The House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) sponsored to codify the Presidential Innovation Fellow program.
The Tested Ability to Leverage Exceptional National Talent (TALENT) Act, H.R. 5658, would ensure that the Presidential Innovation Fellow program continues into future administrations.
“The Presidential Innovation Fellow program allows highly talented professionals — that means engineers, designers and innovators from across the country — to build a more efficient, effective and accountable government,” McCarthy said. “They challenge old ways of thinking and introduce new approaches to make our government work the way the American people believe and deserve it to work.”
McCarthy said that the government is stuck in the past and that the TALENT Act is one of the two pillars of the Innovation Initiative that would help bring the government into the future.
“Bringing government into the 21st century demands challenging the status quo,” McCarthy said. “That begins with people — making sure the American people benefit from the best talent our country has to offer.”
U.S. Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, and Steve Knight (R-CA), a member of the committee, praised the passage of the Solar Fuels Innovation Act, H.R. 5638, and the Electricity Storage Innovation Act, H.R. 5640, in the House on Monday, which are both part of McCarthy’s Innovation Initiative.
“The passage of H.R. 5640 takes us one step closer to a more robust energy sector,” Smith said. “Electricity storage is one of the next frontiers in our energy future. Innovations leading to advanced, next generation batteries could help bring affordable electricity and renewable energy to the market without costly subsidies or mandates.”
The Electricity Storage Act, introduced by Smith, would authorize the secretary of energy to administer a $100 million basic research initiative into the chemistry and materials sciences needed to advance electricity storage systems.
The Solar Fuels Innovation Act, which was introduced by Knight, would authorize the secretary of energy to mobilize a $100 million basic research initiative into the development of solar fuel systems.
“I applaud the passage of H.R. 5638,” Knight said. “Basic research in artificial photosynthesis and related research could lead to a solar fuels system that consolidates solar power and energy storage into a cohesive process and fundamentally change the way we extract energy from our natural resources.”
Research authorized by the bill would solve a key scientific challenge and open the door for American entrepreneurs to develop next generation solar energy, Knight said.