The president's budget request for fiscal 2021 proposed $738 million to fund the National Institutes of Science and Technology, a dramatic reduction from the more than $1 billion in enacted funds allocated for the agency this fiscal year. The House Science, Space and Technology Committee's Research and Technology Subcommittee on Wednesday held a hearing to hone in on NIST's reauthorization--but instead of focusing on relevant budget considerations, lawmakers had other plans. "We're disappointed by the president's destructive budget request, which proposes over a 30% cut to NIST programs," Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., said at the top of the hearing. "But today, I don't want to dwell on a proposal that we know Congress is going to reject ... today I would like this committee to focus on improving NIST and getting the agency the tools it needs to do better, to do its job." Per Stevens' suggestion, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Walter Copan reflected on some of the agency's dire needs and offered updates and his view on a range of its ongoing programs and efforts.