Jim Sensenbrenner: “I rise today to present H.R. 1274, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Authorization Act of 1997. I would…”

“I rise today to present H.R. 1274, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Authorization Act of 1997. I would like to thank and congratulate the subcommittee chairwoman, the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella] and the ranking member, the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Gordon] for crafting such a fine bill. H.R. 1274 authorizes all the programs under the Technology Administration in the Department of Commerce that require appropriations for fiscal years 1998 and 1999. The Technology Administration includes the Office of the Under Secretary and the Office of Technology Policy in NIST, which is responsible for the vast majority of programs that make up the Technology Administration. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1274 is a fiscally responsible bill. It authorizes $609 million for fiscal 1998, a decrease of over $92 million, or 13 percent from the administration's request. In fiscal year 1999 the bill authorizes a total of $628 million, again $116 million or 16 percent below the administration's projected budget. While spending less than the administration requested, the bill manages to do more.”