It's easier to make policy on science issues, two House members find, when you know the topic

JEFF KOSSEFF

The Oregonian

WASHINGTON -- Psychologist Brian Baird spent mornings last year revising a textbook he wrote for graduate students.

Technology lawyer David Wu's interests were shaped by the high school summer he spent learning intensive oceanography, marine biology and math at Humboldt State University.

Both were sidetracked from their science and technology jobs when they joined Congress in 1999. But the Portland-area Democrats have a chance to delve into their passions now that their party has gained control of Congress. Baird and Wu each began chairing a subcommittee of the Science Committee this year.

Both plan to use their past experiences to shape important federal policy as subcommittee chairmen.

"I was a scientist before I was a member of Congress, and I'll be a scientist long after I'm a member of Congress," said Baird, who chairs the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. "It's just in my blood to think this way."

The Portland area has clout on the committee: in addition to Baird and Wu, Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore., is vice-chair of the Science Committee's Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee.

Though the committee isn't as coveted as Ways and Means or as intensely partisan as Judiciary, it has jurisdiction over a wide swath of federal programs related to research, small business, education and homeland security. From February through April, the Science Committee and its subcommittees held more than 20 hearings, on topics such as global warming, homeland security research and NASA's budget. It was the first House committee to hold a hearing on climate change this session, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi testified -- rare for a House speaker.

"We are dealing with some very large issues that impact all of our constituents," Hooley said.

Wu heads the Technology and Innovation subcommittee, where he will be able to apply lessons he learned in the technology sector.

"When you practice law, you practice within the confines of the existing laws and regulations," Wu said. "And now, I'm going to be in a position to affect the laws and regulations.

"It's kind of like the difference between appreciating the shiny outside of the car and being able to get underneath it and get to the grease and nuts and bolts, and twist and turn and make the car run differently."

Among Wu's top priorities is improving the Small Business Innovation Research program, which awards startup grants to technology companies.

He also wants to improve the quality of science and math education. He traces his philosophy back to his high school summer at Humboldt State.

"I was used to kind of cruising through high school thinking, 'This was the competition for the future?' " said Wu, who went on to study at Stanford University, Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School. "All of a sudden, I was in a group of 50 or 60 kids, all of whom had scored 800 on their SATs. . . . It was this incredible look over the horizon as to what college competition would be like."

Wu said the National Science Foundation should develop high school curricula that make high school students feel the same way.

This week, the full House will consider Wu's legislation to reauthorize the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. The legislation would increase funding for laboratory research and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program that helps U.S. manufacturers develop technology to compete with foreign companies.

Baird, former chairman of Pacific Lutheran University's psychology department, also wants to figure out ways to improve science education. He said Congress should focus on teachers.

"There are currently Ph.D. scientists who could not teach a high school chemistry class because they lack teaching certification," Baird said.

Baird also wants to make sure the federal government is allocating its research money to projects backed by high-quality science.

"Too often, folks forget this is hard-earned money of the taxpayers going into this research," Baird said. Often the research is a good investment, he said, "but there are also instances where it is very difficult to say to the taxpayers that their money was spent well."

Baird also is concerned that the federal government uses studies that have not been adequately peer reviewed to make laws and regulations. He hopes to use his chairmanship to draw attention to the problem.

Baird's passion for scientific integrity came out in a hot dispute last year.

Daniel Donato, an Oregon State University graduate student, published a paper in Science, concluding that in the first few years after a fire, salvage logging sets back forest recovery. His study had been used by opponents of a Baird-backed bill that would speed logging and replanting after fires.

At a subcommittee hearing, Baird tore into Donato's scientific approach. He followed up later in the year with a formal response published in the journal Science, attacking Donato's statistical methodology.

Heading a Science subcommittee requires the representatives to keep up on the ever-changing world of scientific research and technology breakthroughs.

Wu admits that when he was a private-practice lawyer, it was easier to find time to read journals. As a congressman, he finds just enough time to read newspapers' weekly science sections.

Wu said he relies on the staff of the Science Committee to keep him up to date. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to be on the Science Committee, but you've got to be a rocket scientist to be on the committee staff."

"I am always, always, always catching up," Wu said. "The harder I run to catch up, the faster the horizon recedes away from me."

Hooley, who has had the chance to work with both Wu and Baird on the committee, is confident they'll be passionate about their new jobs.

"They're both smart," Hooley said. "They're both willing to work very hard."

Jeff Kosseff: 503-294-7605