The following are some of the more notable quotations that appeared
in FYI in 2005. Readers wishing to see the context of these quotations
should consult the FYI cited at http://www.aip.org/fyi/2005/
"I would hopefully be viewed as a strong voice in support of
science generally, physical sciences in particular, in the Administration."
- Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman (#10)
"Simply not appropriate. . . . " - Former Rep. John
Porter, chairman of an NAS committee on federal advisory committee appointments,
on asking political questions when recruiting members for scientific
and technology advisory committees. (#11)
"A recent study showed that American 15-year-olds ranked 27th
out of 39 countries in math literacy. I don't know about you, but I
want to be ranked first in the world, not 27th." - President
George Bush (#12)
"The budget is not flat, but pretty close." - OSTP
Director John Marburger on the FY 2006 R&D budget request sent to
the Congress (#15)
"We have fallen off the path for doubling NSF's budget, but
we must not give up." - Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) (#27)
"We at State fully, fully understand and support the whole
concept of exchange. . . and bringing in the best and brightest. . .
. We have really made an effort to try to turn cases around as quickly
as we can." - Janice Jacobs, Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Visa Affairs, U.S. Department of State (#29)
"We don't enjoy [S&T leadership] status by divine right."
- National Association of Manufacturers President John Engler (#32)
"I don't want to hold my breath." - Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen
(R-NJ) commenting on when ITER will be operational (#33)
"Appalling and disturbing." - Rep. John Culberson
(R-TX) describing NSF's grant success rate (#36)
"This is a nuclear weapon that is going to be hugely destructive
and destructive over a large area. No sane person would use a weapon
like that lightly, and I regret any impression that anybody, including
me, has given that would suggest that this is going to be any easier
a decision. . . . I do want to make it clear that any thought . . .
[that] nuclear weapons . . . aren't really destructive is just nuts."
- Ambassador Linton Brooks on RNEP ("bunker buster")
use (#37)
"The development of new weapons for ill-defined future requirements
is not what the Nation needs at this time. What is needed, and what
is absent to date, is leadership and fresh thinking for the 21st Century
regarding nuclear security and the future of the U.S. stockpile."
- Rep. David Hobson (R-OH) (#38)
"For too many Members, climate change is simply an ideological
issue, and discussing it in the House has become practically taboo.
That's just not right; scientists, other countries, and even individual
states have come to the conclusion that we have a real problem on our
hands - one with uncertainties, to be sure - but a real problem."
- Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) (#39)
"I don't doubt that science growth will have to be restrained
in this budget environment. . . . But I think we have to think long
and hard about whether it is in the long-term interest of the United
States to have a multi-year period of real dollar cuts in spending on
R&D." - Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) (#45)
"And the point is simply that the funding for science this
year is just inadequate. I recognize the tough budget, I recognize the
tough times, I recognize the military necessities we have. But we seem
to forget the important role that research and education plays in our
national defense and also in our national prosperity. . . . the money
we're putting into science is likely, for the long term, much more important
for the defense of this nation than any money we're spending this year
on the Defense budget." - Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) on the FY
2006 Administration S&T request (#45)
"While the State Department has made some very important strides
. . . there are still too many qualified students unable to get visas
to study in America, and too many who today are deterred from even applying."
- Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) (#52)
"Make no mistake, we are committed to fusion." - DOE
Office of Science Director Ray Orbach (#55)
"You are an amazing person." - Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA)
referring to Charles McQueary, Undersecretary of the Department of Homeland
Security's Science and Technology Directorate (#58)
"NASA cannot afford everything that is on its plate today."
- NASA Administrator Michael Griffin (#70)
"The time has come to sound the alarm." - Rep. Frank
Wolf (R-VA) commenting on the U.S. S&T position (#80)
"Such a step must not be taken lightly, with no hearings, no
authorizing legislation, no public input, no analysis of the implications
for nuclear proliferation, not even an analysis of the cost to taxpayers."
Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) on nuclear fuel reprocessing
"We need to make the rewards of a teaching career much greater
. . . financially, socially and culturally." - Norman Augustine
at a hearing on STEM education and competitiveness (#84)
"The death of the SSC was a catastrophe." - DOE Office
of Science Director Ray Orbach (#86)
"We are in the unpleasant circumstance of having to take from
Peter to pay Paul." - Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) in support
of his amendment to shift proposed funding from NSF to a law enforcement
program (#92)
"If we cut back the National Science Foundation, we are eating
our own seed corn, we are eroding the ability of this economy to grow,
we are weakening the ability of this society to increase human knowledge,
and we are weakening our efforts to improve health as well." -
Rep. David Obey (D-WI) on the above Weiner amendment (#92)
"I'm terribly concerned . . . that we're on track to a second-rate
economy." - Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) (#164)
"You've given us the right answers. Now it's down to us."
- Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) on the National Academies report, "Rising
Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter
Economic Future" (#164)
"I want to make clear to everyone concerned that I will do
everything in my power to kill the ITER project if there is not an agreement
by March that the domestic fusion program has to be scaled back to pay
for ITER. I am not going to allow the U.S. to enter into an international
commitment that it cannot afford. I would rather kill the ITER project.
The fusion community will have to be realistic. It cannot have all its
current projects and ITER. And it will not." - Rep. Sherwood
Boehlert (R-NY) during House debate on 11/9/05 (#167)
"It seems to me that this is a time when the Nation needs to
invest in science, not cut programs. At the Jefferson Lab we need to
invest in the 12GeV upgrade necessary to sustain the pace of scientific
discovery, not cut programs." - Senator John Warner (R-VA)
on the FY 2005 DOE nuclear physics program budget reduction (#168)
"While NASA may have relatively smooth sailing right now, we
ignore the clouds on the horizon at our own peril . . . . There is simply
not enough money in NASA's budget to carry out all of the tasks it is
undertaking on the current schedule. That's a fact." - Rep.
Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) (#169)
"I'm worried that NASA is going to have great difficulty in
keeping a vital and robust set of space and earth science missions on
track in a tightly-constrained NASA budgetary environment. I hope I'm
wrong, because these science programs, as well as the university research
activities that they support, are in many ways NASA's crown jewels in
the eyes of the general public." - Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) (#169)
"How science will fare, both within the Administration and
in Congress, depends on us, on you and me, and our ability to convince
this nation of the importance of science." - DOE Office
of Science Director Ray Orbach (#56)
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