January 27, 2011
NSPE Urges President Obama to Keep Solar Decathlon on the Mall
NSPE sent a joint letter with the High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition to President Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar urging them to reconsider the decision to move the Solar Decathlon from the National Mall. The Solar Decathlon challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The competition is being moved from the Mall in an effort to protect and restore the Mall. The announcement, however, comes just months before the event is set to be held, causing hardship for competing students and event sponsors who have already budgeted and planned for an event in Washington, D.C.
NSPE is a member of the HPBCCC, a coalition of more than 100 associations and corporations that seeks to heighten awareness and inform policymakers about high-performance building issues, including new building technologies, enhanced U.S. economic competitiveness, and increased energy efficiency. The coalition provides guidance and support to the Congressional High-Performance Building Caucus.
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January 25, 2011
FDA Panel Recommends Strict Regulation of External Defibrillators
NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden attended a meeting of the Food and Drug Administration's Circulatory System Devices Panel. The panel is charged with reviewing and evaluating data concerning the safety and effectiveness of marketed and investigational devices used in the circulatory and vascular systems and making recommendations to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs.
As part of FDA's External Defibrillator Improvement Initiative, the panel was reviewing the regulatory classification of automated external defibrillators. After hearing from manufacturers and FDA, the panel recommended continuing to classify AEDs as Class III devices, which subjects AEDs to the stringent premarket approval process.
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January 11, 2011
NSPE Attends AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition Meeting
NSPE attended a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Human Rights Coalition. The meeting included discussions about post-earthquake reconstruction in Haiti, enhancing collaboration between the science and human rights communities, and working with United Nations human rights mechanisms. The AAAS Human Rights Coalition is composed of scientific associations, professional societies, and science academies that address issues such as how scientific tools can contribute to human rights work and how the scientific community can collaborate with the human rights community.
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January 10, 2011
NSPE to Cosponsor STEM Education Day on Capitol Hill
NSPE will cosponsor the Society of Women Engineers's April 2011 Diversity and Inclusion Fuels Innovation in STEM Capitol Hill Day, when leaders from engineering organizations will discuss science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education issues with members of Congress. NSPE also cosponsored last year's event, when NSPE leaders met with Congressmen Paul Tonko (D-NY-21) and Jerry McNerney (D-CA-11), both of whom have worked as engineers.
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January 5, 2011
Republican Measures May Impede Infrastructure Legislation
Two Republican measures could impede infrastructure funding. On their first day of work, members of the 112th Congress adopted rules of order including a repeal of a 1998 provision that allowed lawmakers to block legislation that failed to appropriate transportation funds at the level set forth in authorization legislation. Republicans argue that the new rule simply prohibits transportation spending above authorized levels, but groups including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce contend that the rule could harm transportation funding.
The Republican ban on earmarks also may obstruct infrastructure legislation. The Council on Federal Procurement of Architectural and Engineering Services, of which NSPE is a founding member, sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to distinguish earmarks from legitimate project authorizations. Failure to do so could result in Congress's inability to enact infrastructure legislation that is sorely needed to advance American commerce, job creation, and quality of life.
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