leadership in technology and 
innovation.
  This title also authorizes basic research programs in solar fuels, 
electricity storage, exascale computing, and low-dose radiation.
  The House has previously passed Science Committee legislation by 
Energy Subcommittee Vice Chairman Knight and subcommittee member 
Hultgren to authorize these four key basic research programs.
  H.R. 589 represents a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to modernize 
and increase the productivity of the DOE national lab system, 
streamline DOE research programs, and prioritize the basic scientific 
research that will maintain American leadership in science.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
support the final passage of H.R. 589, the Department of Energy 
Research and Innovation Act, for which I am pleased to be a cosponsor.
  The bill before us today is a result of constructive negotiations 
with our majority and with our colleagues in the Senate over the last 2 
years. I am also pleased to note that many of the provisions in this 
bill actually were proposed first in the version of the America 
COMPETES Reauthorization Act, and that was sponsored by every 
Democratic member of the committee last Congress.
  This bill includes what would be the first comprehensive 
authorization of the DOE Office of Science, which is the largest 
supporter of physical sciences research in the country. This is a $6.6 
billion office that manages 10 of our national laboratories, often 
called the crown jewels of our national research infrastructure.
  Yet, thus far, unlike NSF, NASA, and nearly every other major 
scientific research agency stewarded by the Federal Government, the 
Office of Science has not received the statutory guidance and support 
that its capabilities and mission warrant. So passing this portion of 
the bill into law alone would be a big step in the right direction.

  The bill also includes a number of important technology transfer 
provisions that previously passed the House as part of a bipartisan 
bill that I and many of my colleagues on the committee cosponsored.
  In addition, it would provide the first authorization of the 
promising Innovation Hub model for energy research, and it would enable 
greater private sector management of ARPA-E.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Smith and his staff for 
working closely with us and our Senate counterparts to find common 
ground in each of these areas, as I believe they will be critical to 
ensuring our Nation's competitiveness and our clean energy future.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Weber), who is the chairman of the Energy Subcommittee 
of the Science Committee.

[[Page H8235]]

  

  Mr. WEBER of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Smith for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 589, the Department of Energy 
Research and Innovation Act.
  H.R. 589 provides policy direction to the Department of Energy on 
basic science research and coordination, and implements important 
reforms to DOE national laboratory management that will modernize the 
research pipeline.
  This legislation gives Congress the opportunity to enact energy 
research and development policy that prioritizes critical programs at 
the Department of Energy. From advanced scientific computing to nuclear 
physics to fusion energy science, focusing on basic research at our 
national labs provides the best opportunity for U.S. economic growth 
and technology innovation.
  Significant investments, Mr. Speaker, in basic science research by 
foreign countries like China, as has been alluded to, threatens 
America's global standing as the leader in scientific knowledge. To 
maintain our competitive advantage as a world leader in science, we 
must continue to support the research and research infrastructure that 
will lead to the next generation of energy technologies.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member 
Johnson and many of my Science Committee colleagues for cosponsoring 
this very important legislation. I am grateful for the opportunity to 
work with members of this committee to guide research that will help 
America compete around the world and be the leader around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 
589.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further 
requests for time. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Kansas (Mr. Marshall), who is the vice chairman of the Research 
and Technology Subcommittee of the Science Committee.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 589, the 
Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act, sponsored by my 
friend and the chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology 
Committee, Representative Smith.
  This bipartisan bill advances basic research and sets explicit 
science priorities for the Department of Energy, which is critical for 
our future innovation.
  H.R. 589 also authorizes the core program in my bill, the Low-Dose 
Radiation Research Act, which unanimously passed the House earlier this 
year.
  The provision directs the Department of Energy to carry out a 
research program on low-dose radiation, which will increase our 
understanding of the health effects low doses have on biological 
systems.
  Research has consistently shown us the adverse health effects 
associated with high doses of radiation, but we are a long way from 
accurately assessing the effects of low doses of radiation.
  As a product of industrial activities, medical procedures, and 
naturally occurring systems, humans are exposed to low doses of 
radiation every day, and it is imperative we can accurately assess this 
risk.
  There is broad consensus among the radiobiology community that more 
research is necessary for Federal agencies, physicians, and related 
experts to advance the use of radiation technologies. We have 
invaluable diagnostic tools today, such as CT scans, which emit low 
doses of radiation. It is vital physicians are able to inform patients 
of the health risks associated with these types of imaging processes.
  As a physician in my home State of Kansas, I certainly have firsthand 
understanding of the crucial importance of verified research and 
ensuring the best medical outcomes for our patients.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this bill, and I urge my 
colleagues to do the same.

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have further speakers, but I will 
yield to the ranking member if she has any speakers. I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further 
requests for time. I support passage, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Knight), who is the vice chairman of the Energy 
Subcommittee of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
  Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Department of 
Energy Research and Innovation Act. This bill makes important 
investments in science and technology research to ensure the United 
States protects its edge in novel, efficient, and commercially viable 
energy production.
  H.R. 589 makes needed reforms to the national laboratories' 
relationship with the private sector to streamline the transfer of 
commercially ready technologies to American businesses.
  This will allow the benefits of public investment and critical 
research to be passed on to American entrepreneurs with greater speed 
and reinforced economic growth and job creation.
  In addition, this bill directs the Department of Energy to establish 
energy innovation hubs to pull together and create efficiencies in key 
scientific areas across basic and applied research programs. This bill 
also includes authorization of the solar fuels initiative, 
incorporating the text of my bill last Congress, the Solar Fuels 
Innovation Act.
  This provision builds on research that is now being undertaken up and 
down the coast of California, from Berkeley to Caltech, to produce 
fuels from sunlight. The solar fuel process, also known as artificial 
photosynthesis, converts sunlight into energy to create a range of 
storable chemical fuels, overcoming the biggest obstacle to maximizing 
the benefits of renewable technologies.
  Basic research and artificial photosynthesis and related efforts 
could lead to a solar fuel system that consolidates solar power and 
energy storage in a cohesive process. This would transform the economy 
in California and the rest of the Nation. The solar fuels initiative 
would solve the critical challenge posed by wasted renewable energy and 
enlarge incentives to invest in new solar businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Smith and my colleagues who 
have helped me advance this bill for their foresight in identifying 
research initiatives that promise new approaches to energy technology 
that will be good for our economy and our environment.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
California for his comments and also for his initiatives on the subject 
of energy in so many ways. Several other bills that we are considering 
are a result of that initiative.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no other requests for time, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Francis Rooney of Florida). The question 
is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that 
the House suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the 
bill, H.R. 589.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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