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House Science Committee Marks Its 50th Anniversary with Bill Gates’ Testimony
On Wednesday, the House Science Committee held the first in a series of hearings to celebrate its 50th anniversary; the hearing highlighted the country’s technological advances during the past half century and examined the challenges ahead. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates testified on the policies the U.S. requires to strengthen its competitiveness in the global marketplace and to encourage innovation as well as the role of technology in U.S. economic growth. Mr. Gates urged Congress to increase funding for basic research by 10% each year for the next 7 years, in keeping with the American COMPETES Act and also noted the responsibility private industry has to commit to the pursuit of U.S. innovation.
One of the issues Mr. Gates emphasized in terms of global competitiveness is U.S. immigration policies, which are creating barriers for foreign students to come to the U.S. to obtain graduate educations and are making it difficult for U.S. firms to hire foreign scientists. He noted that the backlog on green cards is longer than it’s ever been and that this is the first time in history the U.S. is turning foreign-born people away. Mr. Gates said he supports free trade agreements and views the U.S. as the traditional biggest winner in free trade.
Mr. Gates said that children today have the great advantage of the Internet, of being able learn about science and take science courses online. House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) agreed and pointed out that even if the U.S. isn’t taking advantage of the Internet for science education, other countries are. Although Mr. Gates assured the Committee that U.S. universities are still the best in the world and attributed their success to federal funding, he reminded it that corporate jobs go where the engineering talent is and that increasingly, the engineering talent is abroad. He provided that when the U.S. brings top research talent from abroad, industry creates jobs around it. Representative Baron Hill (D-IN) clarified that although the U.S.’s best scientists have the best educations in the world, the U.S. doesn’t have the quantity of top scientists it needs to compete.
Mr. Gates said that U.S. biomedical and information technology advances justify optimism in terms of U.S. competitiveness but acknowledged he’s surprised by the low percentage of U.S. students who choose to pursue math and science degrees. Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) noted that the U.S. doesn’t seem to appreciate scientists enough and wondered what the U.S. can do to change the culture so that it emulates scientists the way it emulates Hollywood stars. Mr. Gates responded that he thinks there’s at least a fascination with scientists but admitted that he finds the lack of appreciation mysterious, given that the U.S. values innovation, including breakthroughs in medical research. Mr. Gates reiterated that he thinks the U.S. can address the problem to some degree by renewing its commitment to research funding and loosening its visa policy.
Mr. Gates noted that since private industry has a difficult time capturing the results of its basic research, the U.S. needs
federal research as well as federal research and development (R&D) tax credits. He explained that other countries offer very attractive tax advantages for R&D corporations. When Representative David Reichert (R-WA) wondered why the private sector isn’t investing in basic R&D the way it should be, Mr. Gates did note that drug research companies have been incredibly R&D intensive but also recommended that companies in the private sector spread confidence in R&D by, for example, having technology and innovation days, where they can demonstrate the economic benefits of their R&D investments.
When Committee members asked Mr. Gates where he sees the U.S. in 50 years, Mr. Gates responded that he expects some of the biggest breakthroughs to be in biomedical research and that although the U.S. may not have the same global share of research in 50 years that it has today, it can still retain the greatest share globally if it renews its commitment to basic research. To ensure global competitiveness, he reiterated his recommendations that: 1) the U.S. change its visa policies since they only affect the portion of research that’s happening in the U.S. rather than the overall rate of global research; and 2) the U.S. make investments that constitute more than just incremental increases in R&D.
You can view Mr. Gates’ full written testimony
here.
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Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) Inclusion in the Mental Health Bill
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) passed the House last week, attached to the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, a bill dealing with mental health parity. GINA had previously passed the House last April, but a legislative “hold” Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) placed on the bill after raising concerns about it has stalled it in the Senate. In the previous Congress, the Senate passed a prior iteration of GINA, which
FASEB supported, by a vote of 99-0. The attachment of the bill to the mental health parity legislation, passage of which both
houses of Congress support, may help overcome the roadblock in the Senate. However, the path is not entirely clear. Coburn continues to object to the passage of GINA, citing issues about legal protections for employers and insurance companies, and has swayed some additional Senators to his side, eleven of whom sent a letter expressing concerns to the Democratic leadership. Moreover, the House and Senate versions of the mental health parity legislation are quite different, even absent the inclusion of GINA, and will require reconciliation through conference down the line. While President Bush has expressed strong support for GINA, the White House opposes the House version of the Mental Health Equity Act, so it’s unclear whether the bill would still include
GINA after the House and Senate conference it prior to President’s signature. Meanwhile, the Senate is still working on potential compromise language of the stand-alone version of GINA, which may alleviate Coburn’s concerns and permit passage through the Senate.
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FASEB Urges IOM to Promote More Consistent Management of Academic-Industry Relationships in Research
FASEB urged the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee developing recommendations for conflicts of interest in medicine to promote more consistent policies and practices for the management of academic-industry relationships in research, based on the principles of objectivity, transparency, and accountability.
FASEB Past President Leo T. Furcht, M.D., who chaired FASEB’s three-year effort to develop COI guidelines for investigators, spoke to the IOM committee at a March 13th meeting. Dr. Furcht said that the current lack of clarity and consistency in some areas of policies and practices may cause confusion and noncompliance by investigators and that those responsible for developing policies should continue to address this issue.
In addition, Dr. Furcht said that investigators must do their part by complying with requirements and voluntary practices that enhance objectivity, transparency, and accountability. Public trust is critical to ongoing support of the research enterprise, and investigators must be aware of how the public and colleagues perceive their actions.
Dr. Furcht also highlighted the FASEB “Conflict of Interest Toolkit” website,
http://opa.faseb.org/pages/Advocacy/coi/Toolkit.htm, to promote better management of academic-industry relationships in research by providing practical tools and resources.
Academic-industry relationships are essential to translating basic research into medicine and therapies that improve health. However, given the ongoing concerns about conflicts of interest and despite the efforts of FASEB and other organizations to address them, Dr. Furcht asked, “Are we doing enough to prevent a Congressional mandate for the extramural community?”
The IOM committee plans to meet three more times before it develops its report.
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CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE
The House and Senate are in recess until March
31, 2008.
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