House Passes Major Science Authorization Bill
The House has passed and sent on to the Senate H.R. 2405, the Omnibus Civilian Science Authorization Act of 1995. With a few exceptions, the bill which is now before the Senate is as described in FYIs #137 - 140, 143, and 144.
The House of Representatives considered this bill on October 11 and 12. Numerous amendments were debated, some of which were adopted. Among the most important was an amendment offered by House Science Committee Chairman Robert Walker (R-PA.) When H.R. 2405 was originally drafted by the Science Committee, the Department of Energy was only authorized for Fiscal Year 1996 (which started on October 1.) Under Walker’s floor amendment, FY 1997 authorization levels were proposed for four major DOE activities. After much debate, this amendment was passed by a voice vote. Authorization bills provide permission to spend up to a specified level. Appropriations bills provide the actual money for a program. Included in Walker’s floor amendment is an FY 1997 authorization level for General Science and Research Activities of $950.00 million. The FY 1996 authorization level is $1,006.51 million. Under Walker’s amendment the authorization level declines by $56.50 million, or -5.6%. This activity provides money for High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics Research.
Walker’s amendment also authorizes $2,600.00 million for Energy Supply Research and Development Activities in FY 1997, which includes fusion and basic energy sciences research. The FY 1996 authorization for this category is $2,148.20 million. Under this amendment, the authorization level increases by $451.78 million, or +21%. The manner in which this additional money is to be used is not specified.
Debate on this bill was contentious at times, with Democrats criticizing the manner in which H.R. 2405 was brought to the House floor. Republicans and Democrats traded charges about the merits of the bill, whether it enhanced or diminished federal support of science and technology, the relationship between authorization and appropriations legislation, and the importance of the bill in setting science policy and funding levels. Chairman Walker and House Science Committee Ranking Minority Member George Brown (D-CA) framed the debate on many of these issues.
During House consideration of the National Science Foundation title (or section) of the bill, only one amendment was offered, by Brown. It was accepted by voice vote, and permits a higher authorization level for the foundation under certain circumstances. While there were a number of amendments concerning the NASA title of the bill, none were directly related to space science.
In addition to the Walker amendment to the Department of Energy title described above, there were a series of amendments to reduce staffing levels at national laboratories. The first amendment by Rep. Tim Roemer (D-IN) would have cut the number of employees by 33% within five years. This amendment was rejected by a vote of 135-yes to 286-no. Rep. Bill Richardson (D-NM) tried to soften this amendment with one of his own that would have reduced employment levels by 15% over five years. This was also rejected by a vote of 147-yes to 274-no. Rep. Scott Klug (R-WI) offered an amendment, defeated by voice vote, requiring DOE to sell all of its laboratories except for Los Alamos and Sandia, and perhaps Lawrence Livermore. At the conclusion of the debate on the DOE title, Walker stated, for the record, that the Science Committee supports the university-based accelerator program.
During House deliberation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration title of the bill, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) was successful in gaining support for an amendment stating that “nothing in this Act shall preclude NOAA from carrying out studies of long term climate and global change.” Another Lofgren amendment to allow EPA to engage in research on climate change assessment failed by a vote of 199-yes to 215-no. Although there was discussion about the other titles of the bill, no amendments were adopted directly affecting physics related portions of the legislation.
Brown offered the last amendment to the bill, which would have substituted his version of H.R. 2405 for that written by the House Science Committee. Brown offered brief remarks about this amendment, and a roll call voted was taken. Brown’s substitute failed by a vote of 177-yes to 229-no on almost a strict party line basis. The House then went on to pass H.R. 2405 by a vote of 248-yes, 161-no, which was largely a party-line vote.
This bill now must be considered by several Senate subcommittees, with most observers predicting that the Senate will not act on the legislation. This does not entirely preclude any further action on this bill, as the possibility exists that it could be attached to other must-pass legislation. The Clinton Administration has sent strong signals that the President will veto this bill if presented to him in the current form.
