Recently, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Member of the House, Science, Space and Technology Committee, attended a joint European Union (EU) – United States (US) conference hosted by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) on, “Building a Transatlantic Scientific Bridge.” She was invited to participate by Mr. Dominique Ristori, the Director General of the JRC. The purpose of the conference was to foster dialogue and coordination between EU and US policy makers, the scientific community, and standardization bodies. The topics discussed included general science policy, smart grid, science education, health information technology, and the harmonization of international standards.
In addition to participating in the day-long conference, Congresswoman Johnson met with the Ambassador of the US to the EU, Hon.William Kennard. She also met with Ms. Edit Herczog, a Member of the European Parliament who serves on the Industry, Research, and Energy Committee (ITRE).
“I believe that information exchanges such as this one are incredibly important and beneficial to us all, because the vast majority of the challenges we face as policymakers are global in nature. In addition to the important role science and technology can play in helping us to solve big global challenges, science does and must continue to underpin regulatory policies that will ensure our citizens will continue to have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink now and far into the future,” said Congresswoman Johnson in her remarks on the panel “Science for better policies: scientific support to policy making.”
Also participating from the U.S. were representatives from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the National Science Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Ford Motor Company.
