DC Digest - January 7, 2012



In Today's Issue:
  • Dear Colleague Letter on GRANT Act Changes
  • Obama Makes Recess Appointment to Consumer Protection BUreau
  • Debt Commission Leaders Bowles, Simpson to Speak at Duke
  • Commerce Department Releases Competitiveness Report



REPS. HOLT, PRICE ASK COLLEAGUES TO SIGN LETTER ON CHANGES NEEDED IN GRANT ACT
Representatives Rush Holt (D-NJ) and David Price (D-NC) have sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to their House colleagues asking them to co-sign a letter to the House leadership urging changes in the Grant Reform and New Transparency (GRANT) Act before the bill is considered on the House floor. The GRANT Act

The Dear Colleague letter says that, in its current form, the GRANT Act would “threaten our nation’s scientific research system and…stifle innovation and economic growth.”  Of greatest concern is a provision requiring publication of full research grant proposals on a public federal government website.  By making an applicant’s ideas and data publicly available to all, this requirement “would undermine the applicant and their institution’s right to their intellectual property.”  A second provision would require public disclosure of the names of peer reviewers, “hinder[ing] the ability of scientists to evaluate the credibility of research findings.”
 
As reported in the December 3 DC Digest, AAU, APLU, and COGR raised similar concerns in a letter to committee leadership.


PRESIDENT OBAMA ANNOUNCES RECESS APPOINTMENT TO CONSUMER PROTECTION BUREAU
President Obama announced this week his intent to recess appoint four individuals to fill key administration posts that have been left vacant, including the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The new consumer financial agency, created to promote transparency and fairness for consumer financial products, is setting its sites on the private student lending industry, announcing in November that it is seeking information on how to oversee these lenders.

The agency said in a release that "too little is known" about college student loans made by private lenders as opposed to those that go through programs run by the government.

Read More:
President Obama Announces Recess Appointments to Key Administration Posts (whitehouse.gov)
Consumer Regulator Looking at Student Loans (Reuters.com)



DEBT COMMISSION LEADERS BOWLES, SIMPSON TO SPEAK AT DUKE JAN 18
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, will speak in Page Auditorium at Duke University on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

The event, "Decision Time: Bowles, Simpson and the Federal Budget," is part of the Sanford School's Terry Sanford Distinguished Lecture series, which brings notable leaders to speak on Duke's campus.

Bowles, former White House chief of staff and president of the UNC system, and Simpson, former U.S. senator from Wyoming, will discuss ideas for reining in the federal budget and restoring confidence.

Read More:
Debt Commission Leaders Bowles, Simpson to Speak at Duke Jan 18 (Duke.edu)


COMMERCE DEPARTMENT RELEASES COMPETITIVENESS REPORT  
The Department of Commerce (DOC), in consultation with the National Economic Council, today released a report entitled, “The Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States.” 

A number of recommendations in the report closely mirror recommendations made by a group of five higher education associations in response to the Department’s April 2010 Request for Information on the Administration’s Strategy for American Innovation.  Among the recommendations that reflect longstanding AAU positions are increased support for proof-of-concept and early-stage funding for research commercialization, extension of the research and development tax credit, and the promotion of universities as critical partners in regional innovation clusters.

Read More:
Commerce Department Releases COMPETES Report (commerce.gov)