Today, Representatives Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) sent a letter signed by a bipartisan group of 27 House members requesting that the conference committee appointed to iron out the differences between the House and Senate-passed versions of the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) adopt an amendment, included in the Senate-passed version, to preserve the Small Business Innovation and Research program (SBIR).
Reps. Tsongas, Markey and Welch have been leading the effort in the House of Representatives to reauthorize this program which has a proven track record of supporting job creation in innovative industries for almost three decades. Several years’ worth of short-term extensions of the SBIR program have created significant uncertainty for both the federal government and for the small businesses that create jobs. The most recent short-term extension of the SBIR program is set to expire on December 16th.
Currently, the SBIR program provides instrumental funding to “infant” industry research and development where obtaining private capital is not yet an option. It is often described as the most successful federal government R&D program, having delivered more than 55,000 patents and hundreds of valuable innovations in a wide variety of industries. Massachusetts has received the highest number of SBIR awards per capita of any state, totaling approximately $283 million in the last year alone.
The Senate-passed version of the NDAA calls for a long-term reauthorization of the SBIR program that maintains the programs original intent: fostering innovative and cutting-edge research at small businesses. This is the closest the program has come to a long-term reauthorization since 2008.
The lawmakers write, “Given the importance of the SBIR program to our Armed Forces, enactment of the reauthorization in this year’s NDAA is appropriate.”
The Senate-passed reauthorization has been endorsed by a wide range of groups representing small businesses, the biotech industry, venture capitalists, and universities and technology groups across the country. Additionally, 945 U.S. small businesses today co-signed and sent a letter to the Congressional leadership in support of the Senate SBIR amendment to the NDAA. These businesses strongly believe that the immediate reauthorization of this critical program, along the lines of the Senate approach, is extremely important to our national economy.
The lawmakers added, “As representatives of Congressional districts where SBIR spurs innovation, creates jobs and exemplifies the successful possibilities of targeted government investment, we cannot risk letting this crucial program lapse.”
Yesterday, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas was appointed to serve as a conferee on the NDAA conference committee. She will use this letter to illustrate the strong, bipartisan support in Congress for preserving this important program.
