Washington (May 12, 2021) -- Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today applauded the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee’s bipartisan passage of his legislation, the Bioeconomy Research and Development Act and the Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act, as well as language from his Consortia-Led Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Networks Act of 2021, as part of the Endless Frontier Act.

 

The Bioeconomy Research and Development Act would strengthen America’s bioeconomy by establishing an initiative and interagency committee to advance and coordinate independent engineering biology efforts across federal agencies. The RISE Act authorizes federal science agencies to provide support to U.S. researchers who have been impacted by the pandemic as most research has been delayed due to closures of campuses and laboratories. The text from the Consortia-Led Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Networks Act of 2021 that was included in the Endless Frontier Act would include clean technology manufacture, development, and deployment as a priority for determining grants to eligible consortia.  

 

“Massachusetts is home to some of the greatest research minds and institutions in the world,” Senator Markey said. “The last year has taught us the importance of investing in our research and researchers as we have confronted the gravest threat to public health in a century and developed life-saving treatments and vaccines in record time. Today’s committee passage of my bills is critical to supporting the hundreds of thousands of workers in the research field and will ensure that the United States continues our global scientific leadership.”

 

The Bioeconomy Research and Development Act, originally introduced last year and passed out of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, was reintroduced in April, alongside Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V).

 

The RISE Act was marked up and approved by the Senate Commerce Committee in September 2020. In February 2021, the bipartisan co-leads, Senators Markey, Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Susan Collins (R-Maine) reintroduced the legislation.

 

The Consortia-Led Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Networks Act of 2021 was reintroduced by Senator Markey and Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) in April 2021.