For two years the debate about how to bolster innovation and competitiveness has consumed Washington. Numerous reports (1,2,3,4,5, we could keep going …) recommended boosting funding for basic research, and science and math education to respond to growing global competition. These drove a bipartisan consensus (and new law – the COMPETEs Act), between the President and Congress on the need to double funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-OS) over the next seven years. Last night Congress walked away from this commitment by passing below-inflation increases for research at NSF and NIST, loading DOE-OS and NIST up with earmarks, and a slight increase for science and math education at NSF.

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December 13
Hearing:
The Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on pending intellectual property legislation - HR 4279.
10 a.m., 2141 Rayburn Building

CONTENTS

[1] Newsletter Highlights
[2] USACM Comments on Senate Electronic Voting Legislation
[3] National Science Board Releases STEM Education Report
[4] Online Comment Tool Released For Voting Guidelines; USACM Begins Review
of Standards
[5] Appropriations Bills Still Pending for FY 08
[6] Congress Contemplates Cracking Down on University File Sharing
[7] About USACM

[An archive of all previous editions of Washington Update is available at
http://www.acm.org/usacm/update/]
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