Administration Releases Policy Statement: “Science in the National Interest”

At a White House ceremony on August 3, Vice President Al Gore, flanked by OSTP Director John Gibbons, NSF Director Neal Lane, NIH Director Harold Varmus, and OSTP Associate Director M.R.C. Greenwood, released a report outlining the administration’s strong support for fundamental research. Entitled, “Science in the National Interest,” this 31-page report is a reexamination of the rationale and outlook for federal support of science.

Vice President Gore’s remarks centered on two announcements, the release of the report, and the naming of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (to be covered in a future FYI.) Gore noted that the report was the first presidential statement on science policy in 15 years. He gave a forceful presentation on the importance of science to society, saying “technology is the engine of economic growth; science fuels technology’s engine.”

The report draws on a two-day Forum on Science in the National Interest convened in Washington, D.C. in early 1994. The forum’s two hundred participants were drawn from universities, industry, laboratories, professional societies, and government.

In his remarks, Gibbons discussed the importance of research being “responsive to national goals,” while retaining the core values around which fundamental research is conducted. Investment in science was characterized as a national priority, Gibbons saying that it is on the president’s “A list.” In answering a question about Senator Barbara Mikulski’s position on strategic research, he said that more needs to be done to build bridges between the scientific culture and other parts of American society. The science community, he said, needs to speak of its relevance to the American taxpayer. By doing so effectively, the community will be both stronger and more relevant.

Greenwood, Associate Director for Science, OSTP, described the report in two ways. She sees it as a document for “long-term R&D positioning.” One of the report’s more important conclusions is that non-defense R&D should increase significantly (see FYI #121.) In the current budgetary climate, this will be, she said, “not an easy journey.” Greenwood also called the report a “call to arms” to mobilize coalitions as was done in the early 1960s, to build on America’s strong scientific base, ranging from our nation’s research laboratories to its school classrooms.

Major conclusions of the report are summarized in FYI #121; reactions to the report will follow in future issues.