NISE Network Blog

This week there was also reception on Capitol Hill for Bill Foster (D-IL), who won a special election held in March, 2008 to replace retiring Republican representative Dennis Hastert, former Speaker of the House. The reception was to honor him as the newest physicist elected to Congress. Which made me ask: just how many Congress(wo)men are scientists? Is that important?

As election season draws near, the scientific community is gearing up for the next administration. A document released by, The Wilson Center OSTP 2.0 CRITICAL UPGRADE, presents recommendations about science and technology policymaking for the next president.

June 25 was the 14th Congressional exhibition and reception of the Coalition for National Science Funding. The coalition includes over 120 organizations, associations, and universities that track federal spending on science research. They also sponsor an annual Capitol Hill showcase of projects funded by NSF. It’s a nice event - held in the Rayburn Office Building and catered, with fancy but substantial appetizers and wine and beer.

I actually went to the Nanomedicine briefing for a somewhat shallower reason than the previous post would imply. I sometimes get tired of taxing my brain with new nanofacts, and admit that there is large portion of this field that I will never understand. Still, the sociology of nanoscientists fascinates me, probably because they are such a diverse group and are unaccustomed to being lumped together. When asked, most identify themselves as chemists, engineers, medical doctors, toxicologists, etc. Who among them might be called simply a "nanoscientist"?

The June briefing hosted by the Congressional Nanotech Caucus was on nanomedicine - specifically, the use of nanoparticles in cancer treatment. The guest list comprised mostly representatives of the Alliance for Nanohealth, a Houston-based collaboration of researchers that aims to find nanotechnology solutions to unresolved medical problems. If any group of researchers can find a way to beat cancer, it's this one.

So where did H.R. 5940 go next? For those of you who need a reminder of steps in the process, here’s a link to the classic song and video: I’m Just a Bill. In this case, next stop was a vote by the full House, which took place after about 40 minutes of discussion on June 5. Want to know how your Representative voted? Check out the results of Roll Call 383. Want to know how your representative or senator feels about other science policy issues?

In legislative terms, a markup is a special session held to amend a bill. The National Nanotechnology (NNI) Amendment Act was scheduled for markup in the House Committee on Science and Technology at 11 am on May 7, 2008, in Rayburn 2318. Most of the amendments were related to education, so I thought I should observe this step of the process - even though I'd been warned that it was totally unpredicable how long this process might take.