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House Science Committee hearing puts reauthorization of National Quantum Initiative at center of debate
Summary
Witnesses and committee members at a House Science, Space, and Technology hearing urged Congress to reauthorize and strengthen the National Quantum Initiative Act, saying reauthorization is needed to sustain federal coordination, accelerate commercialization, and protect U.S. leadership in quantum research and applications.
At a House Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing, Chairman Babin and lawmakers pressed for reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative Act (NQIA), while industry and research witnesses urged Congress to expand the program to close gaps in funding, infrastructure, and workforce training.
The reauthorization push centered on testimony from Celia Mertzbacher, executive director of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QEDC), and senior leaders from Google Quantum AI, PsiQuantum, and Microsoft Quantum. "Quantum is having a moment," Mertzbacher told the committee, arguing that the NQIA created a public–private foundation that needs renewed authority and resources.
Why it matters: witnesses and members said the NQIA coordinates more than 20 federal agencies and helps translate basic research into commercial systems and workforce training that underpin economic and national security advantages. Mertzbacher told members that the NQIA helped build a pipeline of ideas and talent feeding private-sector companies and that reauthorization would allow Congress to fill gaps that have formed since 2018.
Industry witnesses described concrete steps they want in a reauthorization. Karina Chow, director and chief operating officer at Google Quantum AI, said the NQIA and related federal programs were critical to the field’s early advances and urged continued federal support. Pete Shadbolt, cofounder and chief scientific officer at PsiQuantum, recommended that reauthorization include provisions to "compete and secure access to a utility-scale quantum computer" for government science and research users and to increase funding for foundational research—particularly error correction and algorithm development. Charles Tahan, partner at Microsoft Quantum and former director of the National Quantum Coordination Office, told lawmakers the existing National Quantum Coordination Office model of embedding federal technical staff in OSTP was a useful coordination mechanism that the reauthorization should preserve and expand.
Members across the aisle emphasized the need to maintain federal leadership. Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren praised the bipartisan origins of the NQIA and said it had galvanized U.S. science and industry; multiple members described the reauthorization as a high priority for national security and economic competitiveness. Chairman Babin asked that stakeholder letters from IBM, the Quantum Industry Coalition, D-Wave, SIEK, and ITI be entered into the hearing record; by unanimous consent the committee ordered them submitted.
The hearing produced no committee vote on a bill; witnesses and members framed reauthorization as the primary legislative step needed to address workforce, infrastructure, supply-chain, and standards gaps identified during testimony. The record will remain open for additional comments and follow-up from members and witnesses.
