Recent Developments on DOD, DOE, NSF/NASA Appropriations Bills

DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL:

Resolution of the final funding level for university research and development (see FYI #103) cannot occur until the full Senate acts on H.R. 4650, the Defense Appropriations Bill. There is speculation that the Senate may defer action until after the summer recess, the start of which could be delayed by consideration of health care legislation. A committee aide could only say today that the bill is not on the Senate calendar, and that they are waiting anxiously for a date. Following full Senate consideration, conferees will be appointed for both the House and Senate (see FYI #117.)

ENERGY APPROPRIATIONS BILL:

Yesterday afternoon, House and Senate conferees agreed to provide $42 million in design funding for Princeton’s Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX) in H.R. 4506, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill. No construction money is included.

The House version of this legislation allocated $21 million for design and $45 million for TPX construction. Senate committee chairman J. Bennett Johnston has been pressuring his Senate and House colleagues to pass a fusion authorization bill before construction money is allocated (see FYI #100.) Earlier this week the House science committee voted to send such a bill to the House floor, a development which will be reported on in a future FYI.

The conferees also agreed on a $65 million settlement with the State of Texas following the termination of the Superconducting Super Collider. This money will be used to convert a linear accelerator at the SSC lab for cancer treatment. Besides this payment, DOE agreed to other settlement provisions.

Finally, the conferees terminated the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor. In the last two years, the House of Representatives voted three times to kill this program. Johnston said that he would try to bring the reactor back in the future.

Further details of the conference report language for H.R. 4506 will be provided in future FYIs.

NSF/NASA APPROPRIATIONS BILL: The way has been cleared for House and Senate conferees to settle on a final version of H.R. 4624, the VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill. Yesterday the full Senate gave its approval to this legislation. Among the details to be ironed out is the allocation for NSF’s Research and Related Activities budget. The Senate version of this bill provides $83 million more than the House bill. Conferees have not yet been appointed.