Resource: Updated North Carolina congressional district map
The Office of Federal Affairs (OFA) has posted an updated North Carolina congressional delegation map for the 118th Congress, with the hope that it will serve as a helpful resource for the University community. OFA thanks the Office of Research Communications for creating this map and updating it to reflect the new delegation and districts.
House & Senate Committee assignments announced
In early February, Senate leadership formally announced membership for Senate committees, and remaining House committee assignments were finalized. Committee action will now begin to ramp up as committee leadership sets their policy priorities for the 118th Congress. Below is a list of congressional committees of key importance to the Carolina community with notations where North Carolina has representation. Federal Affairs will continue to update its website with committee assignments for the entire N.C. congressional delegation.
Key Committees – 118th Congress
U.S. Senate
- Appropriations: tasked with drafting all 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the federal government for each fiscal year
- Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: jurisdiction encompasses legislative measures relating to education, labor, health, and public welfare *Senator Ted Budd (R)
- Commerce, Science and Transportation: wide-ranging policy jurisdiction over legislation related to science, space, transportation, ocean/atmospheric activities, telecom, sports, and more *Senator Ted Budd (R)
- Finance: oversees matters relating to taxation, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and student loans, among others *Senator Thom Tillis (R)
- Judiciary: provides oversight of the Department of Justice and the agencies under the department’s jurisdiction, executive nominations to a variety of federal positions, and Supreme Court nominations *Senator Thom Tillis (R)
U.S. House of Representatives
- Appropriations: tasked with drafting all 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the federal government for each fiscal year
- Education and the Workforce: oversees programs that affect all Americans, from early learning and higher education to job training and retirement security *Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05), Alma Adams (D-NC-12), Kathy Manning (D-NC-06)
- Energy and Commerce: responsible for matters including telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health and research, environmental quality, energy policy, and interstate and foreign commerce, among others *Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC-09)
- Ways and Means: oversees matters relating to taxation, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and student loans, among others *Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC-03)
- Science, Space, and Technology: jurisdiction over all research and development related to energy, space, science, and atmosphere, among others *Reps. Deborah Ross (D-NC-02), Valerie Foushee (D-NC-04), Jeff Jackson (D-NC-14)
White House announces details on U.S.-India Technology Initiative
On January 31, the White House released a fact sheet about the United States-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology. As described in the fact sheet, this new initiative intends to “elevate and expand” the “strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions” of the two countries.
Federal stakeholders involved in this effort include officials from the National Security Council, NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, and other U.S. and Indian agencies. The fact sheet also outlines several new bilateral initiatives, including a new partnership agreement between the NSF and Indian science agencies and joint coordination on quantum, artificial intelligence, defense, space, and advanced telecommunications.
In addition, the establishment of a new task force being led by the Association of American Universities (AAU), of which UNC-Chapel Hill is a member, will bring together university research and higher education leaders from the U.S. and India to draft recommendations that will work to expand U.S.-India research and higher education alliances. AAU President Barbara R. Snyder released a statement yesterday on the creation of the new task force and said that “AAU is proud to work with our Indian counterparts to expand U.S.-Indian research and educational collaboration.”