ICYMI: Two Feenstra-Led Amendments Pass SST Committee

WASHINGTON -- During a Science, Space, and Technology (SST) committee meeting this week, Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) introduced two amendments to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Future Act. Both of Feenstra’s proposals were adopted by the committee and are now included in the NSF for the Future Act.

“I am pleased my colleagues supported my proposals to prevent intellectual property theft and expand the scope of precision agriculture technology. The National Science Foundation for the Future Act now includes two important improvements that will protect American interests and help empower producers to utilize advanced technology. Moving forward, I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get these proposals signed into law,” said Rep. Feenstra.

Background

One of the amendments aims to prevent intellectual property theft by preventing government-funded researchers from participating in projects or programs that are run by any “foreign country of concern.” This legislation specifically defines “country of concern” as China, North Korea, Russia, Iran, and any other “country of concern” as defined by the State Department.

Feenstra also recently introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation with Rep. Jerry McNerney (CA-09) to advance precision agriculture technology. The language of their proposal was included in the NSF for the Future Act. Feenstra and McNerney offered an amendment during the SST Committee markup to clarify that GPS technology should be included in the list of advanced technologies within the NSF’s Advanced Technology Education program (ATE).

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