Year-End Report to the IEEE-USA
Government Fellowship Committee

I completed my mid-term report in late August. The Senate was on recess during August and very little actual legislative business is transacted during that month. I spent much of the month working on my White Paper on Control of Green House Gases. This included interviews with several acknowledged experts and research on papers and reports.

In early September, I worked on an FAA program to support innovative technologies to reduce emissions in airports. The FAA had begun a program but needed help in giving airports credit for emission reduction. The concern was that if a mandate to reduce emissions was enacted, the airports wanted credit for early reduction. I made some calls to the EPA and received assurance that they would receive appropriate credit.

I worked on letters to get support for the Math and Science Partnership Bill from other Senators and a specific letter to Senator Mikulski who Chairs the Appropriation Subcommittee that would appropriate the money to fund the bill. At this time I was involved in many technology related issues including Space Shuttle safety, Coal Bed Methane problems, Aeronautics R&D, and others. In addition, I was working on a West Virginia Technology and Innovation Conference on Venture Capitol.

On September 11 after the tragedies at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, several things changed. We continued to work on the previous legislative agenda but the Senator began to spend much more time on Intelligence matters and priorities were much different. In the next few weeks, much of my time was spent soliciting more co-sponsors for the Math and Science Partnership Bill and developing a strategy for proceeding through the appropriation process.

At this time, I was also involved in recruiting a new Fellow for Senator Rockefeller's office to replace me. I interviewed a number of candidates and made recommendations.

Another technology that I was working on was Biometrics. This was particularly important for Rockefeller's office since West Virginia University had an NSF Grant to become a Center of Excellence for Biometrics and the applications were, primarily, in the area of aviation safety. Rockefeller is the Chair of the Aviation Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee. One important activity that I was working on was organizing a Field Hearing for the Aviation Subcommittee at West Virginia University on Biometrics in aviation security.

On October 16 and 17, I was at an IEEE meeting in Florida. I learned of the Anthrax situation on the evening of the 17th. The Hart office building was closed. We held some informal meetings in the Legislative Director's home but the office didn't actually get back to something resembling normal until October 29. The whole staff (~25 people) was housed in the Veteran's Hearing Room in the Russell office building. We started with 6 computers and 1 telephone. Eventually, we worked up to 14 computers and 6 telephones. The conditions were very difficult to work in. The Fellows in the office had a lower priority for computers than the regular staff. I was able to find a couple of computers in the Senate library so I could get on the Internet but I couldn't easily do paperwork.

The main work I was able to complete in the next 6 weeks was organizing the Biometrics Field Hearing. We were able to hold the Hearing on November 5. It went very well. Not only did we have Jane Garvey, the FAA Administrator, as a witness but we were able to arrange a mini-demonstration of Biometric technology with about 20 vendors.

In early November, it became apparent that due to the terror attacks it was not going to be possible to pass an Authorization Bill for the Math and Science Partnerships in the current session. I concentrated on the appropriations process. It was clear that some version of the Math and Science Partnership Bill would receive funding. I wrote a letter for Senator Rockefeller to give to Senator Mikulski appealing for funding for the Noyce scholarship. On November 9, the Senate passed the Appropriations Bill that included $165M for the Math and Science Partnership. This included $5M for the part I was responsible for, the Noyce scholarships.

I completed my Fellowship on December 14. Due to the challenging working conditions, I was only able to complete some activities begun before the Anthrax scare including a final version of my White Paper on Green House Gas Control.

The experience of being a Congressional Fellow was very gratifying. To see an important piece of legislation that I instigated become law was especially rewarding. I strongly recommend the Fellowship to any IEEE member who is interested in government and/or the legislative process.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States of America