White House Decries Looming R&D Cuts, But Offers No New Solution to Stalemate

With just one month left before the new fiscal year begins, the Clinton Administration stepped up its criticism of the proposed R&D funding levels in many of the FY 2000 appropriations bills. White House Chief of Staff John Podesta issued a hard-hitting statement and then took questions at an hour-long press conference yesterday at the National Press Club. Podesta had positive words about the value of R&D, negative words about the work of the Republican-led Congress, and no new words about a pragmatic solution to the budgetary stalemate.

The focus of Podesta’s remarks was the Republican tax reduction bill and the cuts the White House claims the bill is forcing in R&D funding. This is a political battle, and Podesta’s remarks were, as to be expected, political in tone. He began by describing the explorations of Lewis and Clark, and then said, “One wonders whether this Congress would have zeroed out Jefferson’s request for the Lewis and Clark Expedition.” Podesta gave high praise to the contributions that science and technology make to improving the standard of living, concluding, “It seems logical that there would be strong bipartisan support for federal investments in science and technology.” “But this year,” he added, “the Republican-led Congress - to make room for their risky tax plan - is playing politics with science and technology funding. They have proposed,” as he later enumerated, “deep cuts in many important research programs. And in so doing, they are threatening the potential progress of innovation in America.” “This is a 19th century budget for a 21st century economy,” he exclaimed, later charging, “These cuts are inconsistent with the Republic rhetoric on science and technology....We can’t build a bridge to the 21st Century with press releases and empty promises.” (Podesta said as much of the recently-passed Senate “doubling” bill, arguing that it was good for press releases, “but it doesn’t get you very far.”)

The central problem remains of finding a politically viable way to pay for all of this. There is nothing new to report on this front. Podesta gave no hint that the White House is prepared to budge on the budget caps (“you can make the numbers add up, and live within the caps.”) He spoke of the proposed revenue offsets that the President offered to Congress last winter to finance the administration’s budget request. Congressional leaders did not buy those offsets then, and except in a few cases, they are not buying them now. This is not really a question of who values R&D the most – both Republicans and Democrats say good words about it. Podesta contends Republicans “share some of the goals that we do” but their “hunger for a tax cut is so strong, they are ready to throw these programs overboard.” While a tax cut bill could have great impact on future spending, for now it is the spending caps that are doing what they are intended to do – limiting the size of the over-all FY 2000 budget.

Many encouraging things were said by Podesta about the importance of science and technology, and his raising of the profile of looming R&D cuts is very helpful. He touched on many of the same themes spoken on Capitol Hill about the value of R&D. Unfortunately, federal support for R&D is inextricably entwined in the larger battle about the size of the federal government. So far, no one is offering a politically viable way to translate this solid sentiment for R&D into solid dollars.