U.S. House Committee on Science
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The Committee on Science is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. Specifically, the committee has partial or complete jurisdiction over the following federal agencies: NASA, the Department of Energy, EPA, NSF, FAA, NOAA, NIST, FEMA, the U.S. Fire Administration, and USGS.
The House Committee on Science is currently chaired by Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Republican from New York.
History of the House Science Committee
The House Science Committee was created in response to the Soviet Sputnik program in the late 1950's. The committee began on January 3, 1959 as the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. Its name was changed in 1974 to the House Committee on Science and Technology. The name of the committee was changed again in 1987 to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. After the Republican Party took over Congress in 1994, the name of the committee was changed again to its current name, the House Committee on Science.