[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




                                 ______

 
                         MEMBERS' DAY HEARING:
                      HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE,
                         SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                      COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE,
                             AND TECHNOLOGY
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                           SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-32

                               __________

 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
 
 
 
 
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             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
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              COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

             HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas, Chairwoman
ZOE LOFGREN, California              FRANK LUCAS, Oklahoma, 
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon                 Ranking Member
AMI BERA, California                 MO BROOKS, Alabama
HALEY STEVENS, Michigan,             BILL POSEY, Florida
    Vice Chair                       RANDY WEBER, Texas
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey           BRIAN BABIN, Texas
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York              ANTHONY GONZALEZ, Ohio
MELANIE A. STANSBURY, New Mexico     MICHAEL WALTZ, Florida
BRAD SHERMAN, California             JAMES R. BAIRD, Indiana
ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado              DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida
JERRY McNERNEY, California           MIKE GARCIA, California
PAUL TONKO, New York                 STEPHANIE I. BICE, Oklahoma
BILL FOSTER, Illinois                YOUNG KIM, California
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey          RANDY FEENSTRA, Iowa
DON BEYER, Virginia                  JAKE LaTURNER, Kansas
CHARLIE CRIST, Florida               CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida
SEAN CASTEN, Illinois                JAY OBERNOLTE, California
CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania             PETER MEIJER, Michigan
DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina         JAKE ELLZEY, TEXAS
GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin                VACANCY
DAN KILDEE, Michigan
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas

                         C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                           September 29, 2021
                           Opening Statements

                                                                   Page

Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Chairwoman, 
  Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of 
  Representatives................................................     1
    Written Statement............................................     1

Statement by Representative Frank Lucas, Ranking Member, 
  Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of 
  Representatives................................................     2
    Written Statement............................................     2

Written statement by Representative Bill Posey, Committee on 
  Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives..     2

Written Statement by Representative Anna G. Eshoo, U.S. House of 
  Representatives................................................     4

                               Witnesses:

Representative Melanie A. Stansbury, Committee on Science, Space, 
  and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives
    Oral Statement...............................................     4
    Written Statement............................................     5

Representative Ed Case, U.S. House of Representatives
    Oral Statement...............................................     6
    Written Statement............................................     7

Discussion.......................................................     8


                         MEMBERS' DAY HEARING:

                      HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE,

                         SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

                              ----------                              


                     WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

                          House of Representatives,
               Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
                                                   Washington, D.C.

    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:59 a.m., via 
Zoom, Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson [Chairwoman of the Committee] 
presiding.
    Chairwoman Johnson. Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is 
authorized to declare recess at any time. Pursuant to House 
Resolution 8, today the Committee is meeting virtually. I want 
to announce a couple of reminders to the Members about the 
conduct of this remote meeting. First, Members should keep 
their video feed on as long as they are present in the meeting. 
Members are responsible for their own microphones, and please 
also keep your microphones muted unless you are speaking. And 
finally, if Members have documents they wish to submit to the 
record, please mail them to the Committee Clerk, whose e-mail 
address was circulated prior to the meeting.
    Good morning. I'd like to welcome to the Member Day hearing 
for the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology for the 
117th Congress. This meeting is being held pursuant to House 
Resolution 8, Section 3, and gives Members, including those not 
on the Committee, the opportunity to come before us and discuss 
proposed legislation under--and simply discuss interests and 
priorities under the Committee's jurisdiction. We have Members 
before us today to testify on a variety of policy areas and 
bills, and also had Members submit testimony for the record. As 
the Members of this Committee know, I welcome input from all 
corners, and that includes Members both on and off the 
Committee. I'd like to welcome our colleagues testifying before 
us today, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts on these 
very important policy areas.
    [The prepared statement of Chairwoman Johnson follows:]

    Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to the 
Member Day Hearing for the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology for the 117th Congress. This hearing is being held 
pursuant to House Rules, and gives Members, including those not 
on the Committee, the opportunity to come before us and discuss 
proposed legislation, or simply discuss interests and 
priorities under the Committee's jurisdiction.
    We have Members before us today to testify on a variety of 
policy areas and bills, and we also had Members submit 
testimony for the record.
    As the Members of this Committee know, I welcome input from 
all corners, and that includes Members both on and off the 
Committee.
    I would like to welcome our colleagues testifying before us 
today. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on these very 
important policy areas.

    Chairwoman Johnson. I now recognize our Ranking Member, Mr. 
Lucas, for an opening statement.
    Mr. Lucas. Thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward to the 
comments of our colleagues today. It's important that we hear 
from Members. They, like you and I, represent and reflect the 
interests and the focus of their constituents all across the 
country. What they report to us, what they observe, matters, 
and with that, I yield back so we can listen to our colleagues. 
Thank you, Madam Chair.
     [The prepared statement of Mr. Lucas follows:]

    Thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward at the comments of 
our colleagues today. It's important that we hear from Members. 
They, like you and I, represent and reflect the interest and 
the focus of their constituents all across the country. What 
they report to us, what they observe, matters. And with that I 
yield back so we can listen our colleagues. Thank you, Madam 
Chair.

    Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you. If there are Members who 
wish to submit additional opening statements, your statements 
will be added to the record at this point. Also, if there are 
Members from off the Committee who have submitted statements, I 
ask that they be inserted into the record for this hearing.
    [The prepared statement of Representative Bill Posey 
follows:]

    Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Ranking Member Frank 
Lucas,
    Thank you for the opportunity to discuss with you an issue 
of significance to Florida, my district, and our nation: The 
threat of China. I urge the Committee to hold hearings and 
support legislation to address this threat. The House Science, 
Space, and Technology Committee needs to make sure that U.S. 
taxpayer dollars are focused on Americans and that agencies are 
pressed to put American companies first.
    Back in March, this Committee approved amendments of mine 
to H.R. 144, the Supporting Early-Career Researchers Act. The 
amendments strengthen research opportunities for American 
students studying STEM (science, technology, engineering, and 
mathematics) and whose research has been impacted by the COVID-
19 pandemic. One amendment prioritizes American students, 
because this bill funded only a small fraction of STEM graduate 
students. This is important because American students generally 
have higher amounts of student loan debt. Without my amendment, 
some funding would have gone to Chinese students. It has since 
passed the House and awaits consideration by the Senate.
    The Committee also considered H.R. 3593, the Department of 
Energy Science for the Future Act in June. One amendment that 
was adopted prohibits funds going to state-owned (Chinese) 
enterprises. It states that none of the funds authorized in 
H.R. 3593 can be used to award federal contracts, grants, or 
loans, to entities owned, controlled, or otherwise tied to a 
corporation based in a nonmarket economy country or foreign 
country of concern (i.e., China). The amendment would also 
prohibit funds from going to entities listed under the Uyghur 
Human Rights Policy Act of 2020. The bill has passed the House 
and awaits consideration by the Senate.
    H.R. 4609, the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology for the Future Act was amended to include an 
amendment to stop countries like China from gaming the system 
by co-opting and subverting international standards-setting 
bodies and placing the U.S. at a disadvantage. The amendment 
maintains U.S. participation in these bodies where appropriate, 
while providing guidance to the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology regarding how those bodies it participates in 
should operate with respect to Chinese participation. The 
foundation of all our work with international partners must 
include fairness for American companies. I urge this Committee 
retain this amendment language as the bill proceeds.
    When this Committee considered the Budget Reconciliation 
bill, one of my amendments was adopted to protect the domestic 
solar industry.Specifically, it reinforces the importance of 
supporting technologies at all stages of the solar energy 
supply chains. Today the majority of the world's silicone is 
produced in China. To address this concern, the amendment 
directs the Department of Energy to encourage U.S. production 
of important materials, such as silicone, needed to help the 
domestic solar industry. This same amendment will also help the 
domestic semiconductor industry.
    Unfortunately, the Committee failed to adopt an amendment 
to require the NASA Inspector General to establish an 
interagency task force of Inspectors General to investigate 
Chinese interference.
    Our nation's space capabilities are critical to our 
economic competitiveness, national security, scientific 
discovery, technological advancement, and the survival of our 
species. So much of our modern- day life is dependent on 
space--making a bank transaction, for example, or even a phone 
call these days, requires using some type of space-faring 
technology. From GPS, to life-saving medical research, and 
advanced agriculture, hybrid car batteries, and even 
Posturepedic mattresses, our investment in space, has spawned 
some truly amazing innovations, and has an ongoing, positive 
impact, on our nation, and the world.
    It all started with the Gemini and Mercury missions, that 
led to the Apollo Missions. And we will continue to benefit 
from our accomplishments in space, when NASA returns to the 
Moon with Artemis, as a steppingstone to reaching Mars, and 
beyond.
    The foundation for such a bold mission, is already being 
laid, but NASA must continue to lead the way forward, with a 
strong international partnership, that accomplishes the 
mission, and inspires the rest of the world. However, China is 
threatening with its Made in China 2025 and 2050 initiatives 
designed to surpass the U.S., particularly when it comes to 
space.
    Space is the Ultimate Military High Ground, and whoever 
controls space, will control the destiny of the free world, and 
the degree to which freedom spreads, across the world.
    The Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence 
Community report stated, ``Beijing is working to match, or 
exceed, U.S. capabilities in space, to gain the military, 
economic, and prestige benefits, that Washington has accrued, 
from space leadership.'' The same report expects a ``Chinese 
space station, in low Earth orbit, to be operational between 
2022 and 2024'' . . . and it ``conducted, and plans to conduct, 
additional lunar exploration missions'' . . . China also 
``intends to establish a robotic research station, on the Moon, 
and later, an intermittently crewed lunar base.''
    China also has plans to erode the U.S. military's 
information advantage, by integrating its space services, and 
satellite communications, into its weapons, and command-and-
control systems, according to the Annual Threat Assessment 
report.
    According to the 2020 U.S. Defense Space Strategy report, 
China, and Russia, have weaponized space, as a means to reduce 
U.S., and alliedpartners', freedom of operations in space. The 
same report, claims China has tested, and proven, counterspace 
capabilities, that threaten U.S., and allied partners', 
satellites, and national security.
    The U.S., and particularly our commercial space assets, 
face cyber- attacks, from bad actors: Russia and China, in 
particular. Foreign Governments like China have taken notice of 
the U.S. space launch market growth, and have begun to fund 
their own vehicles, to compete in the same market. Foreign 
launch companies are heavily subsidized from their national 
governments.
    A strong domestic, commercial space industry, with 
supporting prime contractors, that have large, and diverse 
supplier networks, is in our national security interest. 
Another way to promote U.S. space launches, and our domestic 
space industry, is to simply get out of the way: to not impede 
progress, with unnecessary red tape.
    The SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) has cost the lives of 
hundreds of thousands of Americans and killed millions 
worldwide that originated from China. It has disrupted the life 
of every American, causing unprecedented economic harm and 
costing Americans up to $16 trillion by an estimate in the 
Journal of the American Medical Association.
    With no other Committee in the House investigating the 
origins of COVID-19, the Investigations and Oversight 
Subcommittee did hold a hearing on the origins of COVID-19 in 
July. However, this Committee needs to hold a series of 
hearings on this subject. There are few subjects more pressing 
given the magnitude of the disruption and loss of life stemming 
from this pandemic.
    Thank you very much for your consideration of my views, and 
I look forward to working with the Committee and my colleagues 
on these threats posed by China.

    [The prepared statement of Representative Anna G. Eshoo 
follows:]

    Thank you, Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas, for 
giving me the opportunity to testify at today's Member Day 
hearing, and I would like to discuss my legislation, the 
National Civilian Medals Improvement Act.
    Most Americans are familiar with the Nobel Prize, but few 
know that the U.S. has its own National Civilian Medals for 
science, technology, the arts, and humanities. Unlike the Nobel 
Prize which is awarded annually, presidents have awarded the 
National Civilian Medals inconsistently which I believe 
contributes to the lack of awareness of these medals among the 
public. In 2019, I wrote to then-President Trump urging him to 
award the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of 
Technology and Innovation, but he unfortunately never did 
during his term. As such, these medals have not been awarded 
for seven years which further tarnishes their reputation. This 
is particularly disheartening given that every American has 
benefited from the extraordinary work of scientists to protect 
us from the Covid-19 pandemic by developing highly effective 
vaccines so quickly.
    My legislation addresses this problem by requiring each 
medal to be awarded annually on a fixed schedule. To ensure the 
prestige of the medals, the president is authorized to award 
each medal to no more than five Americans every year. My 
legislation also creates a new National Medal of Social 
Sciences to ensure parity with similar awards. Although the 
current National Medal of Science can be awarded to social 
scientists, the vast majority have been awarded to academicians 
in the ``hard sciences.'' Economists, psychologists, 
historians, and other social scientists deserve equal 
recognition for their work. The National Civilian Medals 
Improvement Act will better recognize the many extraordinary 
Americans who contribute to the arts and sciences of our 
nation.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to testify, and I look 
forward to working with you to advance this important 
legislation.

    Now to our testifying colleagues. We will have one panel, 
and each of you will have five minutes for testimony. When you 
have all completed your testimony, we will then open the floor 
to questions from the attending Members of the Committee. We 
will begin with the gentlelady from New Mexico, Ms. Stansbury.
    Staff. Madam Chair, I think we're having some trouble 
getting our testifying Members connected, so it might make 
sense if we take a short recess until we can get them online.
    Chairwoman Johnson. OK. Let me know.
    Staff. OK. All right. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. I'm sorry.
    Chairwoman Johnson. That's okay.
    [Recess.]
    Chairwoman Johnson. Well, thank you very much. We will now 
hear from the gentlelady from New Mexico, Ms. Stansbury.

            TESTIMONY OF THE HON. MELANIE STANSBURY,

                  A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS

                  FROM THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

    Ms. Stansbury. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and thank you 
to the entire Committee. As one of the newest Members of this 
Committee, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you 
to you all for your tremendous support, and for helping me as 
I've been getting settled here on the Committee. It's truly an 
honor to be able to serve on the Science and Space and 
Technology Committee, and I thank you for your collegial 
support.
    I'm excited to continue our science and technology work 
over the course of this fall. We have a lot of important work 
to do as a Committee to help ensure that we are building a 
thriving STEM and S&T (science and technology) economy, not 
only for our country, but for our home States, such as mine, 
New Mexico, which has a thriving, growing S&T economy, 
including two National Labs, a number of Air Force research 
laboratories, an aerospace industry, and a tech industry. Our 
National Labs in particular generate billions of dollars for 
our local economies. They employ thousands of New Mexicans, and 
are a cornerstone of our communities, in addition to being a 
tremendous source of innovation in science and technology. 
Sandia Labs, which is in my district, and which I have worked 
with and have visited many times, is a powerhouse in research 
and development, and technological innovation in 
microelectronics, computing, energy generation, and energy 
storage modeling, and many areas that are critical to our 
national security in tackling some of our Nation's biggest 
challenges.
    To ensure that this research that happens at our labs, and 
at the Department of Energy (DOE), can effectively translate 
into on the ground solutions, and be deployed to solve our 
country and our planet's biggest challenges, it's critical that 
we leverage partnerships with academia, and industry, and 
particularly our local and minority serving institutions to 
accelerate the development and commercialization of these 
technologies. That is why I am so proud to sponsor H.R. 4863, 
which is the Partnerships for Energy Security and Innovation 
Act--a bipartisan bill sponsored by many of the Members on this 
Committee, and supported, of course, by our Chairman and 
Ranking Member on this Committee, which would create a 
foundation for the U.S. Department of Energy to leverage its 
partnerships, and bring energy innovations to market, serving 
rural and underserved communities, and facilitating the 
commercialization of next generation technologies.
    As our country and our planet are facing global and 
national security threats, the--this effort is more important 
than ever, and I am so excited and honored to be able to help 
carry this bill, and ensure that we are taking the science and 
technology, and research and development happening at our 
National Laboratories out into our communities, and 
transforming our ability to solve our biggest challenges. And 
with that, Madam Chair, I yield back, and thank you so much for 
the opportunity to speak about this bill.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Stansbury follows:]

    Madam Chair, as one of the newest members of this 
committee, I want to extend my thanks to you and each of our 
colleagues on this committee. Since arriving in June, you have 
all have welcomed me and have helped me find my footing 
throughout a busy summer.
    I am excited to continue supporting the Committee's work 
this fall-which is vital to supporting and creating STEM jobs 
in New Mexico and across the country.
    New Mexico is the proud home of two Department of Energy 
national labs, including Sandia National Laboratories in my 
district.
    Our National Laboratories generate billions of dollars for 
our local economies, employ thousands of New Mexicans, and are 
cornerstones of our communities.
    This summer, I had the opportunity to tour Sandia to 
witness all of the amazing work our lab is doing firsthand.
    Sandia performs early-stage work in materials science, 
microelectronics, energy generation, energy storage, computing, 
and other areas that will help tackle some of our nation's and 
communities' biggest challenges including climate change.
    But to get these technologies from a concept of energy 
storage to a next-generation electric battery in the cars we 
drive every day means that our national labs need partners.
    We have a role to play right here in this committee to help 
transfer this technology funded by public dollars to be 
accessible to the general public. That's why I was proud to 
introduce the bipartisan Partnerships for Energy Security and 
Innovation Act with Representative Young Kim and with the 
support of the Chairwoman and Ranking Member.
    This bipartisan bill would create a nonprofit foundation 
for the U.S. Department of Energy built on previously 
successful models and championed by New Mexicans. It would 
channel research and innovation to institutions of higher 
education and private sector partners in alignment with the 
Department of Energy's mission.
    One of the most important benefits that the Foundation 
would provide to underserved communities-and the nation as a 
whole-is a mechanism for accelerating the transition to new 
energy technologies to market.
    My constituents have felt the impacts of climate change 
through an ongoing historic drought while others in the country 
have faced record-breaking heat, devastating hurricanes, and 
other extreme weather that demands we act now.
    We must act to get new energy technologies to the market 
and widely adopted to help fight climate change.
    The ability to leverage private sector and philanthropic 
contributions and pool resources from across a range of 
different sectors to quickly move new technologies to the 
market has been successfully implemented by other agencies.
    We will all benefit by bringing this same tactic to the 
Department of Energy.
    As you continue putting together this committee's research 
and technology competitiveness package, I ask that the 
committee include the Partnerships for Energy Security and 
Innovation Act in an upcoming hearing and include it in the 
final package.

    Chairwoman Johnson. Well thank you very much, and we'll go 
now to Mr. Chase of Hawai`i before we get to questions. So, Ms. 
Stansbury, if you'll just stand by? Mr. Chase--Case?

               TESTIMONY OF THE HON. EDWARD CASE,

                  A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS

                   FROM THE STATE OF HAWAI`I

    Mr. Case. Thank you so much, Chair Johnson, and Ranking 
Member Lucas, and Members of the Committee, and mahalo for the 
opportunity to share my thoughts with the Committee on climate 
change, especially as it relates to our oceans, which is, of 
course, a critical issue impacting my home State of Hawai`i.
    We are, of course, severely impacting our climate through 
our actions. Throughout our Nation this year we've seen record 
temperatures, expansive droughts, massive wildfires, increased 
hurricanes, and more. This has, of course, tragically led to 
the deaths of many Americans, and affected the lives and 
livelihoods of many more. These weather events will only 
increase in frequency and severity on our present course.
    In my home State of Hawai`i we are on the front lines of 
the fight against climate change because of its severe effects 
on our fragile ecosystems, especially our oceans. Ocean 
acidification is killing off our native reefs and shellfish, 
ocean rise is washing away our beaches and threatening roads 
and communities, and increasing temperatures are having effects 
such as pushing mosquitoes and other invasive species further 
into our native forests, killing more and more of our endemic 
endangered species.
    I want to thank this Committee for your leadership on 
climate-related issues to help protect Hawai`i from these 
threats. Your work and investments in climate science research 
and observation technology have focused squarely on the 
challenges we're facing. For example, continued congressional 
support for NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration's) Mauna Loa Observatory on the island of 
Hawai`i over decades has confirmed the existence, extent, and 
pace of climate change. Earlier this year Mauna Loa recorded 
atmospheric CO2 levels exceeding 470--417 parts per 
million, which is 50 percent higher than the beginning of the 
Industrial Revolution, and it's on an accelerating course.
    I speak before you today to request that this Committee 
make sure to include our oceans in your future climate work. 
Perhaps this is not always top of mind to many people, but 
oceans cover 71 percent of our Earth's surface. Government 
scientists agree that oceans are critical in climate change, 
since they absorb solar radiation and release heat needed to 
drive the atmospheric circulation. They absorb carbon dioxide 
from the atmosphere and store it for years to millions of 
years, and our ocean greatly impacts weather events, from 
hurricanes to droughts.
    To help do my part, together with other colleagues on a 
bipartisan basis, I'm an original co-sponsor of H.R. 3764, the 
Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act, H.R. 3906, the Blue Carbon 
Protection Act, and H.R. 3748, the Blue Globe Act. These 
measures would help restore marine and coastal ecosystems, make 
coastal communities more resilient, and conserve marine mammal 
and fish populations. These bills have all been referred to my 
Natural Resources Committee, but they've also been referred to 
this Committee. Your input, and markup, and serious attention 
to these measures are critical to their success, given your 
expertise in research and development, and scientific issues 
more broadly. Their advancement is important to assisting 
coastal communities and constituencies like mine adapt to new 
realities of higher sea level, increased flooding, and depleted 
fish stocks.
    Furthermore, your continued investment in monitoring and 
forecasting can help us mitigate climate change effects until 
we develop long term solutions. I grew up in the town of Hilo, 
Hawai`i on the coast on the island of Hawai`i, and I remember 
personally the 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people in my 
hometown. Because of the excellent work of the National Weather 
Service and other Federal agencies, while we have had tsunamis 
since then, we have not seen a tragedy of that nature in 
America on that scale since. We can follow this model to help 
develop ways to save lives as we confront climate change head 
on in this Congress and beyond.
    In closing, thank you again for your leadership in 
addressing the science of climate change, and work toward 
advancing American innovation to address climate-related 
issues. I look forward to continuing to work with you on this 
critical issue that is affecting all of our constituencies, and 
especially our oceans. Thank you very much. I yield back.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Case follows:]

    Chairwoman Johnson, Ranking Member Lucas and members of the 
Committee:
    Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with the 
Committee on climate change, especially as it relates to our 
oceans, which is a critical issue impacting my home state of 
Hawai`i.
    We are of course severely impacting our climate through our 
actions. Throughout our nation this year, we've seen record 
temperatures, expansive droughts, massive wildfires, increased 
hurricanes and more. This has tragically led to the deaths of 
many Americans and affected the lives and livelihoods of many 
more. These weather events will only increase in frequency and 
severity on our present course.
    In my home state of Hawai`i, we are on the front line of 
the fight against climate change because of its severe effect 
on our fragile ecosystems, especially our oceans. Ocean 
acidification is killing off our native reefs and shellfish; 
ocean rise is washing away our beaches and threatening roads 
and communities; and increasing temperatures are pushing 
mosquitos and other invasive pests further into native forest, 
killing more and more endemic endangered species.
    I want to thank this Committee for your leadership on 
climate-related issues to help protect Hawai`i from these 
threats. Your work and the investments in climate science 
research and observation technology have focused squarely the 
challenges we're facing. For example, continued Congressional 
support for NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory on the Island of 
Hawai`i has confirmed the existence, extent and pace of climate 
change. Earlier this year, the observatory recorded atmospheric 
CO2 levels exceeding 417 parts per million.
    This is 50% higher than when humanity began the Industrial 
Revolution, and it will only rise if we do nothing to stem 
emissions.
    I sit before you today to request that this Committee make 
sure to include our oceans in your future climate work. While 
not top of mind for many who do not live near the coasts, 
oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth's surface. Government 
scientists agree that oceans are critical in climate change 
since they absorb solar radiation and release heat needed to 
drive the atmospheric circulation. They absorb carbon dioxide 
from the atmosphere and store it for years to millions of 
years, and our ocean greatly impact weather events from 
hurricanes to droughts.
    To help do my part, I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 
3764, the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act; H.R. 3906, the 
Blue Carbon Protection Act; and H.R. 3748, the BLUE GLOBE Act. 
These measures would help restore marine and coastal 
ecosystems, make coastal communities more resilient and 
conserve marine mammal and fish populations.
    While these bills have all been referred to my Natural 
Resources Committee, they have also been referred to this 
Committee. Your markup and input on these measures are critical 
to their success given your expertise in research and 
development and scientific issues more broadly. Their 
advancement is important to assisting coastal constituencies, 
like mine, adapt to new realities of higher sea levels, 
increased flooding and depleted fish stocks.
    Furthermore, your continued investment in monitoring and 
forecasting can help us mitigate climate change's effects until 
we develop long- term solutions. I remember the 1960 tsunami 
that killed 61 people in my hometown of Hilo, Hawai`i. Because 
of the excellent work of the National Weather Service and other 
Federal agencies, we have not had a tsunami tragedy in America 
of that scale since. We can follow this model to help develop 
ways to save lives as we confront climate change head-on in 
this Congress and beyond.
    In closing, thank you for your leadership in addressing the 
science of climate change and work toward advancing American 
innovation to address climate-related issues. I look forward to 
continuing to work with you on this critical issue that is 
affecting all of our constituents and our oceans.
    Mahalo.

    Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you very much. At this point 
we'll begin our question period, and I will first recognize 
myself for panel questions.
    Ms. Stansbury, how would the foundation concept enable DOE 
to be more effective toward--to more effectively address the 
climate crisis?
    Ms. Stansbury. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. This bill 
creates a quasi-private foundation based on a model that has 
been deployed in many other partnership models with other 
agencies, as well as public/private partnerships that help to 
commercialize various technologies. As we all know, our labs 
are sources for a tremendous amount of research and development 
and innovation; and so, what this bill does is create a 
foundation process to help foster those public/private 
partnerships with local universities, especially minority-
serving and Tribal colleges and universities, and historically 
Black colleges and others, so that we're getting that science 
and technology into our local academic institutions, and 
helping to commercialize the science that's being produced 
through our labs.
    So how that ultimately will help us solve the challenges of 
climate change is our National Laboratories are doing a 
tremendous amount of modeling, research and development, 
looking at the impacts of climate change, understanding how 
climate processes are happening, and by transferring that 
information and those technologies to our local institutions, 
it will help to translate that information into solutions that 
can be deployed in our communities--so, helping to solve issues 
around drought, and food security, wildfires, and other issues 
that are being impacted by climate change.
    Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you very much. Mr. Case, the 
Science Committee has held many productive ocean-related 
hearings, and are working on significant ocean-related bills. 
We've talked about the importance of the ocean in the Earth 
systems, and the ocean/climate nexus. On June 7 we held a 
hearing entitled ``Defining a National Ocean Shot: Accelerating 
Ocean and Great Lakes Science and Technology''. Earlier this 
year we passed Ms. Bonamici's Coast Research Act out of the 
House, and I'm committed to working with you and Chairman 
Grijalva of the Committee on Natural Resources to move these 
important cross-jurisdictional ocean bills, including our 
forthcoming Ocean Exploration bill. In the gentleman's informed 
opinion, what would you say would be the most important ocean 
science questions you think the Science Committee should 
address?
    Mr. Case. Well, I think--thank you so much, Madam Chair, 
and, first of all, I do definitely want to again recognize the 
work of this Committee to date. You've been real leaders on 
this issue. You have been entirely cognizant, and fully 
appreciative, of the oceans from a climate change perspective, 
you collectively, and it has been a wonderful working 
partnership from that perspective.
    I guess what I would say to you is that when--of course, 
when we talk about the oceans, the oceans are not some 
integrated, you know, separate ecosystem from the land, and 
from our air. And so I guess I would answer you very, very 
generally, which is your broader work on climate change is 
obviously critical to the oceans, as well as every other part 
of our global ecosystem, and so I don't want to get away from 
that at all.
    I definitely believe that your emphasis on research and 
development, in terms of climate change with specific regard to 
impacts on the oceans, is invaluable because it does 
demonstrate the actual effect of climate change--which many of 
us don't perceive in the oceans because, you know, we don't 
tend to go into the oceans; I do, but many of us don't--it's 
critical from just appreciating the acidification, the increase 
in temperatures in our oceans, the impacts on coastal 
communities. That research and development proves a cause and 
effect, you know, relationship that I think is critical from 
that perspective, together with your broader research.
    Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you very much. Now I'll open the 
floor to anyone on the Committee who has a question of our 
testifying colleagues. Mr. Lucas, would you like to be 
recognized? You're muted.
    Mr. Lucas. Better now, Madam Chair, I hope.
    Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you. Yes.
    Mr. Lucas [continuing]. Allocating me time. I'd simply say 
to my colleagues I appreciate the input that both of you 
offered. It's important to the Committee. In particular, 
Congressman Case, some years ago, when I was a Subcommittee 
Chairman on Agriculture, you and I conducted a hearing 
addressing the Agriculture Conservation Programs, and the 
unique nature of Hawai`i and the islands. Would you remind us 
today about the climate--the different climate zones? When 
you're on the island, you literally have everything from 
rainforests, potentially, to arid deserts, or semi-arid. If 
you'd mention a few details about that, the unique challenges 
in Hawai`i?
    Mr. Case. Well, first of all, Congressman, it was great to 
host you in Hawai`i in conjunction with our--both of our 
membership then on the Agriculture Committee, and I really 
appreciated your interest and attention to unique challenges of 
agriculture in tropical parts of our country. Which, again, is 
not most of our country, but we certainly have our specialty 
agriculture. You saw that in spades, and your visit is 
remembered, by the way.
    So in Hawai`i, and this is relevant to our conversation, we 
have all of the microclimates of the world in one place. We go 
from, you know, alpine to mountain, to deep tropical 
rainforest, to desert, and everywhere in between. And, by the 
way, this goes out into the ocean, so we have many, many of the 
characteristics of the ocean in one place as well. We have 
certainly the near shore tropical world of, you know, corals 
and tropical fish, but we go very quickly to deep ocean, where 
we have impacts from climate change in our deep oceans, and 
this is within our, you know, EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).
    And so really, you know, from a positive and a negative 
perspective, excuse me, on the positive side, you've got every 
impact of climate change there is out there in a very small 
area, which makes the research and development that we do in 
Hawai`i really integral to our international understanding. On 
the negative side, we get impacted on a lot of different ways. 
And, to your point on agriculture, as one very specific area, I 
spoke to it a little bit earlier, but as the climate changes, 
as the temperature changes, those microclimes adjust to that, 
and the agriculture adjusts to that, and the invasive species 
that we have adjust to that as well.
    I've made mention of the fact that we saw mosquitoes and 
other pests coming deeper into native forests, where the 
natural flora and fauna never had to deal with mosquitoes 
before. And so, as a result--and I think it's pretty clearly 
directly impacted by climate change, and increased air 
temperatures, which are causing that, we are seeing 
devastation. And that is true also in our agriculture in 
Hawai`i. So there are broad-ranging effects that you can see a 
very, you know, very small and confined area in Hawai`i. I'm 
sure this is the case in many, many parts of our country and 
world, but I happen to live it, so I see it.
    Mr. Lucas. I thank you both, and I yield back, Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Johnson. Thank you very much. Anyone else 
seeking time? Well, hearing none, I will bring this meeting to 
a close. And I want to thank the Members for their attendance, 
and this really concludes our Member Day hearing. Thank you 
again.
    Mr. Case. Thank you very much.
    Ms. Stansbury [continuing]. Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Johnson. Does someone seek recognition? Okay.
    [Whereupon, at 10:24 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]