commerce, justice, science, and related agencies appropriations for 2012 hearings committee on ...

557 Pages·2011·6.42 MB·English

COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2012
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED
AGENCIES
FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia, Chairman
JOHN ABNEY CULBERSON, Texas CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
JO BONNER, Alabama MICHAEL M. HONDA, California
STEVE AUSTRIA, Ohio JOSE´ E. SERRANO, New York
TOM GRAVES, Georgia
KEVIN YODER, Kansas
NOTE: Under Committee Rules, Mr. Rogers, as Chairman of the Full Committee, and Mr. Dicks, as Ranking
Minority Member of the Full Committee, are authorized to sit as Members of all Subcommittees.
MIKE RINGLER, STEPHANIE MYERS, LESLIE ALBRIGHT,
DIANA SIMPSON, and COLIN SAMPLES,
Subcommittee Staff
PART 6
Page
Department of Commerce ..................................................... 1
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ...................................... 183
National Institute of Standards and Technology ............ 269
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ...... 337
Office of the United States Trade Representative .......... 465
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COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2012
HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED
AGENCIES
FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia, Chairman
JOHN ABNEY CULBERSON, Texas CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
JO BONNER, Alabama MICHAEL M. HONDA, California
STEVE AUSTRIA, Ohio JOSE´ E. SERRANO, New York
TOM GRAVES, Georgia
KEVIN YODER, Kansas
NOTE: Under Committee Rules, Mr. Rogers, as Chairman of the Full Committee, and Mr. Dicks, as Ranking
Minority Member of the Full Committee, are authorized to sit as Members of all Subcommittees.
MIKE RINGLER, STEPHANIE MYERS, LESLIE ALBRIGHT,
DIANA SIMPSON, and COLIN SAMPLES,
Subcommittee Staff
PART 6
Page
Department of Commerce ..................................................... 1
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ...................................... 183
National Institute of Standards and Technology ............ 269
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ...... 337
Office of the United States Trade Representative .......... 465
(
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
67–061 WASHINGTON : 2011
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COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky, Chairman
C. W. BILL YOUNG, Florida1 NORMAN D. DICKS, Washington
JERRY LEWIS, California1 MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio
FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana
JACK KINGSTON, Georgia NITA M. LOWEY, New York
RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN, New Jersey JOSE´ E. SERRANO, New York
TOM LATHAM, Iowa ROSA L. DELAURO, Connecticut
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia
JO ANN EMERSON, Missouri JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts
KAY GRANGER, Texas ED PASTOR, Arizona
MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina
JOHN ABNEY CULBERSON, Texas MAURICE D. HINCHEY, New York
ANDER CRENSHAW, Florida LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California
DENNY REHBERG, Montana SAM FARR, California
JOHN R. CARTER, Texas JESSE L. JACKSON, JR., Illinois
RODNEY ALEXANDER, Louisiana CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania
KEN CALVERT, California STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey
JO BONNER, Alabama SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR., Georgia
STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio BARBARA LEE, California
TOM COLE, Oklahoma ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona MICHAEL M. HONDA, California
MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota
CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania
STEVE AUSTRIA, Ohio
CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
TOM GRAVES, Georgia
KEVIN YODER, Kansas
STEVE WOMACK, Arkansas
ALAN NUNNELEE, Mississippi
—————
1Chairman Emeritus
WILLIAM B. INGLEE, Clerk and Staff Director
(II)
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COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RE-
LATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR
2012
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
WITNESS
HON. GARY LOCKE, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
OPENING REMARKS FROM CHAIRMAN WOLF
Mr. WOLF. Welcome, Mr. Secretary. Good afternoon.
There are going to be a series of votes coming up pretty soon. So
we will just proceed.
We have a number of issues to discuss with you today with re-
spect to the fiscal year 2012 budget. You are requesting $8.8 billion
in a new budget authority that amounts to $868 million or about
11 percent higher than the House-passed Continuing Resolution for
fiscal year 2011.
The largest increases in your budget include an additional $768
million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
$145 million for the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology, $70 million for the International Trade Administration, and
these increases are partially offset by reductions in Census totaling
$199 million.
These funding changes are just a few within Commerce. Prac-
tically every account within Commerce is increasing in your re-
quest. You are also proposing a number of new initiatives in your
budget as well as the termination of a few small but potentially
significant programs.
The Congress unfortunately will not be in a position to provide
such increases. The fiscal crisis facing the Nation is real and will
require a level of austerity that goes beyond the President’s budget.
So we are going to ask you to help prioritize.
And this is not in the statement, but I am sorry to see you go,
frankly. And it is probably not a good appointment in all honesty
because I think you are engaged in this thing and your ideas with
regard to exports. And now you are going to have a vacancy there
for a long period of time.
But I want to congratulate you on your nomination. But when I
heard it, I did not think it was such a good idea because of that
very reason. But there are some questions we will have. These are
NG not confirmation hearings obviously on China, but I will have some
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questions with regard to China, to encourage more job growth in
manufacturing in this country.
I will go to Mr. Dicks if he wants to make a comment and then
we will go to your testimony.
OPENING REMARKS FROM REP. DICKS
Mr. DICKS. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And, Secretary Locke, it is good to see you and we congratulate
you on your nomination to be Ambassador to China. We have
worked together since you were King County executive and gov-
ernor of Washington. And I think you have done a fine job as Sec-
retary.
We have some great initiatives, the National Export Initiative,
the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, just to name two. And
we were pleased with your work on comprehensive—with NIST’s
effort on comprehensive cybersecurity.
I am concerned, and I hope you will have a chance to discuss this
during the hearing, on the effects of H.R. 1 on NOAA procurement,
acquisition, and construction. And we are concerned about the tsu-
nami that has happened in Japan and what the effect of these
budget cuts would be on our weather satellites and our buoys out
in the ocean which I know are very important.
And I hope you could tell us what the impact of the $450 million
cut will be in H.R. 1. I think you are in an ideal spot to be able
to translate this, and this process is not over yet. We are still try-
ing to make sure that we, you know, make appropriate cuts. And
if there has been mistakes made, we still have a chance to review
this in light of the current circumstances.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. WOLF. Thank you, Secretary. Proceed.
OPENING STATEMENT BY SECRETARY LOCKE
Secretary LOCKE. Thank you very much, Chairman Wolf and dis-
tinguished Members of the subcommittee. I am really pleased to
join you today to talk about the President’s budget request for the
Department of Commerce for fiscal year 2012.
Since I joined the Department of Commerce two years ago, we
have focused on delivering our services more efficiently and at less
cost to the taxpayer. Those efforts have paid off.
The 2010 Census was completed on schedule and under budget,
returning $1.9 billion to the taxpayers.
Our Economic Development Administration has cut the time it
takes to grant awards from 128 business days to 20 business days.
Our Patent Office reduced an application backlog of almost
800,000 when the President assumed office. We have reduced by 10
percent last year even as applications surged by 7 percent.
And next month, we will be rolling out and starting a program
allowing applicants to have their patents evaluated within one year
for a very small extra fee.
Our efficiencies and cost savings are not one-time achievements.
We have instituted comprehensive performance management proc-
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And it is in this context of proven savings and performance that
I hope the committee will consider Commerce’s fiscal year 2012
budget request.
Our 2012 budget request is lean. It cuts outdated programs,
drives major efficiencies in others. And our budget incorporates
$142 million in savings thanks to significant IT improvements, ag-
gressive acquisition reform, and other administrative savings.
At the same time, it contains key investments that will help
America win the future by spurring innovation, increasing Amer-
ica’s international competitiveness, and supporting scientific re-
search as well as supporting our coastal communities. These are
core missions of the Department of Commerce.
On the innovation front, the Department of Commerce is respon-
sible for providing the tools, systems, policies, and technologies that
give U.S. businesses a competitive edge in world markets. And that
is why we are requesting additional funds for our National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology including an increase of more
than $100 million for research into advanced manufacturing tech-
nologies, health information technologies, cybersecurity, and inter-
operable smart grid technology.
These investments in standards setting and in basic research,
which are often too risky or too expensive for the private sector
alone, have historically spurred waves of private sector innovation
and job creation.
To further support innovation, our 2012 budget request calls for
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to gain full access to its fees
so that we can expand the already substantial reforms undertaken
by Under Secretary David Kappos, working with line staff, labor,
and career managers. These reforms will help get cutting-edge in-
ventions and technologies into the marketplace much more quickly
which will then create jobs.
The Commerce Department, through our International Trade Ad-
ministration, is playing a lead role in the President’s National Ex-
port Initiative, which seeks to double U.S. exports by 2015. Amer-
ican companies, especially small- and medium-size businesses, rely
heavily on the federal governmental support available under the
National Export Initiative. I hear about it everywhere I go.
These companies often face significant hurdles in getting access
to working capital to produce the goods they want to sell abroad
or simply finding reliable foreign customers and vendors for their
American-made goods and services.
Our International Trade Administration helps many companies
clear these hurdles. And last year, we helped more than 5,500 U.S.
companies export for the first time or increase their exports. We co-
ordinated an unprecedented 35 trade missions to 31 different coun-
tries.
These efforts are paying off with U.S. exports up 17 percent last
year and indeed exports to China were up 34 percent last year. Our
fiscal year 2012 budget envisions more funds for activities such as
business-to-business match-making services and identifying and re-
solving trade barrier issues.
G
N Finally, I want to touch on the critical work done by our National
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is a key source of scientific information which is also increasingly
critical to America’s economy.
Last year, NOAA played a pivotal role in responding to the BP
Deepwater Horizon oil spill by providing targeted weather fore-
casts, oil spill trajectory maps, and by ensuring the safety of Gulf
seafood.
This past week, NOAA issued its first tsunami warning just nine
minutes after the tragic earthquake struck Japan. NOAA was able
to so quickly sound the alarm because of strong congressional sup-
port.
In 2004, before the tsunami that struck Indonesia, NOAA had
only six buoys in the Pacific to detect seismic and wave activity.
Today thanks to congressional support, it has 39 buoys.
So the work that NOAA does to predict and respond to weather
and natural disasters saves communities, saves them money and,
most importantly, saves lives.
What I discussed is, of course, just a fraction of the work of the
Commerce Department and I direct you to our written testimony
for greater detail.
In the meantime, we are happy to answer any questions that you
might have.
[The information follows:]
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