As it did in the 116th Congress, APA once again joined more than 300 organizations in endorsing the bipartisan Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act (S. 289, H.R.869) sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and in the House by Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) Seventy-seven House members signed on as original co-sponsors of the House version.
The legislation authorizes $25 billion in supplemental funding for federal research agencies to restart research and support researchers whose research or facilities suffered losses because of COVID-19. It would attend to the many impediments to research at “research institutions, public laboratories, and universities throughout the country to continue their work on thousands of federally backed projects” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It would also provide $10 billion to the National Institutes of Health.
The RISE Act recognizes it is “vital that the Federal Government take measures to help relieve the strain that Federal agencies will be forced to face and sustain the strength of the ability of the United States to remain a global leader in an increasingly competitive global research environment, as other countries continue to make disproportionately large investments in key research areas.”
Rep. DeGette introduced a version of the legislation in the 116th Congress included in the HEROES Act Congress passed in September 2020. That measure provided $7.6 billion in emergency relief to researchers.
For more information, contact Angela L. Sharpe, MG.