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Science and Innovation

USA TODAY: AI bias: How tech determines if you land job, get a loan or end up in jail

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AI bias: How tech determines if you land job, get a loan or end up in jail BY DALVIN BROWN - 10/02/2019 Businesses across almost every industry deploy artificial intelligence to make jobs simpler for staff and tasks easier for consumers.  Computer software teaches customer service agents how to be more compassionate, schools use machine learning to scan for weapons and mass…

Van Hollen, Colleagues Push Perdue on USDA Research Agencies’ Proposed Relocation

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Today U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led a bicameral letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue about the proposed relocation of the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). He was joined on the letter by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sherrod Brown…

Beyer Offers Artificial Intelligence, Facial Recognition System Amendments

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Rep. Don Beyer this week offered two amendments to a House appropriations bill which would plot a new course for federal policies regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition systems. One amendment would bar federal funds from being used to purchase facial recognition technology by state and local law enforcement, the other would require the National Science Foundation…

114 Lawmakers Push to Fund Clean Energy Research

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NextGov |  More than 100 lawmakers are calling on Capitol Hill appropriators to increase funding for Energy Department research programs that would be gutted under the president’s 2020 budget proposal. The group requested more than $720 million to support a trio of research initiatives focused on advancing clean energy technology in fiscal 2020, specifically: $500 million…

Beyer, Eshoo, Schiff Lead Bipartisan Group of 115 Members in Call for Funding to Energy Department’s ARPA-E Program, Clean Energy Innovation Programs

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Today, Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) led a bipartisan letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies calling for strong funding for the Energy Department’s clean energy innovation programs: Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, Energy Innovation Hubs, and Energy Frontier…

Bonamici, Beyer Lead 96 Colleagues in Opposing Plans to Eliminate the EPA’s Office of the Science Advisor

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Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Environment Subcommittee, and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Science Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee, led 96 of their colleagues in calling on Environmental Protection Agency Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to abandon his plans to dissolve the…

Science Committee Oversight Democrats Request Hearing on White House’s “Ignore” Science Memorandum

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Democratic Members of the Subcommittee on Oversight sent a letter last week to Oversight Chairman Ralph Abraham requesting that he hold a hearing on a White House memo that suggested ignoring climate science was one option the Trump Administration should consider. “Ignoring science and pushing political agendas that may be welcomed by industry, but harmful to the health, safety and…

Beyer Statement On Scott Pruitt’s Implementation Of Deeply Flawed Science Standards At EPA

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Rep. Don Beyer today issued the following statement on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s announcement that the EPA would implement so-called “secret science” standards for agency rulemaking: “The idea that Scott Pruitt, the least transparent and least science-friendly Administrator in the history of the EPA, is suddenly concerned about the transparency of…

Science Committee Dems Tell Trump He Must Appoint “Qualified Scientific Advisors”

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Rep. Don Beyer today led a group of seven Democrats from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology urging President Trump to staff the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) with qualified scientific advisors. The same group previously called upon the President in May of 2017 to appoint a qualified OSTP Director, weeks before Trump made a decision to withdraw from the…

Democratic Leaders of Science Committee Call on Chairmen to Address Election Cybersecurity Concerns and Foreign Influence Operations

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Today, Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr. (D-VA) sent a formal request to Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) to hold a hearing on election security issues. Similar requests were made by Ms. Johnson and Mr. Beyer last year at two…