A pair of Democrats on the House Science and Technology committee want to know if the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is prohibiting foreign-born researchers from working at the agency.
Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Rep. April McClain Delaney, D-Md., wrote to NIST Acting Under Secretary Craig Burkhardt on Feb.19 following a report that NIST has started to implement a policy that limits international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to a three-year term working at a NIST research center.
“For weeks now, rumors of draconian new measures have been spreading like wildfire, while my staff’s inquiries to NIST have gone unanswered,” the lawmakers wrote. “Such stonewalling is unacceptable, particularly on an issue that would have serious repercussions on NIST’s ability to fulfill its mission.”
Lofgren and Delaney noted that foreign-born experts made up more than half of U.S. computer and math Ph.Ds. and engineers in 2021 and roughly 40% of American Nobel laureates in chemistry, medicine, and physics since 2000.
“You must be transparent with Congress and with the NIST community about the policies that have been put in place thus far. You must cease implementation until Congress can weigh in on whether these changes are necessary at all,” they added.
Lofgren and Delaney said that rumors of a policy were being reported to Congress for weeks before the report they cited. NIST’s action to limit foreign-born access to its research labs “has been cloaked in secrecy and has left NIST scientists and visiting researchers in the dark,” the letter stated.
The representatives also noted that public reports don’t “describe the extent of the rumors that have been brought to the Committee,” but added that they “do not wish to add to the fear and confusion rippling across the community by adding unsubstantiated information to the conversation.”
A ban on certain foreign nationals’ access to federal research centers has been an ongoing conversation in Congress. Under the CHIPS and Science Act, the Commerce Department was directed to review NIST’s research security policies, and to ensure that NIST-funded researchers comply with federal disclosure requirements to safeguard U.S. research.
More recently, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote to the energy secretary requesting that China-born researchers be prevented from accessing national laboratories, citing national concerns that those researchers would steal U.S. secrets for China.
While Democrats and Republicans alike have cited national security risks, those concerns have largely centered around researchers from adversarial nations.
“… we understand the need to protect sensitive research. We also understand how vital international collaboration is to maintaining our scientific excellence,” Lofgren and Delaney wrote to Burkhardt.
“There is a right way to handle this issue,” the lawmakers wrote, and asked, “instead, has NIST opted for secretive, slapdash policy changes that pull the rug out from visiting researchers for no clear rhyme or reason?”
“Not only would this policy change be destabilizing for bright scientists who seek to bring their talents to the United States, it would have deleterious consequences on the country as a whole,” they added.
By Feb. 25, the lawmakers said they want to know whether NIST has implemented or plans to implement policies limiting collaboration with foreign nationals, how those policies were developed and communicated, whether they apply department-wide, and what impacts they have had.