Clinton Administration Seeks Additional Money for NSF
Earlier this week National Science Foundation Director Walter Massey appeared before the House VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee requesting an additional $207 million for current year operations. This request is a component of a $16.3 billion supplemental bill pending before Congress to create 500,000 new jobs. This legislation is part of a much larger, multi-year economic package submitted to Congress by President Clinton. Tuesday’s hearing was the first chaired by the new subcommittee chairman, Louis Stokes (D-Ohio.)
Under this request, $112 million would be used to fully fund (to NSF’s original FY 1993 request) five strategic research initiatives. These initiatives are in the areas of advanced manufacturing, global change research, materials research, biotechnology, and high performance computing and communications. Massey noted that $19 million of the high performance computing money would be “targeted for networking and computer applications that can help address problems in health care, education, manufacturing, and access to library information.”
In addition, NSF would provide $85 million for what Massey described as “curiosity-driven research activities.” An attachment to his testimony noted that the requested $85 million would “restore funding for Research and Related Activities [R&RA] to roughly the level that was requested for FY 1993.” While this budget would increase by $197.4 million, this figure is still $155.1 million short of the FY 1993 request. The R&RA activities budget is now $13 million below the 1992 level.
If the supplemental request is approved by Congress, funding for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (within the R&RA category) would increase by $40.55 million to $660.49 million. Astronomy and physics research money is provided under this category. Geosciences funding would increase by $43.78 million to $445.66 million. Massey testified that “in many cases, these funds will be used to enhance existing awards so that we can more fully enable the conduct of the research we support.”
Also requested is $4.7 million “for the development and acquisition, on a cost-sharing basis, of major instruments needed in university-based scientific and engineering research.” No new money is requested for Education & Human Resources, which was questioned by Rep. Ray Thornton (D-Ark).
Congressional Democrats and the Clinton Administration are trying to get the entire supplemental request approved by early April. Republicans are questioning the use of this special legislative mechanism which was intended, as they see it, for emergencies such as hurricanes or earthquakes. Rep. Dean A. Gallo (R-NJ) asked Massey, “where does the emergency exist?”, a question Gallo said he was asking all witnesses. He remarked that the 2,400 jobs which NSF estimates would be created this year by their supplemental request would be “very expensive jobs.” More should be known about the outlook for this legislation in the near future.
