Space, Science & Innovation

Science needs a seat at the table

A former geologist and a member of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Senator Hickenlooper has made it a priority to unleash Colorado’s economic innovation capabilities, restore science as an objective and nonpartisan voice in our policymaking, and maintain America’s global leadership in cutting-edge research. 

FIGHTING ATTACKS ON SCIENCE

As the only peer-reviewed scientist in the U.S. Senate, Senator Hickenlooper has fiercely defended science and continues to fight efforts by the Trump administration to undermine American innovation, settled science on vaccines, and federal funding for life-saving medical research. 

In the aftermath of the Trump administration’s abrupt announcement that they would dismantle the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR)  in Boulder, Senator Hickenlooper led a mobilization campaign to ring the alarm on the damaging consequences to America’s agriculture, national security, natural disaster response, and more. He took to the Senate floor, protested with scientists and Coloradans, and held up a funding package for weeks in support of funding for NCAR. 

MAKING COLORADO THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION, RESEARCH, AND QUANTUM TECH

Senator Hickenlooper helped write and pass the CHIPS and Science Act, which has invested $52 billion to grow the U.S. semiconductor industry, reinvigorate American manufacturing, lower costs, and create thousands of good-paying jobs. Here in Colorado, we’ve already received over hundreds of millions in federal investments to boost our semiconductor and manufacturing facilities. 

But the CHIPS and Science Act isn’t just delivering funding, it also established key innovation hubs, called Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs, to accelerate regions that are already on the leading edge of developing tech of the future. By boosting these emerging leaders, we’ll help make sure America remains the global leader in tech. Senator Hickenlooper advocated for Colorado’s selection as an official U.S. Regional Tech Hub, with our state receiving $40.5 million in federal funding to build the nation’s leading quantum ecosystem. This historic investment from the Hickenlooper-negotiated CHIPS + Science Act will activate additional commitments of $74 million in state funding and over $1 billion in private capital to establish Colorado as the Silicon Valley of the quantum era. 

Colorado also welcomed a first-ever U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Innovation Engine headquartered in Colorado to boost our leadership in science and technology. The Colorado-Wyoming NSF Engine has initially received up to $15 million CHIPS + Science Act funding for two years and will compete for future NSF investments over the next decade.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: EMBRACING THE FUTURE, PROTECTING CONSUMERS

Senator Hickenlooper knows that we’re at a historic inflection point with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and society. AI has already transformed our economy and our daily lives but has the potential to displace huge numbers of workers if we aren’t careful of the way we steer it. He believes Congress should help encourage collaboration and build trust between the public and AI industry to make sure AI systems are transparent, protect consumer data, and made with democratic values and individual freedom in mind. 

As the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy, Senator Hickenlooper has proposed AI auditing standards in his Validation and Evaluation for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (VET AI) Act  and laid out a framework on AI regulation to ensure transparency and user literacy, protect consumer data, and build an international coalition around the development and use of AI. Clear, defined auditing practices – like the financial audits companies undertake – for both classical AI systems and Generative AI systems would increase trust between industry and the public without hampering innovation.

He has also chaired hearings to explore policies that would increase trustworthiness of AI in high-risk industries and to consider how employers and workers can best prepare for the widespread integration of AI with our workforce.

SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER ISN’T A STRANGER IN COLORADO

As home to the nation’s largest aerospace workforce per capita, Colorado is a leader in both commercial and national security space industries. Senator Hickenlooper is focused on making sure our state continues to lead the way in space innovation. He led the passage of a bipartisan law to modernize our space industry’s communications capabilities to make sure the U.S. remains a global leader in space. He also helped pass legislation out of the Senate to address the space debris threatening critical satellites as commercial space travel advances. 

Senator Hickenlooper has advocated for NASA to have a long-term strategic vision and funding commitment. This posture would enable the agency to plan farther into the future and undertake important research and exploratory missions that expand our understanding of everything from climate change here on earth to galaxies in the farthest reaches of our universe. 

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