Scientists & Engineers for America

Ralph Moody Hall


Ralph Moody Hall
R-4-TX


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Rockwall, TX 75087

Biography

HALL, Ralph Moody, a Representative from Texas; born in Fate, Rockwall County, Tex., May 3, 1923; graduated from Rockwall High School, Rockwall, Tex.; attended Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Tex., 1943; attended University of Texas, Austin, Tex., 1946-1947; LL.B., Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Tex., 1951; United States Navy, 1942-1945; lawyer, private practice; business executive; Rockwall County, Tex., judge, 1950-1962; member of the Texas state senate, 1962-1972; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-seventh and to the eleven succeeding Congresses; changed from a Democrat to a Republican on January 5, 2004 (January 3, 1981-January 5, 2004); served as a Republican in the One Hundred Eighth, and reelected to the succeeding Congress (January 5, 2004 to present).

Election Update

Rep. Hall was re-elected in 2008 and will continue to serve in the 111th Congress.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY QUESTIONNAIRE

SEA and eighteen other science organizations came together to ask the 2008 congressional candidates and winners seven questions on science and technology policy. See what Ralph Moody Hall said:

Innovation

Science and technology have been responsible for half of the growth of the American economy since World War II. But several recent reports question America’s continued leadership in these vital areas. What policies would you support to ensure that America remains the world leader in innovation?
In order for America to maintain its position at the top of the global economy, it is essential for the federal government to continue to support innovation and America’s high-tech economy. With countries like China and India investing heavily in basic research, now is not the time for U.S. investments to lag. To this end, I am proud to have been a cosponsor of the America COMPETES Act, which was signed into law by President Bush last August. The goals of this legislation are consistent with the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) and are aimed at improving America’s competitive edge through science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, research, and innovation. Continued investments in research, development, technology, and STEM education will ensure that America remains the world leader in innovation.

Climate Change

The Earth’s climate is changing and there is concern about the potentially adverse effects of these changes on life on the planet. What is your position on the following measures that have been proposed to address global climate change—a cap-and-trade system, a carbon tax, increased fuel-economy standards, and research? Are there other policies you would support?
I am skeptical of some of the commonly proposed measures to combat global climate change, such as cap-and-trade or a carbon tax. Such measures would have a drastically negative impact on the nation’s economy, pushing American manufacturers oversees to countries that don’t have these strict regulations. Economic experts have developed models showing how little of an impact these measures would have, at an enormous cost to the U.S. economy.

Instead, I have long supported technological solutions to combat increases in carbon emissions. American innovation has always had a way of coming up with solutions to some of the most pressing problems. Solutions like more fuel efficient vehicles, research into green building designs, and developing technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration can harness American innovation, and actually create a market and more jobs. Supporting the economy to combat climate change makes a lot more sense than imposing regulations, which would do the opposite.

Energy

Many scientists and policymakers say energy security and sustainability are major problems facing the United States this century. What policies would you support to meet the demand for energy while ensuring an economically and environmentally sustainable future?
Rather than choosing particular alternative energy winners and losers, we have to recognize that it’s going to take all of our domestic energy resources in order to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Domestically produced oil and gas, coal, wind, solar, biofuels, and nuclear energy must all be federally supported if we are serious about keeping the billions of dollars we annually send to OPEC countries here in the U.S. I believe in the “all-of-the-above” approach to energy, which includes conservation, increased domestic production, and renewable and alternative energy research and development.

Education

A comparison of 15-year-olds in 30 wealthy nations found that average science scores among U.S. students ranked 17th, while average U.S. math scores ranked 24th. What role do you think the federal government should play in preparing K-12 students for the science and technology driven 21st Century?
In order for America to remain the global leader in innovation, we need to make sure the next generations are well prepared to become a high-tech, educated workforce. This must start with our K-12 STEM educational system. As the Ranking Member on the Science and Technology Committee, I have heard from education experts and teachers alike at numerous hearings that quality K-12 STEM education must begin with the teachers. Kids need the proper resources, instruction and motivation to want to continue on with specialized science and math education once they graduate from high school.

In my Texas district, the Martha and Josh Morriss Mathematics and Engineering Elementary School has been breaking new ground in promoting specialized K-16 STEM education. The school is part of a collaborative effort between Texas A&M University-Texarkana and the Texarkana Independent School District (TISD). Texas A&M University faculty assists the TISD curriculum personnel and teachers to design the mathematics and engineering integrated curriculum and electives. Experts have said that this concept could be a national model for K-16 collaboration in how young children can become engaged in and educated for careers in mathematics and engineering. Innovative ideas like this demonstrate how the U.S. can remain a step ahead of our international competition.

Water

Thirty-nine states expect some level of water shortage over the next decade, and scientific studies suggest that a majority of our water resources are at risk. What policies would you support to meet demand for water resources?
Water supply shortages are projected to continue to be a concern of increasing magnitude in the U.S. as the population grows and water use patterns change. In order to address growing concerns over droughts in Texas, I led a legislative effort in the House to establish a coordinated system through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to help monitor and predict costly droughts. The National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006 was signed into law, creating a comprehensive National Integrated Drought Information Systems, or NIDIS, to enable local, state and national leaders to be more proactive in their approach to droughts. NIDIS is a collaboration between numerous federal agencies and several state governments to provide a dynamic and accessible drought-risk information system.



As a component of NIDIS, a comprehensive website, www.drought.gov, was recently launched, providing a valuable tool for communities, with information on U.S. drought conditions, forecasts, drought impacts, and mitigation measures.

The House also recently passed a bill I introduced to research ways to utilize billions of gallons of wastewater from oil and gas extraction. The Produced Water Utilization Act of 2007 establishes a research, development, and demonstration program to advance the beneficial reuse of what is referred to as “produced water.” For every barrel of oil produced, ten barrels of saline, brackish and generally unusable water are simultaneously extracted. We generate over 5 billion gallons of produced water every day. This water is, to a large extent, currently unusable, environmentally hazardous, and presents added costs to our domestic producers.

Research

For many years, Congress has recognized the importance of science and engineering research to realizing our national goals. Given that the next Congress will likely face spending constraints, what priority would you give to investment in basic research in upcoming budgets?
Basic research needs to remain a national priority. For this reason, I have strongly supported the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), which set the budgets for key research agencies on a path to double within 10 years. The agencies targeted in this initiative include the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. The research conducted at these agencies is essential to the nation’s economic competitiveness, and the ACI represents a commitment to these investments. The America COMPETES Act is consistent with these overarching budgetary goals, and I was disappointed this year when Congressional appropriators failed to fund this important law at its authorized levels.

Health

Americans are increasingly concerned with the cost, quality, and availability of health care. How do you see science, research, and technology contributing to improved health and quality of life?
Science, research, and technology have great potential to improve healthcare and quality of life in the U.S. The Science and Technology Committee has looked into the broad use and interoperability of health information technology (HIT), and particularly the role that NIST could play in implementing such a system. While the U.S. invests over $1.7 trillion annually in healthcare, the system is plagued with inefficiency. Properly implemented, a comprehensive HIT system would enormously increase the efficiency within our healthcare system by increasing access to off-site charting, and flagging charts for follow-up on recommended procedures. It has the potential to eliminate duplicate testing that wastes patients’ money and time and often causes patients unnecessary pain and discomfort. A comprehensive HIT system could maintain all of these records in an efficient standardized database, accessible at any hospital.

RALPH MOODY HALL'S RECORD ON SCIENCE

Contents

[edit] Education

[edit] Energy

  • Energy Policy
    • Introduced on 5/15/2009 by Rep. Waxman and cosponsored by Rep. Markey, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) aims to create jobs, protect the environment, and increase American energy independence through new regulation of utilities and industry, as well as investment in an array of new technologies. Key provisions of this bill include: mandating that, by 2020, utilities meet 20% of their electricity demand through increased efficiency and/or renewable sources, implement new energy efficiency regulations for buildings and appliances, reduce carbon emissions from large US by more than 80% by 2050, as well as investing in new clean energy technologies and improving the energy efficiency of existing technology.

      Representative Hall voted against this bill.
  • Fuel Economy Standards
    • See discussion of CLEAN Energy Act under Renewable Energy section.
  • Nuclear Power
  • Renewable Energy
    • See stimulus discussion under Innovation section.
    • Congressman Hall voted against H.R. 6, the CLEAN Energy Act, stating that it "does nothing to help reduce the price of gasoline and heating fuel this winter," and that it "substantially increases taxes on our domestic oil and as producers and mandates an across the board increase in renewable electricity production, putting an unfair burden on States that are not rich in renewable energy resources" December 6, 2007 press release.
    • In August 2007, Representative Hall voted against the final passage of the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 (H.R. 3221). The legislation would provide tax incentives to promote the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency, including guaranteeing up to $1 billion in loans for the development of biorefineries and biofuel production facilities. The measure also would repeal tax deductions to income attributed to the domestic production of oil and natural gas. It passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 241-172 and was sent to the Senate.

      A controversial amendment to the bill was H. Amdt. 748 sponsored by Representative Udall. This amendment would require retail electric suppliers to provide 15% of their electricity through a renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) by 2020. Representative Hall voted against the amendment, which was adopted with a vote of 220 to 190.
  • Off Shore Drilling

[edit] Environment

  • After the House failed to pass S. 22 under suspension of the rules (which requires 2/3 to vote for a provision, but does not allow any amendments), the Senate called an unrelated bill, (HR 146), to carry the omnibus land bill. The bill is a combination of over 150 public land bills and will designate over 2 million acres of land as wilderness, improve the management of currently protected land, establish new water projects, and more. Swapping the original legislation in HR 146 for the land bill was designed to make finalizing the bill in the House easy.

    When HR 146 was brought to the Senate, Sen. Coburn (R-OK) introduced several amendments, though only one passed:
    • Amendment 682: to make it less likely that casual stone collectors would run afoul of the criminal restrictions on taking paleontological fossils from federal land (passed)
    • Amendment 675: to stop federal officials from using the power of eminent domain to take land from citizens. Critics say this amendment was unnecessary as eminent domain would not be used in any lands included in the bill.
    • Amendment 677: to require an annual report on the total size and cost of federal property.
    • Amendment 679: to strike provisions that would block renewable-energy development on public land
    • Amendment 680: to bar new construction in national parks until the Interior secretary certifies that current sites are up to date, and
    • Amendment 683: to eliminate what Coburn considers to be "frivolous" projects
The bill passed the Senate on March 19, 2009. It passed the House by a vote of 285-140 on March 25, 2009. Representative Hall voted against this bill. It was then signed into law by President Obama on March 30, 2009.

[edit] Climate Change

  • Nothing posted to date

[edit] Health

  • Template:Vote-HHRAndEducationAndAppropriations2010
  • Introduced on March 3, 2009 by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256) aims to increase the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in regulating tobacco in America. The legislation would empower the FDA to require larger warning labels on cigarette packaging, control nicotine levels, and regulate the advertising and marketing of cigarettes. During the 110th Congress, an identical bill had passed in the House in July of 2008 but was never considered in the Senate. The current bill passed in the House on April 2, 2009 by a vote of 298-112. Representative Hall voted for this bill. The Obama administration has released a statement in support of the bill and Senator Edward Kennedy stated that “the Senate will approve it expeditiously.”
  • See stimulus discussion under Innovation section.
  • Healthcare
    • After being vetoed twice by President Bush in 2007, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) (H.R. 2) bill was reintroduced in the 111th Congress on January 13, 2009. SCHIP provides a subsidy for children’s insurance for families that cannot afford private insurance yet earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. The cost of the program is funded by an increase in cigarette taxes of 62 cents per pack. The House of Representatives voted 289-139 to pass the bill on January 14, 2009. Representative Hall voted against this bill. The Senate also passed SCHIP, and it was signed into law by President Obama on February 4, 2009.
    • On January 23, 2008, the House once again failed with a vote of 260-152 to pass H.R. 3963 to override President Bush’s veto of SCHIP. Representative Hall voted against this legislation.
    • On October 3, 2007, President Bush vetoed H.R. 976, citing that the bill moved too many children towards federally funded healthcare. The House attempted to override the President’s veto, but the measure failed to pass with a vote count of 273-156. Representative Hall voted against the veto override. On December 29, 2007, President Bush signed the Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (S. 2499) which extends funding for SCHIP through March of 2009, but does not significantly increase the program.
    • On September 25, 2007, the House passed the final version of the “Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act” (H.R. 976) with a vote of 265-169. This bill would have increased funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $50 billion dollars over five years. Opponents saw the bill as too costly and were critical of the funding methods for the program, including a cigarette tax increase (read the floor debate). Representative Hall voted against this legislation.
    • In April of 2007, the House of Representatives passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 (H.R. 493) with a vote of 420-3. Representative Hall voted for this bill. If enacted, GINA will prevent health insurance companies from adjusting premiums on the basis of genetic information and forbid requiring individuals to undergo genetic tests. The bill will also prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of genetic information. This legislation was passed by the Senate in a vote of 95-0. The House passed the Senate amended version of the bill on May 1, 2008, by a vote of 415-1. Rep Ron Paul was the only representative to vote against the bill. President Bush signed GINA into law on May 21, 2008.
    • On July 15, 2008, both Houses of Congress voted to override President Bush’s veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 6331), a bill to put off an almost 11% cut of payments to doctors who care for Medicare patients. The legislation offset putting off the payment cuts for doctors by reducing reimbursements to insurance companies that include Medicare patients in their managed-care programs.[1] The House voted 383 to 41 in favor of a veto override. Representative Hall voted for this legislation.
  • Embryonic Stem Cell Research
  • Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Research
    • In December 2005, Congress passed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (H.R. 2520), which President Bush signed on December 20, 2005. The law "creates a new Federal program to collect and store cord blood, and expands the current bone marrow registry program to also include cord blood." Representative Hall voted for this bill. The legislation passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 431-1 and passed the Senate by unanimous consent.
  • Food

[edit] Innovation

  • Stimulus
    • On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1). This stimulus bill contains over $30 billion for energy initiatives including the Smart Grid Investment Program and advanced battery systems; $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy for both businesses and homes; over $8 billion for augmenting energy efficiency in federal buildings and housing programs; and $7 billion to extend broadband service to underserved communities. The Act also gives the National Science Foundation $3 billion for research; the National Institutes of Health over $10 billion for research and renovations; NASA $1 billion, a portion of which to employ more scientists; and the Department Of Energy’s Office of Science $1.6 billion for energy research. Finally, it provides $19 billion for a modernized Health Information Technology (HIT) system; $87 billion to help fund Medicaid programs; $1 billion for health prevention programs; subsidies for temporary insurance; and $19 billion for clean water and environmental restoration programs. For a more complete listing of the bill’s provisions, click here.

      It passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 246-183 on February 13th and passed the Senate on February 13th. Representative Hall voted against this bill.
  • On Octber 3, 2007, Representative Hall wrote an op-ed stating that the benefits of funding programs such as NASA outweigh the costs. He states that the technological innovations have helped keep America the world leader in technology. He says that these technologies "force our industries to work to more exacting standards and tolerances, which make our products more competitive in the global marketplace."
  • COMPETES Act

[edit] Research and Research Management

  • Funding
    • See stimulus discussion under Innovation section.
    • In May of 2007, Representative Hall voted for the final passage of the National Science Foundation Funding Authorization Act of 2007 (H.R. 1867), which authorizes appropriations for the National Science Foundation for the fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010. The final vote count was 399 to 17.

      During debate on this legislation, H. Amdt. 128 was offered by Rep. Honda that will allow the NSF to support the creation of K-12 curriculum focused on global warming, climate change, and actions people can take to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Rep. Sullivan of Oklahoma offered a secondary amendment, H. Amdt. 129, that would have required the education materials referenced in Rep. Honda’s amendment to "reflect the diversity of scientific opinion, including the diversity of opinion regarding the impact of human activities on climate change." Congressional Democrats criticized the Sullivan amendment as seeming "to suggest that there is an equal weight of evidence against that perspective [that humans are causing climate change] as there is in favor of it" (read the full debate). The Sullivan amendment failed by a vote of 166 to 250. The Honda Amendment passed by a vote of 252 to 165.

      Representative Hall voted for the Sullivan amendment and voted against the Honda Amendment.

[edit] Technology

  • On March 18, 2009, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) introduced the Electronic Waste Research and Development Act (HR 1580) which works to reduce the waste caused by dumping unwanted electronics and to boost awareness of how to recycle such products. The bill would fund increased research on how to separate out hazardous material from waste as well as fund grants to universities to create curriculums to help in the reduction of this waste. HR 1580 passed in the House by voice vote on April 22, 2009. Representative Hall voted for this legislation.
  • See stimulus discussion under Innovation section.
  • In the summer of 2008, the House met to consider the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 6304), which would give retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that wiretapped customers’ phones for the Bush administration shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The legislation also allows the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens for up to 7 days before obtaining court approval. The House passed the bill with a vote of 293 to 129, and the legislation was signed by President Bush on July 7, 2008. Representative Hall voted for this legislation.
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