Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am introducing the DEPSCoR Reauthorization Act of 2017 along with Senators Rounds, Brown, Collins, Carper, Coons, Whitehouse, Shaheen, Cortez Masto, and Hirono. The purpose of this bill is to ensure that we have universities in all 50 States capable of working with the Department of Defense on advanced research topics. A truly National network of university researchers who understand the needs of the Department of Defense puts us in the best possible position to respond to the ever-changing threats our armed forces face. This network will also meet the workforce needs of our defense laboratories by training graduate students in defense-relevant research. This bill reauthorizes the DEPSCoR program, which is modeled on the NSF's successful EPSCoR program for States that receive relatively low amounts of Federal science funding. The bill will focus the DEPSCoR program on defense research, while allowing the scientists and engineers of our defense laboratories to work directly with university researchers from DEPSCoR- eligible States. Seven years ago, Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to study the EPSCoR programs. The study concluded that it was in the National interest to engage scientific talent in all 50 States, and that EPSCoR programs were a valuable part of a National strategy to maintain global scientific leadership.…”