House proposes billions of dollars for technology throughout government – Roll Call

Appropriators said the bills $23 billion allocation for NASA is aimed primarily at furthering investments into human space exploration, which also means investing in future astronauts. The bill sets aside $126 million of NASAs total for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics educationfunds the White House had proposed cutting.

The National Science Foundation would receive nearly $9 billion in funding, up $270 million from the enacted level in fiscal 2020.

These funds will foster innovation and U.S. economic competitiveness, the committee said, including funding for research on artificial intelligence, quantum information science, advanced manufacturing, physics, mathematics, cybersecurity, neuroscience, and STEM education.

Appropriators are seeking to use the nearly $25 billion legislation funding the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission to assist in antitrust investigations of Silicon Valley and to understand where rural Americans lack internet access.

The bill boosts the FTCs budget by $10 million, for a total of $341 million, to aidits antitrust enforcement work amid ongoing investigations by federal and state regulators into major technology firms such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple. A committee press release singles out antitrust enforcement and consumer protection work as justification for the increase.

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House proposes billions of dollars for technology throughout government - Roll Call