September 9th, 2011 | View Archive
House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee Markup Postponed
The House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee has announced that the markup of its FY 2012 bill scheduled for September 9, has been postponed.
The notice is available at: http://appropriations.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=258177
The Senate Appropriations Committee September 7 approved its subcommittee or 302(b) allocations, based on the $1.043 trillion overall discretionary spending limit in the Budget Control Act (BCA).
The allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee is $157.134 billion; about $300 million less than FY 2011.
Patent Reform Bill Passes Senate
On Thursday, the Senate voted 89-9 to approve H.R. 1249, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The bill heads to President Obama's desk for signature.
Three floor amendments were defeated during the debate: the Sessions (MEDCO) amendment by a vote of 47 to 51, the Cantwell (business methods patent) amendment by a vote of 13 to 85, and the Coburn (PTO fee diversion) amendment by a vote of 48 to 50.
Congressional Super Committee Holds First Meeting
The Joint Super Committee held a public inaugural meeting, largely composed of introductory remarks by the 12 committee members. Members of the committee stated that all elements of the federal budget will be part of any final product. Democrats want a mix of spending cuts and revenue increases while Republicans say entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare should be in any deficit-cutting plan.
A second public meeting of the committee is set for next Tuesday when the head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf, will explain how the government's debt grew to an immense size.
NSF Announces Results of the Materials Research Centers and Teams Competition
Yesterday, The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced awards for three Materials Interdisciplinary Research Teams (MIRT) and nine Centers of Excellence in Materials Research and Innovation. The awards resulted from the 2011 Materials Research Centers and Teams competition. The centers and teams support research and education addressing fundamental problems in science and engineering and foster active collaboration among universities, international collaborators, industry and national laboratories. The University of Texas at Austin was awarded one of the three MIRT's for their work Exploring Unusual Properties of Transition Metal Oxides.
The NSF Press Release can be viewed here: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121536&org=NSF&from=news
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