The focus was more on ‘competition’ than on ‘innovation’ Tuesday as the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation convened a hearing looking at the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act a year after its passage.

The U.S. Senate Apropriations Committee calls for a National Science Foundation budget just a hair below what the House has asked for. Both houses’ requests are far above what the president has requested.

Howard Silver looks back over the career of the longest-serving woman in the U.S. Congress and how her role as appropriator influenced policy decisions on social science wants and needs.