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House Science, Space and Technology panel warns U.S. S&T leadership faces mounting strategic risks
Summary
Witnesses at the House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing described a rapid pace of technological change, increasing global competition—particularly from China—and growing uncertainty caused by recent administration actions that interrupted federal research funding and policy continuity.
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee opened its first hearing of the 119th Congress with witnesses and members pressing that U.S. scientific and technological leadership is at an inflection point.
Chairman Babin opened the session stating the hearing’s purpose: “Welcome to today's hearing entitled the State of US Science and Technology, ensuring US Global Leadership.” The committee’s witnesses — Dr. Heather Wilson, Dr. Walter Copan, Dr. Sudeep Parikh and Sam Hammond — summarized where they see strengths and where they see urgent gaps.
The panel framed the issue as systemic rather than isolated. Dr. Heather Wilson, president of the University of Texas at El Paso and a former secretary of the U.S. Air Force, warned bluntly: “First, since the end of World War 2, America has dominated in science and engineering, And we no longer are.” She told the committee that China now leads in many “critical technologies” and that federal basic research investment remains central to long-term innovation.
Dr. Walter Copan, vice president for research and technology transfer at the Colorado School of Mines and a former director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), urged a coordinated national strategy that leverages universities, national labs, industry, states and philanthropy. He said public R&D historically “produces the majority of our tech startups” and called for legislative modernization, including updates to technology-transfer authorities.
Dr. Sudeep Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, emphasized that technological opportunity is accelerating and cautioned against self-inflicted obstacles: “We shouldn't shoot ourselves in the foot,” he said, urging continued openness to international collaboration while protecting national security.
Sam Hammond, chief economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, argued federal processes have grown bureaucratic and that the research enterprise shows signs of declining disruptive breakthroughs. He urged reducing administrative burden, expanding flexible funding models, and accelerating the translation of research into manufacturing and commercial scale.
Why it matters: witnesses tied S&T leadership to economic strength, national security, and quality of life, repeatedly noting that the U.S. faces sustained, organized competition, particularly from the Chinese Communist Party. Across party lines members pressed for policies that both protect sensitive research and sustain basic research, workforce training and infrastructure.
Committee members and witnesses also debated specific levers: more flexible public–private partnerships, new compute and energy planning to support AI infrastructure, modernization of technology-transfer law, steps to strengthen standards and testing (a role for NIST), and measures to expand and diversify the STEM pipeline.
The hearing produced no committee votes. Members asked for follow-up details and the record will remain open for written questions and materials.
