House Appropriations VA/HUD Subcommittee Named

Members have been named to the subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee for the 103rd Congress. Of major interest to scientists and science educators is the Subcommittee on Veterans’ Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies, which has jurisdiction over funding for the National Science Foundation and NASA. On the other side of Capitol Hill, the Senate has determined the membership of its major committees, but it has not yet announced final subcommittee assignments.

The VA/HUD/IA subcommittee has a very different look this year. Five members are new to the subcommittee, although none are freshmen: two Democrats (Torres and Thornton) and all three Republicans. Both the Chairman and Ranking Republican have changed. The chairmanship has been taken over by Louis Stokes (D-Ohio), a long-standing member of the subcommittee (see FYI#156, 1992 for a profile on Stokes.) The nine members of this subcommittee will have a major role in determining the NSF and NASA budgets for the fiscal year starting October 1.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA/HUD/IA:

Louis Stokes (D-Ohio) Jerry Lewis (R-CA)

Chairman Ranking Republican

Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) Tom DeLay (R-TX)

Jim Chapman (D-TX) Dean A. Gallo (R-NJ)

Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)

Esteban E. Torres (D-CA)

Ray Thornton (D-AR)

The appropriations committees in the House and Senate are some of the most powerful committees, and some of the most desired committee assignments, in Congress. In theory, appropriations committees dole out federal funds to agencies and programs that have been approved by the corresponding authorizing committees. In reality, however, the appropriators have most of the power because they control the purse strings, and often substitute their own favorite projects for funding. The power struggle between authorizers and appropriators will be visible later this year: The National Science Foundation is due for re-authorization by the House Science Committee, chaired by Rep. George Brown (D-California.)

The fiscal year 1994 appropriations process will begin when President Clinton submits a budget request to Congress, probably in mid-March. The House appropriations subcommittees then respond with their own budget bills, followed by the Senate. When both the House and Senate have passed their versions, selected members meet in conference to iron out the differences in each bill, before final passage.