Hearings to examine the nominations of Arvind Raman

Good morning. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will come to order. Today we are considering the nominations of Matthew Anderson to serve as Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. And Arvid Rahman to serve as Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The twenty-first century will belong to the nation that can innovate the fastest. NASA and NIST are integral to that effort. Let's start with NASA, which has long been at the forefront of human exploration and scientific discovery. In nineteen sixty nine, that meant being the first nation to put a man on the moon. Today, it means returning there and staying there. Mister Anderson is well equipped to execute that mission. During his twenty four years of service in the US Air Force, Mister Anderson logged nearly five thousand flight hours. He commanded the Department of War's only airlift nuclear squadron and led no fail missions transporting nuclear weapons around the world. Since retiring from the Air Force in twenty twenty one Mister Anderson has served as Vice President at Khaki International, overseeing the company's Space Force and Air Force portfolio. Mister Anderson joins NASA at a cru- crucial moment. Artemis two is set to launch this spring. It will bring American astronauts closer to the moon than at any point in the last fifty years. Our nominee will work with Administrator Isaacman to ensure a safe and successful launch for Artemis two. But his work will not end there. Congress has provided a clear vision and significant funding for NASA. The Working Families Tax Cut Act committed nearly ten billion dollars to specific components of the space program, giving NASA the resources it needs to lead in low-Earth orbit and to explore deep space. The NASA Authorization Act, which we passed out of committee yesterday unanimously, outlines a strategic direction for the agency. I am confident that should it become law, Mister Anderson will implement the law faithfully. Let's now turn to Arvind Raman, our nominee for director of NIST. NIST establishes voluntary measurement standards and technical guidelines to advance American innovation. Mister Raman knows these standards are valuable because they give industry a trusted common framework for measurement and interoperability. Under the Biden administration, however, NIST was diverted from its objective science-based mission. Instead, it put out the AI risk management framework, which focused on left-wing social engineering and speech codes and censorship, undermining the institute's reputation for impartiality. I was encouraged by President Trump's decision to replace Biden's ai censorship regime with the new ai action plan. My sincere hope is that Mister Rahman will execute President Trump's plan and return NIST to its intended non-regulatory function. A UC Berkeley educated engineer, Mister Rahman serves as a John A. Edwardson dean of Purdue University's College of Engineering, one of the largest engineering colleges in the nation. There he helped turn Purdue engineering into a private investment magnet, bringing in billions in new R and D f- uh f- facility investments. At NIST, he can apply these skills to advance American industry by supporting the measurement standards, research and technology that underpin it. I look forward to hearing from both of today's nominees and learning how they will advance American interests in outer space and at home. And now turn to ranking member Cantwell for her opening remarks.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, and thank you to uh both of our nominees for the willingness to serve. Doctor Rahman, you are nominated to be the Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards Technology and to lead the National Institute for Standards and Technology I think sometimes our colleagues don't fully understand how uh voluntary standards usually set by NIST are the essence of bringing people together so that we can move forward faster based on those standards so i look forward to hearing how you think that the research and standard setting at NIST help fuel the innovation that supports manufacturing sets the gold standard for frameworks best practices ensures united states continues to lead in science and technology NIST has a critical role to play in setting those standards across technologies that will define america competitiveness for the next generation biotechnology quantum computing artificial intelligence And getting those standards right is about ensuring that American industry has clarity and confidence and uh that we play this role so that we can continue to dominate on a on standard setting around the globe as well. That is why Senator Young and I have introduced the bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act to authorize NIST's Center for AI Standards in Innovation to de- develop those voluntary guidelines for AI and conduct rigorous testing. That will ensure the United States leads AI for generations to come. And federal AI policy must ensure that these technologies meet the highest standards of trust reliability and consumer safety. I also introduced the National Quantum Initiative reauthorization with Senator Young to keep the US competitive in quantum science and technology there for us in helping develop a workforce. So look forward to hearing your thoughts on that. NIST is at the intersection of all those priorities. NIST also administers the bipartisan chips and science investment to promote enduring global leadership in semiconductors. This includes one point one billion for R and D to help reassure semiconductor manufacturing. Trained semiconductor workforce bridge the lab to fab gap to accelerate innovation across these ecosystems. And semiconductor innovation is the foundation of who will win the future in AI, and quantum computing, and other critical technologies. Unfortunately, the department of commerce under secretary lutnick has in my opinion caused uh confusion and created need needless uncertainty at nist last year the secretary abruptly cancelled seven point four billion r and d investment in non-profit called natcast under questionable circumstances natcast has was charged with operating the national semiconductor technology center which congress required by law to operate as a public-private consortium to better integrate r and d and workforce across the semiconductor ecosystem as of september twenty twenty five natcast has recruited more than two hundred members across academia industry non-profits to secure the future of r and d in the united states in the wake of senator uh secretary lutnick's abrupt decision nist has provided few details on the how they plan to achieve congress's challenges in the chips and science act the nist director we'll need to change this lack of transparency immediately. I'm also particularly concerned about the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. Beginning in April, NIST has been with of last year. Beginning in April of last year, NIST has been withholding funds for the center across uh the United States. This MEP program has wide bipartisan support as a national network of go-to experts that help small and medium sized manufacturers enhanced productivity so i will ask you about that and um december twenty twenty five i led a letter with twenty eight of my colleagues requesting a straight forward answers on this failure's to uh use these funds finally NIST has a broad science ecosystem with a long drawn uh strength from researchers and scientists this is really important there are troubling reports that NIST is reversing that long standard i'd like to hear directly from you on how you intend to approach the participation of scientists at this agency so turning to you um um turning to our nasa nominee thank you for um your willingness to serve nasa's innovation and uh multiple sectors of input to our economy are critically important but especially important for aerospace materials and manufacturing and safety. Nevertheless, last year's multiple NASA whistleblower disclosed evidence to my office that are continuing to show the damages that are being done by the OMB Director Vaught, who is pushing NASA to implement dangerous cuts called for in the President's twenty twenty six budget. OMB was doing so in disregard of the law, and I believe risk risk serious mission challenges for nasa on safety and workforce. in january congress rejected these draconian cuts on a bipartisan basis passing a spending bill that stabilized nasa's funding for the year and yesterday this commerce committee passed our bipartisan nasa authorization act of twenty twenty six which authorizes twenty five point three billion uh for fiscal year twenty twenty seven a two point five percent increase over the previous year so nasa's twenty twenty five aerospace safety panel reported that um the damage caused by OMB um could uh implement a wave of NASA workforce reductions and loss of expertise, particularly in areas of safety of major programs such as the Artemis program. So I will wanna ask you about that. It's simply unacceptable in my mind to compromise these safety issues. So if confirmed, will you stand up for NASA's workforce to be an advocate for NA NASA and fully develop and implement the laws as congress directed. NASA and NIST are both vital to America's science, research and innovation. And the Trump administration has been undermining that science research. Last year, over ten thousand STEM PHDs uh were lost from the federal workforce. And this is credibly incredibly important for us to keep our competitiveness around the globe. So thank you, Mister Chairman, I look forward to hearing from our our nominees.

Thank you. I will now turn to Senator Sheehy to introduce our first nominee today. Mister.

Thank you, Chairman Cruz. You're making me remember Cantwell. A member of the committee, he's minor, introduced a leader whose career reflects a deep commitment to service, national security and the future of American leadership in space. Matt Anderson has spent more than two decades serving our country in uniform retiring as an Air Force colonel after twenty-four years of distinguished service. During that time he logged nearly five thousand hours flying five different aircraft including more than six hundred and fifty hours in combat. demonstrating not only technical expertise, but also extraordinary dedication to mission and country. Throughout his career, Mat led American Airmen in some of the most demanding and consequential missions our military undertakes. He commanded our nation's only nuclear airlift squadron, responsible for safely transporting America's nuclear weapons and materials around the world, a responsibility that requires absolute precision, trust, and leadership, just like we'll need at La- at NASA. He also served to the highest levels of joint military leadership, working directly under multiple force, generals and admirals across the army, navy and air force. In those roles, Mat helped translate strategic direction to operational execution, getting first-hand insight into how national priorities set by Congress are carried out by the men and women who serve our country. Mat's career has also placed him at the intersection of space operations, national security and aerospace innovation. He concluded his military service as the US Transportation Command Senior Liaison to NORAD US Northern Command and US Space Command. coordinating across complex inter-agency and international command structures, experience that is directly relevant to the increasingly strategic role of space in our national interests. Since retiring from active duty, Matt has continued to serve the nation in the space sector, currently working as a Vice President at CSCI and as Chief Growth Officer for the Air Force Association, an organization he helped build from the ground up after the creation of the US Space Force in twenty nineteen. Through these roles, he has worked across civil, commercial and national security space communities. building the partnerships necessary to ensure American leadership in space exploration and innovation. But Mat's story is also one of family and service beyond the uniform. His wife, Christine, serves children with special needs as a spe- speech-language pathologist in a public elementary school. His daughter, Kayla, will soon become a third generation Air Force officer, commissioning this May after graduating from Notre Dame and heading to pilot training. His daughter, Lauren, is a student athlete at the University of Chicago, studying business economics and public policy. And his parents, an Air Force chaplain and a lifelong educator, helped instill in him the values of service and leadership that guided his career. Matt Anderson understands that America's leadership in space depends on strong partnerships between government industry and the scientific community and on the ability to translate bold vision into operational reality. I've personally known Matt for nearly a decade and know that he'll be a strong and trusted deputy for Jared Isaacman as we usher in a new golden age of American space dominance I'm proud to introduce Matt today Thank you. We look forward to your testimony.

Thank you. Now turn to Senator Young to introduce uh Doctor Rahman.

Well, thank you, Mister Chairman. I have this distinct pleasure of introducing my friend, Doctor Arvind Rahmand. Um, he's been nominated to serve as Under-Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology. His nomination hearing is timely. This week, hundreds of delegates are converging in Beijing to plan the future of china's global ambitions the national people's congress and the chinese people's political consultative conference will convene in coming days an approve of a blueprint for the next five years of economic strategy rest assured this will rely heavily on technological advancement and beating the united states when it comes to the development of ai quantum computing biotechnology and semiconductor production china is nearing parity with the United States. The CCP will spend trillions more to overtake us in these technologies. In the middle of this global power competition, the role of the National Institute of Standards in Technology has never been more important. Its mission of establishing standards and testing protocols and security guidelines is critical as our innovators pioneer and our companies commercialize new technologies. In the middle of a technology race with a determined global foe, now is the worst time for NIST to lose its way. It needs leadership. Doctor Arvind Raman will provide it. Doctor Raman's career is long distinguished and decorated. In fact, the list of grants, awards and recognitions he has accumulated is too exhaustive, too extensive to share here. He joined Purdue University in two thousand. As an assistant professor after a rigorous education, since since April of twenty twenty three, he served as the John A. Edwardson dean of Purdue University's College of Engineering. As dean, he oversees a two hundred eighty million dollar annual budget, nearly five hundred faculty and five hundred staff, nearly fourteen thousand undergraduate students, and six thousand graduate students. He's led Purdue engineering to be one of the most successful and desirable engineering colleges in the nation. At West Lafayette, he broke new ground in nanotechnology, biomechanics, and manufacturing. His work in atomic force microscopy is particularly significant, opening up new possibilities for how doctors study the physical property of diseases, such as cancer. He set an ambitious agenda as dean of one of the america's most prestigious engineering schools focusing on ai and its potential to better societies in his most recent assignment doctor rahman stressed the connection between mechanical engineering and national peace and prosperity quite relevant he has an eye for talent the readiness to embrace challenges and the understanding of the important role technology plays in sustaining democracies and like president trump I'm confident Doctor Rahman will make the necessary reforms that will lead NIST into the future. And beyond all of this, his story, I would say, is America's story. Arriving in Indiana from India, with nothing else other than six hundred dollars and a suitcase. Through hard work and education, he's risen to the top of his field and to this nomination. If confirmed, His leadership will help secure American leadership of the technologies that will literally define the twenty-first century, and will help ensure that America's values, and not those of our adversaries, define them. I trust all of my colleagues will be impressed with his testimony. I know he wishes to answer all of your questions thoroughly, and um, I have great confidence he will serve in distinction in this role. Mister Chairman?

I recognize Mister Anderson for his opening remarks.

Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today as President Trump's nominee to serve as the Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Senator Sheehy, thank you. My family and I are humbled by such a kind introduction by a patriot Navy SEAL and Senator, such as yourself, I appreciate you doing that this morning. First, I wanna recognize and thank my family sitting behind me, my wife, Christine, and our daughters, Kayla and Lauren. During my Air Force career, we have shared every move, every deployment, and every difficult decision. They have always been the true force multiplier for my career, and I would not be here today without their strength and sacrifice. I'd also like to thank the many family and friends who are supporting me here today. Finally, I'd like to thank the forty-five aerospace companies and nonprofits who sent letters of support to this committee, advocating for me and this nomination. I do recognize I'm a newcomer, so I thought I would share a bit of my story, along with my understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead. I grew up moving around the world as the son of an Air Force chaplain and school teacher. I spent my middle school years in the Philippines and graduated from high school in New Jersey. And now I'm proud to call Colorado Springs our home. Following high school, I played four years of division one soccer and majored in biology at the Air Force Academy. As you've heard, I then served more than twenty-four years in the Un- United States Air Force, as a pilot and commander, logging nearly five thousand flight hours in five different aircraft, including six hundred and fifty in combat. My passion for aeronautics and science converged when I had the privilege of piloting multiple missions to Antarctica. landing a Cseventeen on an ice runway, delivering scientists and critical inf- equipment for the National Science Foundation. I also have commanded, as you heard, America's only nuclear airlift squadron, the fourth airlift squadron, where I proudly led airmen and personally flew America's nuclear weapons around the world. Since retiring as a colonel nearly five years ago, I've had the honor of working as a vice president and a twenty-five thousand person publicly traded national security company named CACI International. I'd like to thank CEO John Mangucci and Chief of Staff Dan Walsh for their mentorship and for being here today. Over six years ago, one month before President Trump signed the United States Space Force into law, I helped create and grow the Space Force Association. Since that day, I have served as the Chief Operating Officer and currently still serve as the Chief Growth Officer to support our nation's guardians and national security space community. I'd like to thank SFA founder Bill Wolf and CEO Damon Feltman for their continued mentorship. That brings me to leadership. If we've learned anything from Administrator Isaacman's first two months on the job, it's that bold leadership matters. I've been very fortunate to lead large organizations in my career. I've proudly certified, but also had to decertify Air Force pilots. who didn't meet the high standards our nation demands. I've proudly commissioned hundreds of Air Force Academy cadets as officers, but also had to remove cadets from the academy who didn't meet the required high standards. If confirmed, I will reinforce the culture of safety, accountability, and transparency that Administrator Isaacman has recently outlined to NASA, as well as the American public. President Trump has given NASA clear direction through the national space policy. That policy sets a bold but achievable course. Return American astronauts to the lunar surface by the end of twenty twenty eight. Establish a lasting presence on the moon. Prepare for human missions to Mars. And accelerate the growth of a vibrant commercial economy on orbit. At its core, that vision is to expand America's presence beyond Earth, and to ensure that we maintain our position of leadership in that domain. Administrator Isaacman has already demonstrated NASA's full commitment to executing on the President's mission. But make no mistake, we're on a shot clock, and the stakes are high, stakes that directly affect the balance of power here on Earth. If confirmed, I will one hundred percent support the Administrator in executing the President's space policy. I will roll up my sleeves and serve the talented workforce at NASA, be a great teammate with Congress, and beat China to the moon. Together, we have the opportunity to usher in a new golden age of science and discovery, one that strengthens our nation, expands human knowledge, and inspires the next generation. Thank you again for the opportunity to be here today. I look forward to your questions.

All right. Recognize Mr. Rahman for his opening remarks? uh Cruz Ranking member Cantwell and Distinguished Members of the Directorate Office. Oops.

Text support. Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and Distinguished Members of this uh Senate Committee. I would like to thank President Trump for this nomination, Secretary Letnick, for his confidence in me and all of you for considering this nomination. It is indeed a tremendous honor. uh to appear here before you today i would also like to thank my family uh my wife and son uh my wife laura is right here as are some close friends of ours um i have been at purdue university as a faculty member for twenty six years teaching engineering and doing research on nanoscale science technology and dynamic systems i also serve as the john a edwardson dean of the college of engineering at purdue university the cradle of astronauts where thanks to the support of our trustees and president, we now offer confer more engineering degrees annually than any other university in the country. We've kept tuition frozen for fourteen years and counting, and we're ranked in the top five nationally amongst engineering programs, constantly innovating to maximize affordability, scale, and excellence. I first came to the United States, as Senator Young pointed out, thirty five years ago from India, actually to study engineering at Purdue University. I only had a few dollars in my, a hundred dollars in my pocket at the time, and my first paycheck as a research assistant wasn't gonna happen until a while later. I survived thanks to a loan the university gave to students like me, who did not have any credit history, and thanks to the goodwill store. And today, I'm the Dean of Engineering at that great institution. And then after I completed my PHD and joined Purdue University twenty-six years ago, as a faculty member, I started doing research, uh, in nanotechnology. And I had a chance early in my career to actually spend a month at NIST, doing some really difficult experiments in the laboratory. The start of many fruitful collaborations with NIST. And today, thanks to President Trump and Secretary Lutnik, I'm being considered for directorship of NIST. Where else are such stories even possible than in this, the greatest nation on Earth? And even as our great nation celebrates its two hundred and fiftieth birthday, it is a happy coincidence that NIST will be celebrating its hundred and twenty fifth. For half of our republic's republic's existence, NIST has been foundational to advancing American industrial competitiveness. From its Nobel laureates at the frontiers of quantum science, to its leadership in AI metrology, to its atomic clocks that maintain official US time and underpin our financial markets, to its support of manufacturing, its cyber security standards that really help protect American industry and critical infrastructure, to its standard reference materials that ensure that every American can trust their medical diagnostics results, and help American industry lead at the frontiers of medicine, NIST's role has been transformative over the years. If confirmed, I look forward to working with all of you to help write the next chapter for NIST, that of maximum American innovation, enabled by accelerating technology innovation in partnership with industries with entrepreneurs with stakeholders, in championing trusted technology standards globally, so that the American technology can scale and reach wider markets, and really in helping American industry adopt these advanced technologies, so that innovation begets innovation in a virtuous cycle for economic growth. If confirmed, I'm excited to help NIST deliver on the president's AI action plan by really maximizing innovation in the entire AI cha- st- tech stack, including chips. in biotechnology, in the quantum industrial base, in advanced manufacturing, and if confirmed, I look forward to working with all of you in Congress to ensure that NIST continues to effectively deliver on its foundational mission, and enable an era of maximum American innovation. Thank you so much.

Thank you. I recognize the ranking member for her questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think I'm gonna start on the NASA side. Uh, Mister Anderson, there is a major race going on for the United States to continue to compete in next generation aerospace technology. Part of uh NASA's leadership is in a high rate composite aerocra aircraft manufacturing project that develops advanced composites, and makes sure that we have lighter, more fuel efficient planes, ensuring next generation competitiveness. This is something my colleagues from idaho and i have worked on um it's an ambitious goal but it certainly is something that nasa and space also depend on too because we have to become more fuel efficient all the time so will you support uh this high cam program at nasa and uh support competitive technologies like the advanced aerospace materials manufacturing tech hub

yes senator

great Um, I appreciate Administrator Isaacsman's support for uh, you know, a competition for two lunar landers. If confirmed, will you support this competition and award process uh to whichever, you know, providers win the competition?

Yes, Senator.

Great. Um, once we uh return to the moon, and I'm assuming you agree with the legislation that we just passed out here yesterday that we have to go faster, um, How can this committee help to achieve those twenty twenty eight landings?

Senator, thanks for that question. And I think I think you alluded to the uh what I was exactly gonna say, is I think what we're looking at right now is a perfect alignment between the administration, this committee demonstrated from what happened yesterday by a unanimous uh consent, um bipartisan consent for NASA, that we have a challenger, a geopolitical rival in China that requires cooperation between all whole of government

thank you um turning to you doctor um you know i said in my opening comment about NIST and standard setting um it really is an accelerant isn't that correct

yes

um i think sometimes we get into disputes here because somebody thinks that we're setting regulations When in reality, the most important aspect of NIST is the standard setting that allows whatever, it could have been electricity, it could have been anything, but it's the standard setting that helps accelerate the competitiveness of our nation. Is that

Uh uh, Senator, I'd like to just point out again the sta- standard setting is of course a key goal for NIST and I'd just like to I mean I agree um it's extremely important for America to lead in tech standard setting uh that ensures of course like i said um you know expanded markets for our technologies but also that american values uh are what um underpin international commerce

yeah well i i'm not sure everybody in the administration agrees on that so i hope that you can be a loud voice for this because this is critically important and again i think people hear the word standards and then all of a sudden they're like oh this is a regulation when in reality you are talking about a voluntary process to accelerate our competitiveness by getting industry, something they couldn't necessarily do, obviously there's a lot of competition in industry and they would compete with each other, and like their standard to win, but you play the middle guy who basically says no let's all come together with a common standard and then we will go faster. So you'll play that role within NIST.

Yes, I will.

You will bro proudly play that role.

Yes, I will.

OK. So now let's get to uh, cuz I'm sure this won't be the last of this debate as it relates to standards, cuz somebody's gonna again claim that this is some sort of regulatory process. And I just um, will you support the manufacturing extension programs that are in law and under NIST?

Senator, thank you for that question. Um, I'm fully committed to uh this administration's priorities to re-industrialize America bring manufacturing back. you know, just as you have been very supportive of this, Senator. Um, at Purdue we have done a lot within our state of Indiana for this as well. It's the state with the highest concentration of manufacturing jobs. Um, and so this is very near and dear to us. Um, that being said, I am aware, uh, that there have been some IG uh concerns regarding the, you know, uh, extension program.

OK, I I got one more question and I only have a few seconds left. but just tell me do you support the manufacturing extension program

senator i don't know i mean i don't know the specifics of uh you know your comments earlier about you know what has happened what has not happened but i'm supportive of manufacturing

but do you think it's a good idea that ok do you think it's a good idea to have a program at nis that you'll be in charge of that is called manufacturing extension

and i'll work with you i mean i'm very supportive of whatever we can do to make sure advanced manufacturing moves ahead here in America in whatever way for possible,

OK,

I just don't know the specifics.

we'll have to get uh we'll have to get a crisper answer for the record from you.

Yeah. Yeah.

OK, what about NIST uh telling us what the if confirmed will you commit to determining the impact of the agency's policy on chips in science, and giving us a full accounting of how we're going to meet the goals of the chips in science act that you're responsible for.

Oh, thank you for that question, Senator. Um, again, as I said in my remarks, the entire ai tech stack advancing america's leadership in chips both in manufacturing and at the critical edge of next generation chips will be a high priority for us and i intend to work with this committee in congress to make sure whatever resources you provide that we use it most effectively to make that happen

ok so we'll ask for this is like an accounting cause we're not getting that out of the current administration and then the last point is just on this equity stipulation as part of this

uh

broad agency announcement that stipulates that applicants may be required to issue the department equity warrants, licenses to the intellectual property, royalty and revenue sharing.

Again, Senator, I don't know the details and specifics of this,

OK. OK, so read a little more about read a little bit more about that and give us an answer.

but for the future

So we're looking we're again you're gonna have this organization,

Yeah.

we wanna hear your views about those policies, cuz they're pretty big policies. We think the agency is making some pretty big mistakes. We wanna know what your philosophy is. Thank you, Mister Chairman.

Thank you. Mister Anderson, um, how critical is nuclear vision surface power to achieving a sustained presence on the moon? And what milestones must NASA meet in the next few years to ensure the United States, not China, is the first to field reliable lunar power infrastructure?

Senator, thank you for that question. I think it's a perfect example. Nuclear propulsion and nuclear power is exactly where nasa should be focused on this is an example of a game-changing technology that as we look at our geopolitical rival in china and how do you move the needle how do you how do you get to president trump's goal of returning american astronauts to the moon by twenty twenty eight start building a moon base and then as the space policy talks about and then we're moving on to mars and if you think about nuclear power and propulsion that's how you do that we have to stay ahead of the chinese in this sense in this uh in this area and i think as we look at nasa and what should we be doing compared to a lot of people talk about the commercial space industry this is a great example of today's challenge where we put hard-earned taxpayer dollars towards a technology that will actually change the game and then if it's ready which nuclear right now is definitely not ready for a commercial partner then you hand it over and let the american free enterprise take over

that's right and where we're in nasa's orbit is uh nuclear uh research

center i

happening at scale and in in a world class way

center i that is at a center very close and near and dear to your heart that we talked about the other day in in ohio thank you

thank you just wanna make sure uh speaking of ohio uh the armstrong test facility in sandusky has unique capabilities to simulate hypersonic flight conditions in high altitude rocket testing environments you're a former colonel in the air force how do you believe nasa and dod can work together to achieve president trump's national security objectives such as the golden dome

sir it's a great question and i think this is a good example how it's a whole government approach that the entire united states of america needs to focus on this this competitor in china not only in space but economically things like hypersonics golden dome defense of the homeland i think they're all interrelated i think nasa in particular if you look at our history dating back to the apollo era of the sixties and early seventies look at the technologies that have been born from that as we look at f twenty two thrust vectoring sp- stealth technology on our bombers are fighters i think that's hypersonics is now you know this generation's version of that

great and and you uh can you commit to visiting the center within sixty ninety days of your confirmation

yes senator

thank you turning over to uh you doctor uh rahman uh and kind of taking off with the questions that uh the ranking member asked uh ohio's manufacturing extension partnership for decades quite frankly as long as i've been in cleveland has supported fourteen thousand manufacturing businesses across the state through six non-profit centers. These centers help uh small and medium sized manufacturers modernize operations, adopt new technologies, strengthen supply chains and stay competitive. I can tell you firsthand, somebody who is in the business ecosystem, these are really important operations. Unfortunately and quite frankly disappointingly, because I have not heard uh proper justification, NIST froze six point one million dollars in federal funding for all of Ohio's MEP programs. Those federal dollars were matched with state funding. And that freeze triggered a total loss of almost fifteen million dollars. An almost complete wipe out of these centers. Had to lay off virtually their entire staff. Uh rebuilding that is gonna be very very difficult and like I said I uh would say this. I have a great relationship with the Commerce Department from secretary Letnick on down. But. in this particular case have gotten almost no information on what's actually going on which has been very disappointing supposedly there's a an audit out there but yet there's nothing public to provide those detail funding uh the detail finding findings the MEP model by the way is not fully federally funded as i mentioned there's state funds but does also private funding so let me just kind of be i want you to be clearer than you were with the ranking member do you support the MEP model this is not about the audit just in general do you support the model of mep

thank you senator really important question as you know we have a mep program uh for our state in indiana that runs through purdue university as well um you know i know mep programs has brought partisan support they've done a lot of good uh at the same time like i mentioned there are concerns from the ig reports that

no but definitely but you support the model you support remember ohio state still a little raw at indiana for what you guys did but so i just i sort of i'm just to be clear do you support the model

well

that's a yes or yes or no do you think the model works or the model doesn't work

you know i i think a lot of map programs have done a lot of good work for sure

ok i'm not sure that that's a yes we'll have to explore that one but uh i also wanna make certain that you're committed to reviewing the funding freeze and working to reestablish and and reinstate that funding for these centers once these audit findings are resolved so assuming the audit findings are resolved. Can I get your commitment to restore the funding for these MEP programs in Ohio?

Yes.

Good, that's very, very important. And you you obviously support continuing these programs as part of NIST's mission to strengthen US manufacturing.

Uh, Senator, like I said, I'm fully committed to advancing manufacturing and re-industrialization in America. And whatever resources Congress provides NIST to do so, I'll make sure that we do our very best to make full utilization of those resources to to advance manufacturing in america that is i'm fully committed to that

ok let's get that done sooner than later i recognize uh senator from new jersey

thank you um uh doctor rahman i wanna just just continue off of what my colleague just asked about it i think you're hearing strong bipartisan support for the manufacturing extension partnership program uh and you raised uh some concerns about an an oig report can can you give me your sense of what the concerns were that were raised in the report What is it that's lingering in your mind here?

Senator, I have not had a chance to do a deep dive into those things. I'm just uh from the outside I'm not in the position yet. Um, but I'm aware uh that there were concerns regarding outcomes, and I'm aware that uh the President and the Secretary have also expressed their concerns about the program. Um, I'm not in position yet, so I don't know what may or may not have happened uh to the program, so I'm not really in a position to answer these things which you have my commitment. that i'm committed if confirmed as director to insure manufacturing thrives, advanced manufacturing, re-industrialization of america, all that actually happens in an accelerated time frame. And so i'll do my best to work with you to make it happen.

I don't I don't discount your commitment on the manufacturing side. I think all of us wanna increase manufacturing,

Right.

but this particular program, you know, I I raised this with you directly just the other day. I told you you were gonna get bipartisan questions about this. The OIG report is public. You should have read it. and if you read it what i'll just tell you is it talks about the problem being nist's lack of oversight things that we can do better when it comes to the data it did not say that the program is ineffective or needs to be defunded it's about and so also what we see as follow-up is nist is taking steps to try to address uh some of the challenges that they're having when it comes to oversight so i i guess i wanna just turn back to you does that alleviate some of your concerns here

i mean ensuring oversight over programs that NIST is responsible for you know is something i'll be committed to doing uh if confirmed as director

yeah so the fact that NIST is moving forward on addressing some of these and again it wasn't about the ineffectiveness of program but just how NIST can have better oversight i hope you can commit to continuing that oversight i hope you can commit to continuing with this program not making any rash decisions about it uh you know until we see uh the data until we remedy the situation is that something you can can can

i'll be happy to work with you on that senator

agree with yeah i i think it's important because uh as mentioned uh you know this is something that we've all seen beneficial in my home state we've seen just a huge benefit when it comes with the njmep program uh i think we wanna make sure we continue and frankly congress in a bipartisan way approved a hundred seventy five million dollars for this program for this fy so i just want to ask you will you commit to following the law and implement the hundred seventy five million dollars that we pass in a bipartisan way

senate i commit to following the law

i will take that and i think that's important the other aspect of this um mister anderson i just want to turn to you um biological and physical science research at the at the international space station has led to huge scientific breakthroughs that benefit all americans for example microgravity is allowed for the growth of larger more perfect protein crystals which will eventually lead to creating more effective drugs for cancer for heart disease for alzheimer's a cause that is close to my heart and given my family's uh my father's situation right now um new jersey universities and companies also conduct medical research at the international space station if confirmed will you commit to working with me on preserving and expanding biological and physical science research at the international space station.

Yes, Senator.

And more broadly, not just with the ISS, will you commit to supporting biological and physical science research specifically across NASA?

Senator, I think it fits right into the wheelhouse of where NASA should be. If you think about our our mission of explore, innovate and inspire, everything you just talked about to include your personal story, does all those things.

And if I remember correctly, I think you said you studied as a biologist.

Yes, Senator, we share that that passion for science and and my parents are sitting right here and we would be happy to know that we also share the same county where I graduated from high school so I appreciate our conversation yesterday.

Well, look, uh, uh, uh, and you're trying to butter me up, I get it, but it's uh

Is it working?

I will say if if you follow through on that commitment to to following through on the science then it's working because uh i- it's so important and and there's so much at stake here and i get it you know there's a lot of dynamics that are happening with the greater commercialization in in space and there are lot of national security issues that you and i both understand about space that we need to take seriously uh but i i really think we need to reassert uh the importance of science basic science research at large and then science research and uh and i just wanna once again ask for your commitment on that

yes senator

ok thank you and with that i'll go back

i recognize senator young

Well, thank you, Mister Chairman. Uh, throughout different hearings, this committee's held a uh uh uh uh uh uh we've we've seen a common theme. Uh, I've focused on on uh in many of those hearings how the federal government can better support research development and the innovation of critical domains such as AI, biotech, and quantum computing. AI is a technology we know with tremendous potential to revolutionize uh, seemingly every facet of our country. Uh, but we're only gonna realize the benefits of this revolution if we maintain our leadership of the technology. So, it's imperative that, um, we do this, and, um, uh, this is not only technology po- policy, as I say time and time again, this is national security policy, this is economic security policy. And one way the federal government is doing its part to support american ai innovation is through NIST uh as well as the center for ai standards in innovation um uh uh an entity that uh i'm i'm working to codify through my legislation the future of ai innovation act uh with senator cantwell to that end uh doctor rahman could you tell us about the impact of the standards that NIST and um develop and uh with that how standard setting translates into economic benefits for americans

senator very important question thank you for that question let me start with the second part

well more important is how do we say the acronym for the newly styled uh center for ai's uh security and innovation but anyway you can include that in your response as well

uh standards and innovation

ok yes there we go

casey Uh, thank you for that question, Senator. I'll take the second part uh first, uh about the importance of um American leadership of trusted tech standards globally. Um, this is such a crucial issue. When America leads in setting global tech standards, it means that the rules, international rules of commerce are literally being based on American values, free markets, private sector innovation, privacy, Freedom of speech. And when we leave a vacuum for that leadership, that allows for other standards that are not based on these values, they're based on state-based um ideas, they're based, they're freedom-suppressing, they're opaque. So it's vitally important from a values point of view that America leads in standard setting in in advanced technologies. There is of course a very significant economic uh benefit and advantage to this um many of the companies that are involved uh in standard settings have a whole wall of patents behind key elements of standards so when a certain standard gets locked into place they have a big playing advantage because they've got all the patents in that area so

yes

setting standards is very important from that point of view when countries uh when um european union for example sets standards that are different that creates a compliance cost to our technologies as we work uh on exporting our products and technologies there and this becomes even more multiplicative when those technologies are platform technologies when we're talking about ai when we're talking about six g cause based on those platforms you have interoperability many new technologies jumping ahead so it's it's vitally important that we do this

yes i'm i'm i'm going to ask you a series of questions to unpack this in my remaining minute plus ok

right ok

so what we're talking about here is through tech policy and standard setting and working with other countries on standards, we are in part talking about advancing the values, the universal uh enlightenment values that are baked into our declaration of independence versus the autocratic values of other countries. Is that in part right through what no offense but will strike many of my constituents is kind of uh an obscure topic about tech standards that's really fundamentally what this is uh about at one level is that accurate

that's absolutely

ok and then your job uh will involve interfacing after standards development with with stakeholders here in the united states um interfacing also with leaders in other countries in our trade uh representative's office and others to ensure that we um, either are able to to ensure other countries recognize our standards or our our harmonized standards with other friendly sort of partner countries, right?

Yes.

And then let me go even further and ask our primary adversary I regard, I think most Americans would regard as as the People's Republic of China. And they have an export-oriented economy. And if we can, through digi- through standard setting and negotiation and and and digital trade policy, if we can lock in free world standards, then this export oriented economy of the People's Republic of China is going to either have to fully adopt our standards to export technology in the twenty first century, enlightenment value, declaration of independent standards, um, or they're gonna have to have a bifurcated economy. which would be highly inefficient and non-competitive, where they produce two types of standards, one for the domestic autocratic sort of audience, and then another for most of the rest of the world. Is that vision flawed in any way that I've just articulated?

I hundred percent agree with that vision, Senator.

Well, I'm hundred percent gonna vote for you then. So, thank you, Mister Chairman.

Recognize the Senator from Michigan?

Thank you, uh, Senator. Um, Doctor Rahman, I I know uh some of my uh colleagues uh including Senator Marino from Ohio and others have brought up the manufacturing extension uh partnership uh program to you and uh have discussed uh the uh aspects of it uh I'm gonna argue that it is uh certainly been an incredibly successful program uh since it's uh been implemented in fact I think it's probably a lifeline to many small and medium sized manufacturers and uh I hope you'll agree that manufacturing cannot be a great country if you don't actually make things and a lot of that is done at the uh with small and medium companies not just the the very large ones in fact in my home state of michigan mep uh which is the uh michigan manufacturing tech center its record is clear it saves small manufacturers in our state over twenty five million dollars uh just in the past year they provided training to over four thousand four hundred individuals and serviced over three hundred uh companies Basically, they help companies, as you may know, uh adopt advanced manufacturing technologies, uh that improve uh uh efficiency as well as cyber security and a whole host of emerging technology uh issues. They've created databases to help solve critical supply chain issues, do business consultations to help small businesses streamline their operations. They address uh skills gaps, recruit and retain talent. Uh in fact, I even have a list here in front of me of just an idea of some of their classes that they offer. Uh, they have courses like leveraging AI for competitive advantage, AI for quality control and assurance, AI for supply chain optimization, and go on. Uh, it's quite a extensive uh list of coursework that keep make sure that folks are on the cutting edge of technology. Um, that's why, given all this and the success that we've seen, and I think in a bipartisan way our my colleagues have seen this in their home states, I've been confused uh as well as disturbed uh by this administration's repeated attempts to basically dismantle this program. I would hope this administration cares about manufacturing, I would hope they care about small to medium businesses, uh and when you have a program that works uh you should build on that success instead of tear it down. Um so fortunately uh in response uh to these efforts uh I'm happy to say that we passed bipartisan language uh in the most recent spending bill that directs NIST to insure that all fifty one centers are uh promptly and fully uh fully funded and again that was broad bipartisan support in the appropriations bill so so my question for you sir is if confirmed will you commit to executing the MEP program as directed by statute without reorganizing or redirecting its funds to support other initiatives within the NIST

uh thank you for that question senator like i said i'm not in position yet so i don't know necessarily about the changes that you're referring to uh specifically uh but

there there are no changes we're we're funding these uh institutions so you don't know the details you're not there now i get it so you so you don't understand

right

the details and i i respect that but you do believe that uh uh that NIST should follow the law would you would you agree that they should follow the law or is the law up for your negotiation or your

uh i uh i i will follow the law if confirmed as director of NIST of course senator

so so the an appropriations bill is the law of the land Passed by Congress in a bipartisan way. So you're saying you will follow. I wanna hear the out of your words, that you will follow the law, that you will fund these programs promptly, uh, and as directed, uh, by Congress. You don't get to second guess it. That's not about your personal views. I I respect your personal views. But when you follow the law, you follow the law, you don't get a chance to do that. So so I'll ask it again. If confirmed, will you commit to executing MEP program as directed by statute without doing any kind of reorganization or other kinds of fancy footwork to try to get around it.

I will follow the law, Senator.

But just a yes or no.

Yes, I will follow the law.

So you will follow the law. Great. Thank you. Doctor Rahman, I I was also glad to see that you uh updated your response uh to this uh committee's questionnaire uh last night, uh to know that you uh are now actually committing to respond to request for information from ranking and minority members of the congressional committees uh without reservation uh in that response when that question was asked uh it was a whole lot of legalese basically it was trying to avoid answering uh the question but uh i want you to confirm here today front of uh all of the committee that if a ranking member can't well or a minority member of this committee makes an oversight request of NIST you will comply

yes

very good Um, your commitment um uh is uh critical uh because it also uh deals with cooperating with the uh Government Accountability Office audits, which are requested by ranking members. So you have GAO audits. Uh, and unfortunately we have seen refusals from the administration to actually uh honor requests for information from the GAO. So will you commit to cooperate with all GAO audits uh of NIST? Uh

Yes, Senator.

Good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Recognize Senator Markey for his questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh very much and uh uh thanks to uh witnesses for being here. Last week we saw a chilling scene. play out in the American tech sector. The Department of Defense waged a two weeks long intimidation campaign against an American AI company, Anthropic, which has deployed its AI models and classified DOD systems, uh, and asked for two reasonable limitations on use of its AI model. No mass domestic surveillance and no autonomous weapons. In response, last Friday, Secretary Hegseth posted on X that the Department of Defense would not only terminate its contract with Anthropic, but would also designate the company as a supply chain risk and direct all DOD contractors to immediately sever any commercial relationships with the company. That's godfather Pat Munn stuff. Given that eighty percent of Anthropic's revenue comes from its business customers, this designation is an attempt to destroy Anthropic altogether. R is a former senior trump AI official put it, " This is an attempted corporate murder." So, mister Rahman, today you have been vocal about the importance of american leadership in technology should the us government be attempting to destroy american ai companies because they refuse to agree to certain contractual terms

senator thank you for that question um as i said in my opening remarks uh i'm fully committed to helping this deliver on the president's ai action plan As far as NIST swim lane in this is concerned, it has a very specific expertise in swim lane and that is to be the gold standard of the measurement science behind AI and the AI action plan clearly lays out that all NIST should do is really focus on that and then focus on providing frameworks that other agencies can use according to their mission relevance and what they wish to do out of it and that's what

No I I recognize I recognize that

right.

is not squarely within jurisdiction. But if confirmed, you will serve as a key science and technology advisor to secretary Lutnik. You also talked repeatedly in your testimony about the importance of US innovation. So it's reasonable to respect you to have a view on the most important action the federal government has taken against an AI company. So let's just try this a different way. Doesn't this type of extortion against the US tech company undermine innovation in the United States?

Senator, without knowing the details, I'm really not in a position to answer this question. Uh, like I said in my role, if confirmed as NIST director, I'll be focusing on the AI action plan and the role that NIST has, uh, you know, stated in it.

Well, uh, i- it's disappointing. that you cannot condemn such a blatant and reckless abuse of power. The Department of Defense's actions, Hegsatt's actions, here are outrageous, an attempt to destroy a company. The department needs to revoke the supply chain designation and cease this retaliation campaign against Anthropic. So, let me now turn to something directly within this authority, testing the accuracy of facial recognition algorithms. Facial recognition technology raises profound concerns about privacy and civil liberties. And that's why I have long opposed the government's use of facial recognition technology. And it's why I have aggressively conducted oversight of the Trump administration's abusive and unconstitutional use of these technologies for immigration enforcement purposes. ICE and CPV agents have been spotted using facial recognition tools on protesters and even threatening to put peaceful protestors in a quote " domestic terrorist database". This is very chilling stuff in the United States of America. And while I will continue to urge Congress to ban the government from using facial recognition tools, in the meantime, I'm glad that NIST continues to support its testing programs to evaluate the performance of facial recognition systems. So, Mister Rahman, while these tools are still being used across the government, Will you commit that NIST will continue its testing program and maintain full public access, to NIST's facial recognition testing results?

Thank you for that question, Senator. Um, NIST of course, has a historic and unique role in AI metrology. Actually, it begins in the nineteen sixties with a fingerprinting identification system. So it's got a really uh, you know, extensive scientific technical expertise in this. Um, what I will say is that, as I said, I'm fully committed to the AI action plan that the president has laid out. In it,

Wi- wi- will you will you continue full public access to NISS facial recognition testing results? Yes or no?

Senator, I'm I'm not aware exactly of what the status of that particular tool is, but we, you know, rest assured that if confirmed, i will really leaning in to make sure that nist continues its leadership in metrology of ai systems

well again i'm i'm disappointed in that answer as well uh because i'm not getting a clear answer from you on that issue and at the same time the american people are are actually experiencing the consequences

mmm

of this technology being deployed in our country and i'm gonna continue to sound the alarm on this because i just think that we cannot allow

mmm

policies that uh fundamentally turning this into an Orwellian nation uh can continue to be developed and deployed without a full debate in our country. Thank you uh Mister Chairman.

So just uh some follow-up questions. Uh Mister Anderson can you talk about uh what your experience is now with the morale and um within NASA? How are they feeling about uh their mission and their future and how motivated are they to uh be back to chinese

yes senator it's it's hard to tell on the morale of the organization i'm not in right now but i appreciate your question i'm just watching it you know publicly as well and i see um administrator isaacman's first two months where he visited every center i saw some senators thousands of people were coming in on the weekends to meet their new administrator eating up to six thousand donuts and coffee and um i see almost every sunday morning he is flying employees of the week essentially in fighter aircraft improving the morale and i think he's just really hitting in on that third tenet of inspiring uh that that nasa takes so seriously so uh while i can't speak it uh from the outside it looks like it's it's on the upward trend

and as your experience having been a colonel to air force how important is that how important is that motivation that feeling of mission to success uh especially for extraordinarily complicated missions like what nasa is gonna undertake

senator i think it's it's absolutely critical and the best organizations whether it's the ohio state university of football the military nasa

oh too too too soon

yeah you uh any time a leader can focus the group on the mission everything else takes care of itself

ok perfect and and um i think to both of you guys i i'd say maybe just a a brief question maybe statement and i think uh you'd see maybe this in a bipartisan way uh just a very very simple question for both of you if members of the united states senate specifically of the united states commerce committee send your office a request for information can i get your commitment that you respond quickly and efficiently

yes yes senator

ok i think that's that's critical and i think what you're hearing uh with the frustration around mep is just a lack of at least answers of what's going on i think that solves a lot of problems and obviously just for you uh doctor rahman because you you got to ask some series of questions uh to clarify you are not in the role today correct

correct

so so there is no way for you to know the details of anything within the organization today correct

correct

so the questions that were asked were more generally speaking about what you would do when you are there and of course like anybody nominated by president trump you will follow uh the law to the letter of the law correct

correct

and uh and you will not inject your personal point of view on what the legislation clearly directs you to do correct

correct

and and mister anderson the same with you obviously uh you saw there is enormous bipartisan uh support here for nasa and i hope that sends a message also to everybody at nasa that we support them we want them to win and in your case the same way whatever appropriations we're doing whatever we put in pen and paper to law you will follow that as well and i know the administrator does

yes senator i always follow the law

perfect and since the walk from the capitol to uh russell is gonna take another minute or so is there anything that you would like to add that you haven't been asked uh in the last few last few minutes

no senator

no that was a yes i was hoping you would add anything how about you doctor ron is there anything that you wanna talk about that uh would take you about forty five to fifty seconds to discuss

no i just wanted to add my gratitude uh to this meeting

neither one of you are prepared to be united states senator by the way because a united states senator can say hello and take five minutes so clearly that you're not fit for politics uh in this case

senator i'm i'm picking up what you're putting down so i do have a few thoughts that just came to me

thank you

there you go perfect you are a rocket scientist

yeah uh i i think i think the important um thing to remember here and i appreciate your words about the recent legislation, the mark-up yesterday, just showing support to the men and women that work so hard at NASA. They're very they're very proud to be at NASA. And what we're about to accomplish in a couple weeks with Artemis two is historic. No other nation is gonna do that. And what we just saw the administrator do, and support of this committee, to move Artemis' schedule left, change it because the mission dictated it, safety dictated it. And then how quickly this committee said, we support NASA, we support that administrator, and we support the president's national space policy. We're gonna beat China to the moon. We're gonna establish a moon base. And then we're moving on to Mars. We're gonna innovate technologies that will change humankind. We're gonna inspire the next generation. I think that is what we're seeing here from president trump this committee and the administrator and i'm looking forward to joining that team

and what do you think we had uh such a long period of time from the first mission to the moon happen sadly i will report that it was about when i was born uh till now what what happened

senator i think we as a nation in nineteen sixty one when president kent

wait wait i wasn't born in sixty one ok

i i think we were we were in a space race that we won but it took a a whole of government, whole of nation, um, rally behind it. We threw lots of money at it, four, four and a half percent of our GDP, it took to get us there in eight years. And then, as it went by, as a couple years, and we get to nineteen seventy-two and we've been there multiple times, and it ends with Apollo seventeen, and I think that's a completely different environment than we're in right now. The country lost interest. They said, " OK, we've landed on the moon." Well, the the mission is different right now. As the administrator has said, we're looking at Artemis two coming up. But it's gonna be three, four, five, increasing that cadence. To try to get our launches to the ten month point, instead of almost as frequent as we have World Cups and S- and Summer Olympics, three and a half, four years. That's where we've been at. Increasing that cadence, focusing on the mission, keeping things safe. And that is what will not only deter our adversaries and our geopolitical rivals, but we can beat them.

That's fantastic. Uh, Doctor Rahman, anything you wanna say for a few seconds?

just to point out that the first man on the moon and the last man on the moon were perdue astronauts perfect uh just

yeah i i appreciate that and just also wanted to point out that the air force academy has more astronauts than perdue

ah fantastic touche for the record columbians are much faster than cubans

they're also more likely to be drug dealers this is an age-old battle between cubans and colombians um i seem to have stepped in the middle of of of some uh battle here um and and while we are comparing connections to the moon i will point out one of the very first words uttered on the surface of the moon was my hometown of houston houston the eagle has landed and that uh alright let's get into uh let's dr. rahman let's start with you the first trump administration's ai initiative emphasized nist's role in developing basic measurement standards for ai under the biden administration nist used its authorities to inspect ai systems for risks from bias and misinformation at the time nist claimed that even when quote harmful biases are mitigated ai is not necessarily fair because it could quote exacerbate existing disparities or systematic biases that is a boundarized way of policing speech on climate change transgenderism immigration and political topics elsewhere nist called workplace deis ours critical and suggested companies consider whether ai chatbots might amplify historical, societal, and systemic biases. NIST's testing standards became a Trojan horse for progressive social policies with the goal of controlling American speech. Doctor Rahman, does NIST have any role in using its measurement and non-regulatory roles to regulate AI speech or to engage in censorship?

No, it does not.

Do you commit to reoriented NIST to its apolitical mission and ensuring that it does not serve as an engine for divisive left-wing ideology even under the guise of quote safety or increasing trust in technology

i do senator

thank you you also commit to maintaining NIST as a strictly non-regulatory agency that works through voluntary consensus-based standards

i do senator

thank you alright uh NIST often touches on strategic supply chains, such as for semiconductors and critical minerals. Recently, NIST executed letters of intent whereby the federal government would take equity ownership in semiconductor and critical minerals companies, an approach that deviates from NIST's traditional role. Consider critical mineral mining, a complex, complicated industry where sometimes it takes over twenty years to discover mineral deposits, to verify them, to build the needed infrastructure, and to receive the required licenses and permits. Would you agree that federal equity deals tie up taxpayer dollars for a considerable amount of time with with no guaranteed return on investment?

Senator, I'm not in the role, so I don't know the details of what may or may not have happened in this case. But, um, I'm committed, uh, to making sure that NIST makes best use of resources provided by congress to advance semiconductor manufacturing and leadership globally.

If NIST holds equity in an underperforming or failing company, could the government be pressured to use taxpayer dollars to hedge losses? Is NIST equipped to make these decisions to protect US taxpayer funds?

Again, Senator, not being in the role, I don't know the details of what may or may not have

In complex sectors like critical minerals, companies often struggle against international competition. Since government ownership comes with risks and taxpayers could end up covering losses, wouldn't it make sense for the government to streamline permitting and encourage domestic competition instead of trying to own and subsidize these companies?

Thank you for that question, Senator. Again, um, this is outside, I think, the swim lane of NIST, um, but I'm happy to follow up in conversations about what the role of innovation might be in critical materials processing and manufacturing.

Mister Anderson, uh, if you are confirmed, describe for this committee what you hope and expect NASA to do regarding the moon.

Senator, I hope and expect that NASA continues to quickly execute the President's national space policy that has been completely supported by yourself and as we saw yesterday this entire committee and we appreciate that at NASA I think they they expect NASA to exercise leadership talk about space superiority if you look at that executive order that the President laid out it was not just national security it was NASA there was a whole lot of government parts to that and it's and there was an order from the president said hey we're going to make sure american space superiority and is is insured it has been backed up by funding it has been backed up by authorizations and appropriations and i think that's what the american public expects

what level of priority would you put to beating china to the moon

the absolute highest priority senator

that that would be the right answer so i'm glad to hear it uh discuss also the importance of maintaining uh and keeping astronauts in low earth orbit as we transition from the international space station to commercial space stations

thank you senator it's absolutely critical the first word of the iss is international and that means we have a lot of partners invested in this and it's also competition with china our adversary is already in low earth orbit we cannot cede american leadership in low earth orbit

well thank you to both of the witnesses my my final question is required of all nominees If confirmed, do you pledge to work collaboratively with this committee to provide thorough and timely responses to the committee's requests and to appear before the committee when requested?

Yes, I do.

Yes. Thank you. Uh, I have forty-five letters of support for various from various organizations for the nomination of Mister Anderson I ask unanimous consent that these letters be inserted into the hearing record without objection, so ordered. Senators will have until the close of business on Saturday March seventh to submit questions for the record. The nominees will have until the close of business on Tuesday March tenth to respond to those questions. And with that, that concludes today's hearing. The committee stands adjourned.