Why it Matters
The Senate Subcommittee on Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness meets Tuesday, July 21, for a hearing titled "Measuring What Matters: Science, Standards, and Strategic Competition." The session will examine how the U.S. measures scientific progress against China, with direct stakes for federal research funding and the technical standards that anchor American innovation policy.
The Big Picture
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) named tracking U.S.-China strategic competition on artificial intelligence as a core goal in its March update. A U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission staff report suggested Congress consider directing NIST or the Office of Science and Technology Policy to engage proactively on AI interoperability standards, reflecting how central standards-setting has become to great power competition.
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party held its own hearing on federal research security on July 15, signaling coordinated, bipartisan, bicameral attention to vulnerabilities in U.S. scientific research.
A Foundation for Defense of Democracies analysis frames scientific leadership as now inseparable from national power amid this rivalry, a view consistent with the hearing's focus on measurement and standards as tools for sustaining American technological dominance.
The Bottom Line
The hearing is chaired by Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) serving as ranking member. Witnesses include Walter Copan, former undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology, and Robert Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
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