Inside (The Beltway) Scoop – Jennifer Zeitzer 

Fiscally conservative members of Congress won several rounds this week in the ongoing fight over spending and the growing size of the federal deficit, forcing the Democratic leadership to scale back the cost of legislation to extend expiring tax credits and unemployment benefits, as well as a supplemental appropriations bill to fund the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the heart of the dispute were demands from both moderate Democrats and nearly all Republicans that any new spending be paid for with corresponding cuts in existing programs and that neither the benefits nor war funding bills increase the deficit. Despite intense negotiations, it is not clear whether lawmakers will be able to achieve House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) goal of finishing work on those high priority bills before the start of the scheduled Independence Day recess (July 5th – 9th).

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FASEB Submits Comments on Electronic Health Record Data to PCAST

Last week, FASEB submitted comments on electronic health record (EHR) data usage to Dr. Christine Cassel, the Co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Health Information Technology (HIT) Working Group. The HIT Working Group is currently developing recommendations for the Administration regarding the opportunities to improve patient care and public health through the implementation of HIT.

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Senate Science Committee Hearing Addresses Innovation, America COMPETES Act

On June 22, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion Subcommittee hearing titled “Innovation in America: Opportunities and Obstacles.” Although much of the hearing focused on ways in which the government can promote the creation of start-up companies to better

commercialize and export innovative discoveries, there was some discussion regarding future funding of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science, and the laboratories of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).