Chips and Science Act includes Johnson's imprint

WASHINGTON -- The passage of the Chips and Science Act puts Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson's top priority into law with funding. The $50 billion in subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing include provisions for the Commerce Department to enforce equal opportunity hiring and employment. Her name goes on the NSF Include Initiative, designed to increase low levels of resesrch participation by African-Americans and other groups. NSF reported that only 0.7% of research and development goes to historically Black colleges and universities. There are also provisions to create manufacturing clusters at HBCUs in the NIST budget. Dr. Asmeret Berhe, Energy Dept. Chief Scientist, will supervise new spending at national laboratories, also with a mandate to improve the diversity of the scientific workforce. Johnson, the first nurse elected to Congress, is retiring after 30 years in Congress. She has headed the House Science Committee for the past four years.