DC Insight - 9/22/23

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Major university athletic directors urge Congress to pass NIL legislation: 'Wild West'
Washington Examiner – September 20, 2023
College athletics experts and stakeholders urged Congress to enact legislation regulating the so-called "Name, Image, and Likeness" market in college sports during a hearing of the House Small Business Committee Wednesday.

Why there are no heroes in this shutdown showdown
Roll Call – September 22, 2023The Constitution’s language is clear about the legislative branch controlling the federal purse strings. But, as the old adage puts it: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
Neither chamber of the legislative branch has done much drinking from the River Appropriations this year, with both the House and Senate struggling to even garner the votes to check procedural boxes to start debate on spending bills.

Defense appropriations rule goes down, again
Roll Call – September 21, 2023
House Republicans on Thursday fell short, 212-216, on an attempt to begin floor consideration on the fiscal 2024 Defense appropriations bill for the third time in recent days as a handful of lawmakers split from their party, collapsing the GOP’s razor thin margin as Democrats remained united against the legislation.

NIFA Invests $4.1 Million to Study the Social Impacts of Innovation in Agriculture
NIFA – September 20, 2023
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced an investment of  $4.1 Million to Study the Social Impacts of Innovation in Agriculture. Included in the seven awardees was the University of Missouri.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks Announces $238M CHIPS and Science Act Award
U.S. Department of Defense – September 20, 2023
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced the award today of $238 million in "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act" funding for the establishment of eight Microelectronics Commons (Commons) regional innovation hubs.

The eight awardees are:

1. Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub
2. Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons (SCMC) Hub
3. California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (California DREAMS) Hub
4. Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (CLAWS) Hub
5. Southwest Advanced Prototyping (SWAP) Hub
6. Midwest Microelectronics Consortium (MMEC) Hub
7. Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH)
8. California-Pacific-Northwest AI Hardware Hub (Northwest-AI Hub)