Space Station Developments; DOD Research Funding Cut; DOE Funding Bill
On Wednesday, the full House Appropriations Committee approved, intact, the VA/HUD/Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill and sent it on to the House floor. The bill provides $2.1 billion for the space station.
The space station received good news yesterday when Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) announced he would vote for the project. Sensenbrenner had expressed great misgivings about Russian involvement in key components of the station (see FYI #63), and could have caused significant erosion in Republican support. Sensenbrenner said yesterday that he was satisfied with changes made in the station so that “it will no longer be a space station that depends on Russia for survival, but will instead benefit from Russia’s vast space experience and technical ability.” Instrumental in winning his support was a June 22 letter from President Clinton which said, "...in keeping with the concerns raised by you and other Members of the House and Senate, I want to assure you that the United States will maintain in-line autonomous U.S. flight and life support capability during all phases of station assembly.”
Sensenbrenner said NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin assured him that the station “would stay on time and on budget” with the full $2.1 billion appropriation. Referring to speculation that the Senate may cut this appropriation, Sensenbrenner warned, “A cut to the $2.1 billion will cause a schedule slip, a program stretch-out, and a cost over-run much greater than any short-term savings that could be gained. Cutting the space station budget to get through this year will kill the program next year.”
Meanwhile, station opponents are stepping up efforts for their amendment to eliminate space station funding. Rep. Tim Roemer (D-IN) announced a change in strategy from last year, saying that money saved by eliminating the station would go to other NASA projects.
H.R. 4624, the VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill, is scheduled to be voted on by the full House on Tuesday, June 28.
DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL:
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense has cut DOD’s request for university research and development for FY 1995. The request of $1.8 billion was reduced by 50% to $900 million, with savings applied to military readiness and personnel living and working conditions improvements. The reasons for this cut, according to the Washington Post, range from displeasure over attempts to reduce earmarking to concerns about waste and abuse.
Observers predict these cuts would be very damaging to university engineering schools and physical and computer science departments, resulting in faculty layoffs and the closing down of research efforts.
The Defense Appropriations Bill is also scheduled for House floor action beginning on or after next Tuesday, when an amendment could be offered to restore the eliminated funding.
ENERGY APPROPRIATIONS BILL:
Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of H.R. 4506, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill for FY 1995. The bill, like its House counterpart, does not contain the administration’s $180 million request for additional SSC termination funding. This seals the fate of this request. Additional details on this bill will provided when the accompanying committee report is available.
A correction in FYI #90: The Swett amendment to terminate TPX funding was rejected by voice vote. The amendment to terminate funding for the Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor was rejected by a recorded vote of 188-241.
