Senators Discuss Campus Sexual Assault
BU IN DC
Roscoe Giles of the College of Engineering participated in a meeting of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee, which he chairs, on July 27.
SENATORS DISCUSS CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee continued its series of hearings on the renewal of the Higher Education Act (HEA) on Wednesday with a session devoted to addressing campus sexual assault. Four Senate authors of the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA) discussed their bill to require campuses to provide confidential advisers for assault survivors and biannual campus climate surveys. Witnesses, including University of California President Janet Napolitano and Association of American Universities Associate Vice President Mollie Benz Flounlacker, were asked what Congress could do to help campuses provide a safe learning environment. The Committee plans to release a draft HEA reauthorization bill this fall which will include provisions to address campus violence.
COMMITTEE APPROVES ENERGY BILL
On Thursday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved a comprehensive energy bill that would increase support for research programs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The bill recommends a funding increase of 4% per year over five years for both the DOE’s Office of Science and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The legislation also authorizes increased partnerships between universities, industry, and national labs to improve exascale computing capabilities. The bill faces long odds of making it through both chambers of Congress, but the scientific community has been heartened by the bipartisan support for energy research.
BUZZ BITS…
- Secretary of Education Arne Duncan identified the Obama Administration’s higher education priorities for the remainder of its term, calling for a focus on colleges’ graduation rates, learning outcomes, and innovations, rather than just cost.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) co-hosted a forum on the value of federal investment in scientific research on Monday that featured former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA).
- The Obama Administration announced a National Strategic Computing Initiative, which will foster partnerships with academia and industry to drive federal investment in high performance computing.
- The American Academy of Arts & Sciences has formed a Commission on Language Learning to assess the nation’s foreign language and international education needs, at the request of eight Members of Congress.
A Note to Our Readers: With Members of Congress departing Washington for an extended District Work Period, Beltway BUzz will not publish during August. See you in September!