Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who chairs the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB), announced on Wednesday that he will be working with the commission to put forward a new vision for a 21st-century research enterprise.
Congress established the NSCEB in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act to examine biotechnology’s role in national security and make recommendations to bolster U.S. leadership. The commission published a report in April of this year with an action plan for American security and prosperity.
Speaking at the NVIDIA GTC conference in Washington, D.C., Young said he believes the federal government needs to double research expenditures to maintain the nation’s technological edge.
“I agree with President Trump that there’s an opportunity to optimize our research enterprise right now,” Young said. However, he added, “I have not yet seen the Trump administration put forth their vision for a 21st-century research enterprise. They’ve disrupted. They pulled back on funding. If that’s it, I’ll be unsatisfied.”
While Young noted that he doesn’t want to “get out ahead of the commission,” he said that following the release of its report, he asked members to “cast a new vision” for federal research.
“So, I’m going to deliver to [the Trump administration] from the commission some ideas. Now, I think that’s what a responsible, constructive legislator would do, and that’s what my constituents would want,” Young said. “Among those ideas is to rebalance what we’re targeting in terms of our investments.”
Young said he envisions a research system that prioritizes strategically significant technologies – such as artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology – that have both commercial and national security implications.
“If an investment has an obvious spillover into the national security realm, as so much of AI does, then it should get some special dispensation when it comes to grading research grant applications, for example,” he said. “So, that’s one of many things we’re going to be doing.”
The congressman also plans to encourage efficiency in research, arguing that institutions that demonstrate efficient outcomes should be rewarded.
Additionally, Young said the commission will explore the relationship between public and private research, noting that while private-sector innovation plays a vital role, federal funding must continue to support research that serves the public interest.
“This will be an ongoing conversation, because we don’t want all research to be private,” he said. “So much of our research serves the common good – it addresses so-called market failures, which I actually believe do exist periodically.”
Ultimately, Young said the United States must reimagine its research enterprise to reflect the realities of the “age of AI and age of biotech.” Strategic investments, he argued, are essential not only to economic growth but also to national security and global leadership.
“We’re going to have to give some kind of special consideration and dispensation to these strategically significant technologies,” he said.