AAU joined other leading higher-education associations in a letter to House and Senate committee leaders expressing serious concerns about provisions of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, the NSF for the Future Act, and the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement (EAGLE) Act as those bills go to conference. In particular, the letter asks for removal of provisions that, while designed to enhance research security, would actually be counterproductive or unnecessarily onerous.
The letter is consistent with arguments AAU made last month in a letter to congressional leaders about USICA, the NSF for the Future Act, and other legislation. The new letter also includes a memo addressing the creation of a new Section 124 reporting requirement, which would require institutions to maintain a “searchable” database that collects information from faculty and other staff. As the memo concludes, “Section 124 is unworkable, burdensome, overly complicated, and it’s unclear if it would actually discourage foreign influence or improve research security.”