VIDEO: Stansbury Highlights Economic Potential of Bipartisan Technology Transfer Bill for NM Economy, Climate Change
Stansbury testified before her colleagues on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology about how the bill will stimulate economic development by facilitating the commercialization of nationally funded research
VIDEO LINK:https://youtu.be/58NIcCUSH78
WASHINGTON — Creating opportunity to bring innovative technology to the market is crucial to economic development in New Mexico and fighting climate change, which is why U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) asked her colleagues this morning on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to bring her bipartisan legislation, the Partnerships for Energy Security and Innovation Act, to a vote.
Congresswoman Stansbury highlighted how creating a non-profit foundation would facilitate technology transfer and the commercialization of nationally funded research through public-private partnerships. The legislation, Congresswoman Stansbury’s first bill, would especially benefit New Mexico, which is home to two national labs that employ thousands of New Mexicans and contribute billions of dollars to the state’s economy each year.
“To ensure that this research that happens at our labs can effectively translate into on-the-ground solutions and be deployed to solve our country and our planets biggest challenges, it's critical that we leverage partnerships with academia and industry, and particularly our local and minority-serving institutions to accelerate the development and commercialization of these technologies,” said Congresswoman Stansbury.
“That is why I am so proud to sponsor HR 4863, the Partnerships for Energy Security and Innovation Act,” Congresswoman Stansbury continued. “This bipartisan bill …would create a foundation for the US Department of Energy to leverage its partnerships and bring energy innovations to the commercialization of next-generation technologies.”
The foundation established by the Partnerships for Energy Security and Innovation Act would reinforce and advance DOE’s mission by:
- Supplementing DOE-supported research and development with private sector funding;
- Facilitating the commercialization of energy technologies;
- Contributing to energy workforce development; and
- Enabling information exchange and sharing best practices.
Congresswoman Stansbury’s full remarks are below:
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and thank you to the entire committee. As one of the newest members of this committee, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to you all, for your tremendous support and for helping me as I've been getting settled here in the committee. It's truly an honor to be able to serve on the Science and Space and Technology committee, and I thank you for your collegial support. I'm excited to continue our science and technology work over the course of this fall.
We have a lot of important work to do as a committee to help ensure that we are building a thriving STEM and S&T economy not only for our country, but for our home states, such as mine, New Mexico, which has a thriving, growing, S&T economy, including two national labs, a number of Air Force research laboratories an aerospace industry and a tech industry. Our national labs in particular generate billions of dollars for our local economies, they employ thousands of New Mexicans and are a cornerstone of our communities, in addition to being a tremendous source of innovation in science and technology.
Sandia Labs, which is in my district, and which I have worked with and have visited many times, is a powerhouse in research and development, and technological innovation. In microelectronics, computing, energy generation, and energy storage, modeling, and many areas that are critical to our national security and tackling some of our nation's biggest challenges.
To ensure that this research that happens at our labs, and at the Department of Energy, can effectively translate into on the ground solutions, and be deployed to solve our country and our planets biggest challenges, it's critical that we leverage partnerships with academia and industry, and particularly our local and minority-serving institutions to accelerate the development and commercialization of these technologies.
That is why I am so proud to sponsor H.R. 4863, which is the Partnerships for Energy Security and Innovation Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored by many of the members on this committee, and supported, of course, by our Chairman and Ranking Member on this committee, which would create a foundation for the US Department of Energy to leverage its partnerships and bring energy innovations to the commercialization of next-generation technologies.
As our country and our planet are facing global and national security threats, this effort is more important than ever. And I am so excited and honored to be able to help carry this bill and ensure that we are taking the science and technology and research and development happening at our national laboratories out into our communities and transforming our ability to solve our biggest challenges. And with that Madam Chair, I yield back, and thank you so much for the opportunity to speak about this bill.