Chairman Gordon Announces His Plans to Retire at the End of the 111th Congress
(Washington, DC) — Today, House Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) announced that he would not be seeking reelection in 2010. Chairman Gordon has completed more than a quarter-century of public service as a representative of his home state of Tennessee. He first served on the Science and Technology Committee when he arrived in Congress in 1985. Gordon served in leadership roles on several Subcommittees before becoming Ranking Member in 2004 and then Chairman in 2007.
Chairman Gordon offered the following statement:
“Turning 60 has led me to do some thinking about what’s next. I have an eight-year-old daughter and a wonderful wife who has a very demanding job, and I am the only child of my 83-year-old mother Margaret. They have made sacrifices to allow me to do what I love by serving Congress, and now it’s my turn.”
“I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together in the Science and Technology Committee. On a bipartisan basis, we passed landmark legislation with the America COMPETES Act and the Energy Independence and Security Act. We’re bolstering math and science education; we’ve put our R&D accounts on doubling paths, and ARPA-E is off the ground. I appreciate the hard work of all the Members of our Committee, past and present, Democrats and Republicans, and our staff. We would never have been able to accomplish all this without working together.”
“With the challenges our country faces, we have laid the foundation to rebuild our economy based on innovation, investments in research, and a sustained commitment to math and science education. For these reasons, I am committed to reauthorizing both the America COMPETES Act and NASA in the coming year.”
The Chairman’s landmark legislation, the America COMPETES Act (PL 110-69) was signed into law in August of 2007. It was based on recommendations from the National Academies’ 2005 report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, and sought to bolster American economic competitiveness and leadership in the sciences by investing in basic research, improving science, technology, engineering, and math education, and investing in high-risk, high-reward energy technology development. One of the Chairman’s goals for the 111th Congress was to secure full funding for COMPETES, which was accomplished.
Under Chairman Gordon’s leadership, the Committee held 192 hearings over the past three years on a wide-range of topics, including health information technology, Bill Gates’ opinion on our nation’s competitiveness, the first serious Congressional exploration of geoengineering, climate science, the future of NASA, broad ranging energy technologies, NextGen, and water research. This aggressive agenda has resulted in passing 67 Committee bills and 49 resolutions through the House in the past three years. All received bipartisan support, and most passed with an overwhelming majority.
