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NSF & Congress
House Elects Ryan Speaker, Passes Budget Agreement
October 29, 2015
Wisconsin Rep. Paul D. Ryan was elected the 62nd Speaker of the House of Representatives on October 29th, replacing John Boehner who is stepping down. The vote was 236 for Ryan, 184 for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and 9 for Florida Rep. Daniel Webster, who was the only Republican to challenge Ryan in the GOP conference vote a day earlier.
On October 28th, the House passed a bipartisan budget agreement that would avert a showdown over funding the federal government beyond Dec. 11th. The bill increases spending caps for discretionary spending on defense and domestic programs for two years and raises the debt ceiling to allow the government to pay its bills through March 2017. To offset spending increases, the bill makes changes to Medicare and the Social Security disability program, and includes other cost-saving measures. The House passed the bill by a 266-to-167 vote; support came from 79 Republicans and 187 Democrats.
Senate leaders immediately started work on the measure, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filing a cloture motion shortly after the House voted. At least one Senator had indicated he was planning a filibuster. Cloture requires 60 votes and then passage of the bill requires a simple majority. A final vote on the legislation is expected to take place sometime this weekend or November 2nd.
On October 26th, the House passed H.R. 3033, the Research Excellence and Advancements for Dyslexia (READ) Act. The bill, sponsored by House Science Committee Chair Lamar Smith of Texas, would require NSF to spend at least $5 million per year on dyslexia research and include in its annual congressional budget justification the amount requested for the agency�s Research in Disabilities Education program. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
Illinois Rep. Randy Hultgren hosted a reception on Capitol Hill on October 28th marking the 30th anniversary of NSF�s Engineering Research Centers (ERC) program. Sixteen ERCs were represented with research-related exhibits and the speakers included NSF Director France C�rdova and Pramod Khargonekar, NSF assistant director for Engineering. Texas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson and New York Rep. Paul Tonko also participated in the event.
See the Sept. 30, 2015, edition for NSF Appropriations and Authorization legislation actions.
See also: NSF's Major Legislation webpage
For tools and resources about the impact on NSF's investments, please see the NSF Toolkit.
A special website for NSF Days is now available.
OTHER NSF & CONGRESS INFORMATION
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