Office of Science and Technology Policy
For Immediate Release Contact: 202/456-6047 |
August 6, 1999 |
Statement
of Neal Lane
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
At
the beginning of the FY 2000 budget debate last February, bipartisan support for
strong, stable investment in science and technology never seemed more resilient.
The President submitted a balanced budget that, for the seventh year in a
row, requested a substantial increase in civilian research and development
funding. The House had just
released Unlocking
our Future: Toward a New National Science Policy, reaffirming a
commitment to America's preeminence in science and technology.
Additionally, the House was considering legislation that would
dramatically increase funding for information technology research - also an
Administration goal, and the Senate had endorsed legislation to double civilian
R&D funding over the next 11 years.
Today, as the Congress goes into its August recess, it is deeply disappointing to find that the current budget reality is no match for the early rhetoric. House action to date has decimated the President's R&D budget request with:
· 70% cuts to the Information Technology Initiative;
· $1.8 billion cuts from the President's civilian R&D request;
· $1 billion cuts to NASA's budget that threaten 30 space missions, slash space and earth science programs, and defer Shuttle safety improvements and critical Space Station capabilities; and
·
Cuts to the National Science Foundation ($275
million) and the Department of Energy's science programs ($116 million)
threaten university-based research funding affecting tens of thousands of
researchers and educators, impacting students at all levels across the country,
and sending a negative message to all young people about a future career in
science and technology.
Scientists and engineers constitute one of the largest, most valuable, yet least heard constituencies in America. Their work makes major contributions to our economy, to our national security, and to the health and well being of our citizens and our environment. Our elected representatives need to understand that investments in the future of science and technology are investments in the future of our country, and are investments that Americans are willing to make.
The truth is that all scientists and engineers, all researchers and educators represent the constituency of the future. And all of us have a duty -- to ourselves, to our children, to future generations - to ensure that Congress does the right thing by enacting a strong, farsighted science and technology budget to help build a better America for the twenty-first century.
I am confident that this situation can be turned around if America's research community makes its strong voice heard in the days ahead; otherwise, if such cuts are allowed to stand, we will all be leading lesser lives in a lesser land.
President Clinton reflects the views of the overwhelming majority of Americans when he says, "Cutting back on research at the dawn of a new century where research is more important than it has been for even the last fifty years would be like cutting back our defense budget at the height of the Cold War."
INNOVATIONS
IN 21ST
CENTURY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
IMPERILED
BY 20TH
CENTURY BUDGETS
FY
2000 is the seventh year in a row that the President and Vice President have
proposed increased investments in civilian research and development (R&D).
Congress
is now headed in exactly the wrong direction - towards substantial reductions
in civilian R&D, not just in FY 2000, but as far as the eye can see.
Current
R&D appropriations measures threaten the economic future of this country.
In the last fifty years, half of U.S. economic
productivity is directly attributable to technological innovation and the
science that supported it. Today,
leaders call for bipartisan support for investments in science and technology,
but cannot reconcile rhetoric with reality.
Members sponsor authorizations to double funding for R&D, yet vote
for historic cuts to R&D. Such
hypocrisy will keep the U.S. firmly anchored in the past, while
global competitors capture the innovative capacity that will mean prosperity in
the 21st century.
Double the
annual amount of Federal funding for basic scientific, medical, and
engineering research over 11 years. (S.296) |
Cut 8-10% off the President's civilian
R&D request for FY 2000. Cut $75-90 billion from R&D over the next
10 years to pay for the tax cut. |
Double basic
S&T research programs in information technology (IT) by FY 2004. (H.R.
2086) |
Zero out IT funding for DOE. Cut 70% from President's request for IT
Initiative at NSF, NASA, DOE, and DOD. |
The
hopes that such cuts to R&D can be overcome in post-recess negotiations dim
in the face of the bloated GOP tax cut.
Not only is Congress risking a return to deficit spending and threatening
Social Security and Medicare reform, they are failing to invest in the future.
The GOP tax cut plan would require cutting roughly 50 percent from
all domestic government programs
- including science and technology - jeopardizing the future well-being of
our children and grandchildren.
The
House rejects the President's proposed increased S&T investments for the
future.
|
President's
Request* |
Congressional
Action* |
Civilian
R&D |
|
|
University
Research |
|
|
Space
Exploration |
|
|
Information
Technology |
|
|
Environmental
Protection |
|
|
*compared to 1999 enacted
The
House blows up the Administration's bridge to a prosperous 21st
century.
·
House action to date cuts $1.8 billion from the President's civilian
R&D request.
·
House eliminates funding for 14,000 researchers and science and
mathematics teachers - impacting college and university students across the
nation - by cutting $275 million from the National Science Foundation.
·
House slashes DOE science funding by $116 million, threatening
cutting-edge research at universities and National Laboratories nationwide.
·
House zeroes out funding to make America's cultural and educational
assets available to all school children by cutting $20 million from the
initiative to digitize America's treasures, and provide education resources
through the Internet.
·
Action on biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health is
still to come, but, having robbed Peter to pay Paul, the Labor/HHS cupboard is
now bare. This action is in direct
conflict with Congressional rhetoric to double R&D spending.
·
House earmarks nearly $1 billion of the R&D
budget - bypassing merit review processes and potentially directing funds to
projects of lower scientific priority.
The
House stalls long-term economic growth by shortchanging information technology
investments.
·
At a time when information technology is accounting for one-third of U.S.
economic growth, and produces jobs that pay 80% more than the private sector
average, the House has cut the Administration's long-term Information
Technology Initiative by 70%. Information
technology is the key to growth in every economic sector, and spurs the pace of
discovery in every scientific discipline.
NSF
down $111 million.
DOD
down $40 million.
NASA
down $18 million.
DOE
down $75 million for high-end computing and Next Generation Internet.
The
House takes giant leap backward, abandons exploration of space - the last
frontier.
·
$1 billion cut devastates NASA space programs forcing largest
restructuring in over 25 years, threatening 30 space missions.
·
500-600 grants nationwide will be eliminated with $240 million cut to
space science.
·
House reduction of $285 million will terminate earth science programs
that could lead to more accurate weather forecasting, and better urban and
transportation planning.
·
$250 million cut in human space flight budget defers Shuttle safety
improvements and critical Space Station capabilities.
The
Administration spurs economic growth with steady R&D investments, but an
indifferent House drags its feet.
·
House zeroes out Advanced Technology Program - cuts $240 million from
development of cutting edge technologies from competitive, cost-shared R&D
partnerships.
·
Additional $60 million cut at NIST stalls progress toward the high-tech
industry standards that spur the economy by delaying construction
of a new standards laboratory and reducing standards research.
·
House eliminates FAA funding for Global Positioning System (GPS) - cuts
$17 million from safety and reliability programs for civilian users.
·
House slashes Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) request
by $28 million - threatening progress toward a fuel-efficient vehicle that
could dominate world markets.
·
R&D funding on renewable energy sources cut.
Reducing fossil fuel emissions eliminated.
Cleaning up power plants blocked. Tax
breaks for Big Oil boosted. Fortune
500 companies' Business Roundtable call for developing advanced energy
technologies ignored.
·
$147 million reduction hits the Advanced Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI)
that replaces reliance on underground testing with computer simulations.
·
Laboratory Directed R&D funds cut; technology transfer programs at
National Laboratories slashed by 73%.
·
Key arms control programs cut; efforts to improve the safety of
Soviet-designed nuclear reactors blocked; Nuclear Cities Program virtually
eliminated.
A
passion for discovery and a sense of adventure have always driven this Nation
forward - and such deeply
rooted American qualities have always spurred our determination to explore new
scientific frontiers and spark our can-do spirit of technological innovation.
But continued American leadership depends on our enduring commitment to
science, to technology, to learning, and to research.
"Cutting back on research at the dawn of a new century where research is more important than it has been for even the last fifty years would be like cutting back our defense budget at the height of the Cold War."
- President Bill Clinton