Today the Senate begins floor consideration of the Endless Frontier Act. AAU President Barbara Snyder issued the following statement about supporting the goals of the legislation to strengthen the National Science Foundation and American research and economic competitiveness while cautioning against overloading the bill with measures that could undermine these goals.
“I commend the Senate for taking up the Endless Frontier Act. While AAU strongly supports the bill’s core goals to strengthen the National Science Foundation, American innovation, and our nation’s economic competitiveness and security, we fear those goals will be undermined by many of the additional provisions that were not part of the original legislation, but that the Senate is now considering.
“We urge senators to carefully consider new proposals that would make enormous policy changes and that have not been the subject of hearings and committee consideration. We fear the bill may become overloaded with extraneous and complicated provisions that will undermine its primary goals and our and others’ support for advancing it.
“Our member universities recognize that effective research security policies and practices are vital to national security and the nation’s efforts to thwart undue and malign foreign influence and to safeguard intellectual property resulting from federally funded research. Several research security proposals are now under consideration for inclusion in the bill. We are committed to working with Senate and the House on effective security policies that address the threats and increase transparency while ensuring the United States continues to attract top domestic and foreign talent and preserving the scientific openness that has made our nation the world’s innovation leader.
“We believe now is the time to take bold steps to advance scientific research and innovation, and we look forward to working with Congress to this end.”
Founded in 1900, the Association of American Universities is composed of America’s leading research universities. AAU’s 66 research universities transform lives through education, research, and innovation.
AAU member universities collectively help shape policy for higher education, science, and innovation; promote best practices in undergraduate and graduate education; and strengthen the contributions of leading research universities to American society.