House Appropriations chairman honored for science, engineering, technology leadership

WASHINGTON (8 May 2008) -- Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, was honored last week for his leadership and commitment toward the United States remaining a global leader in science and innovation.

Obey received the George E. Brown Jr. Science, Engineering and Technology Leadership Award in a ceremony on Capitol Hill. IEEE-USA President Gordon Day presented the award on behalf of the Science, Engineering and Technology Work Group.

Prior to passage of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" in February, Obey spoke on the House floor about investing "in new portions of the economy through science, technology [and] new energy initiatives to try to modernize the economy and make it stronger." He also discussed how electronic health records could make the nation's health care system more efficient and cost effective.

Obey supported these initiatives by providing funding for: competitive construction grants for research science buildings at colleges, universities and other research organizations; a reliable and efficient electricity delivery system – Smart Grid – that includes R&D, pilot projects and federal matching funds to modernize the electricity grid; National Science Foundation grants to put scientists to work and keep promising younger researchers in the pipeline, and for investments in cutting-edge research infrastructure and instrumentation at U.S. universities; and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop standards for health information technology.

Obey, who is serving his 21st term in Congress, also steered $1.6 billion for Department of Energy shovel-ready science infrastructure projects at national laboratory user facilities. More than 10,000 researchers depend on these facilities for jobs.