University Research Funding Cut in Defense Appropriations Bill; AIP Letter

After 15 minutes of consideration before recessing for the July 4th holiday, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 4650, the Defense Appropriations Bill for FY 1995. Contained in this bill is a provision cutting university research funding by 50% from the Clinton Administration’s request of $1.8 billion (see FYI #91.) The bill is now before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which is scheduled to mark it up on or about July 26. The House and Senate subcommittees will then go to conference to resolve differences between the two versions of the bill, which is expected to occur in September.

Responding to the $900 million cut in university research funding, the Executive Director of AIP, Marc H. Brodsky, and the Chairman of the AIP Governing Board, Roland W. Schmitt, sent the following letter to Senate appropriations subcommittee chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) on July 12:

“Dear Mr. Chairman:

“This letter is to request that your subcommittee carefully consider and restore the 50 percent reduction made by the House of Representatives in defense research, development, test and evaluation funding contained in H.R. 4650. If not restored, the resulting loss to our strategic national security position would be considerable, both in the short and long term. Further, such a cut would have a devastating effect on academic research relevant to industry and defense.

“We are the Chairman of the Governing Board and Executive Director of the American Institute of Physics, an umbrella organization of ten leading physics and astronomy societies numbering over 100,000 scientists. We are writing to you as concerned citizens with years of experience in industry, academia, and defense-related organizations. We speak for ourselves and convey a sense of concern from most members of our Governing Board and the physics community.

“Budget constraints make it imperative that our nation’s defense money be spent on systems offering our armed services technological superiority over hostile forces. Time and time again, advances made in physics-related fields such as the materials sciences, optics and lasers have given our troops the very best equipment on the battlefield, whether this be on the ground, at sea, or in the air. The investment which our nation makes today in research will provide our armed services the critical edge needed in future conflicts. We cannot rely on current technologies developed mainly for bilateral global confrontations as the US prepares for the variety of different conflicts in the post-cold war environment. Cutting this money as the House has done places America’s technological advantage on future battlefields at significant risk.

“We understand that shrinking defense budgets make it very difficult to balance all of the programs under your subcommittee’s jurisdiction. We very much appreciate your efforts as subcommittee chairman, and hope that you will call on us if we can be of any assistance.”