Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, the U.S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee unanimously passed the NSF for the Future Act introduced by U.S. Representatives Mike Waltz (R-FL), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Frank Lucas (R-OK), and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), as well as amendments sponsored by Rep. Waltz, to make strategic, responsible investments in the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy’s research and technology programs to better compete with the Chinese Communist Party.

“Investments in science and technology truly are drivers of economic growth and are essential if we want to maintain an edge on our greatest adversary, the Chinese Communist Party,” said Rep. Waltz. “For decades, the United States has led the world in science and technology innovation but China is gaining on us in nearly every statistic. As we make these taxpayer investments, we must protect them from wholesale theft by the Chinese Communist Party. My policies will safeguard intellectual property by requiring training, putting more responsibility on grant recipients, and banning malign foreign talent programs.”

Since the creation of the NSF, it has served a unique role in government, supporting basic research, fueling major technological innovations, and training generations of scientists and engineers critical to the economy and national defense of the United States. The NSF for the Future Act authorizes a new technology directorate for strategic investments in applied research.

H.R. 2225, the NSF for the Future Act, doubles NSF research funding to develop the STEM workforce, advance innovative technologies, and protect American research from foreign theft to maintain America’s edge over China.

The bill, along with the Department of Energy Science for the Future Act, are now eligible for consideration on the U.S. House floor.

The committee also included Waltz’s amendments to both bills to:

• Authorize a critical mineral research and development program at NSF to ensure the U.S. has an efficient critical mineral supply chain that America relies on for its electronics, energy and military
• Ban any NSF researchers from participating in China’s Thousands Talents Program to ensure taxpayer-funded research and technology does not fall prey to the Chinese Communist Party’s espionage and theft
• Require American colleges and universities to certify they have trained their professors and staff on research espionage to prevent Chinese espionage and theft at American research institutions
• Encourage students to pursue aerospace, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing studies at American colleges and universities, like Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, through a Cyber Scholarship for Service program to diversify and enhance the federal workforce with cyber experts and respond to China’s massive investments into research and technology
• Prohibit the Department of Energy from funding Gain of Function research for humans as investigations on the origins of COVID continue
• Ensure binational research organizations are eligible to receive funding from the NSF to continue collaboration with America’s greatest allies, like Israel.

“We cannot allow the CCP to advance its authoritarianism on the backs of American taxpayer-funded research,” said Rep. Waltz. “We must invest in research and technology if we want to strengthen our economy, maintain our global leadership in science and innovation, and compete with China.”

The legislation and amendments can be found here, here, here, here, and here.