|
03.07
IEEE-USA Works to Sustain Federal Investments in Research & Development
By Bill Williams
On 15 February, President Bush signed into law a stop-gap
spending measure that will keep the government running for the
remainder of the fiscal year. Last year, in the culmination of a contentious
legislative session beset by partisan politics and election-year
squabbling, the Republican controlled Congress failed to pass nine
of eleven spending bills for Fiscal Year 2007 forcing Congress to
pass a temporary “continuing resolution,” or CR, since then to keep
the federal government operating. (Only the Department of Defense
and the Department of Homeland Security spending bills were passed
and signed into law.) The current Continuing Resolution, which was
set to expire on 15 February, essentially freezes funding at the
FY2006 levels.
Leaders of the new Democratic controlled Congress, which will soon be tasked with crafting spending bills for FY2008, do not
want to be burdened with trying to tackle two spending bills at the
same time. The solution was to pass a long-term, catch-all $463.5
billion spending bill that extends to the end of the fiscal year in
October, and keeps nearly all funding at the FY2006 levels. With
inflation, this effectively would amount to an across-the-board cut
for all federal agencies, including those funding science and
engineering research and development (R&D) projects like the
National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE)
and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST).
These effective cuts could create serious hardships at
these agencies. For example, the Department of Energy Office of Science, which is
the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical
sciences in the United States, would face the potential
loss of at least 650 researchers, students and staff, the total loss
of operations at two to three facilities for one year, and significant
reductions of operations at eight to eleven more facilities.
In a statement released on 4 January, Department of Energy
Secretary Under Secretary for Science, Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, warned
that a year-long Continuing Resolution that froze funding for
science and technology would “take away many of the opportunities
for advancing science in America.” Echoing the concerns of many in
the science and engineering communities, Secretary Orbach urged
Congress to “continue critical investments in America's scientific
leadership that will lead to profound benefits in promoting our
nation's competitive edge in the years to come.”
The National Science Foundation, likewise, would feel the brunt of
an across-the-board freeze on all spending, especially in the
cyberinfrastructure and Major Research Equipment (MRE) budgets
because the CR would foreclose any new projects that had been slated
for this year.
Fortunately, the planned Continuing Resolution canceled unobligated
balances from the previous year and explicitly eliminated all
Congressional “earmarks,” or funds set aside by a legislator for
particular projects, usually in their Congressional district. This
had the beneficial effect of freeing up nearly $10 billion, which
Congressional leaders intend to use to address “critical investment
needs.” However, with most of that money being planned for such
high-profile priorities such as health care for veterans, public
health and education programs and defense projects, precious little
would be left over for any other priority projects. The monumental
challenge to the science and engineering community was to make a
compelling case to Congressional leaders that investments in science
and engineering research and development is a high enough priority
for the country to warrant an increase in the Continuing Resolution.
IEEE-USA President John W. Meredith weighed in on the potential
impact of the CR on science and engineering R&D in a letter to
Congressional leaders and urged Congress to increase funding for
several key agencies. “IEEE-USA believes that in order for the
United States to remain the leader in the emerging global
marketplace, the United States must develop and implement policies that will
sustain U.S. technological leadership and encourage the development
of a skilled, creative and competitive work force.” To accomplish
this goal, said Meredith, “the United States needs sustained
commitment for supporting fundamental research in the physical
sciences and for improving education, training and lifelong learning
in math, science and engineering.”
Additionally, IEEE-USA joined over 35 other business, university and
science and engineering organizations in a joint letter to Congress
urging increased funding for these agencies. IEEE-USA President
Elect Dr. Russell Lefevre and Vice President for Technology Policy
Dr. Clifford Lau also met with key Congressional staff members to
make the case in person.
Congress was apparently sufficiently swayed by the argument by the
science and engineering community, as the Continuing Resolution
contained an increase of $335 million for the National Science
Foundation, $200 million for the DOE’s Office of Science, and $50
million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Although these funding figures fall short of what was called for in
last year’s FY07 budget request for these agencies, they do represent
much needed relief for the beleaguered agencies. Dr. Lau commented
on the boost, “The partial funding increase in the CR for NSF, DOE,
and NIST is the first step towards the doubling of basic science
research funding to ensure our country’s science and technology
leadership in the global competition.”
Bill Williams is
IEEE-USA's legislative representative for technology policy
activities. Comments may be submitted
to todaysengineer@ieee.org.
|
E-mail
this page