Supporting Early-Career Researchers Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. 144, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 144, the Supporting Early- Career Researchers Act. I commend Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas for introducing this bill, which I am pleased to cosponsor.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of our lives, and the U.S. research enterprise has not been spared. As research labs and universities around the country took action to mitigate the spread of the virus in their labs and on their campuses, research productivity decreased dramatically. We still do not know the full financial consequences incurred by these institutions or their full costs in terms of lost science.

Compounding these declines in research productivity, women researchers and researchers from groups historically underrepresented in STEM have been particularly disadvantaged during the crisis because of childcare and other factors.

Facing unprecedented financial difficulties, many research universities instituted hiring freezes, and faculty job openings declined by nearly 70 percent. This limited job market has a greater effect on early-career researchers who may have their career derailed before it truly begins. Already, some early-career researchers are having to choose between applying their training and talent to an academic career and supporting their families.

Early-career researchers play a vital role in the U.S. research ecosystem. They are not only highly productive researchers, they also play a significant role in training the next generation of undergraduate and graduate STEM students. Their departure from research careers, if we do not stop it, will have a profound and long-lasting consequence on U.S. innovation and competitiveness in the 21st century.

Mr. Speaker, as increasing numbers of Americans receive COVID-19 vaccines and the research enterprise continues its recovery, we must make the retention of early-career researchers a priority. The Supporting Early-Career Researchers Act directs the National Science Foundation to establish a new $250 million post-doctoral fellowship program to support early-career researchers.

This program will help prevent a significant loss of STEM talent. More than 40 organizations have endorsed this legislation. I, again, thank Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas for their continued deliberation on this important issue, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on getting this bill signed into law.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 144, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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