Senator Wyden advocated for the passage of the bill by arguing that "taxpayer funded research should never be hidden behind a paywall.

[8] The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs unanimously approved the bill on July 29, 2015.

It was the first time that the bill or any of its predecessors had gained committee approval and been forwarded to a full house of Congress.

[10][11] Days after FASTR was introduced in 2013, the Executive Branch's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memorandum that "hereby directs each Federal agency with over $100 million in annual conduct of research and development expenditures to develop a plan to support increased public access to the results of research funded by the Federal Government.

"[12] The change was in part prompted by an online Whitehouse petition to "Require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research.