AIP FYI #49: Your Input Needed – Congressional Moves to Increase DOE and NSF Funding

Constituents with an interest in the National Science Foundation and the
Department of Energy’s Office of Science have two new opportunities to
contact their Members of Congress. A bill has just been introduced in the
Senate that authorizes increases in the budget for the Office of Science.
In the House, a letter to key appropriators is being circulated that
recommends substantially higher funding for the National Science Foundation.
Both of these time-sensitive efforts will fall short unless constituents
act.

It is easy to send an electronic message to your Members of Congress. Both
the House and Senate have web sites that identify your Members and provide
links to e-mail forms.
The Senate site is:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
The House site is: http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Security protocols for U.S. mail are time-consuming. Since time is of the
essence, e-mail your message. For tips on communicating with Congress, see
the AIP site at: http://www.aip.org/gov/nb1.html

DOE OFFICE OF SCIENCE:

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will consider the
Research and Development title of its comprehensive energy bill on April 29.
Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), the committee’s chairman, is a strong
supporter of the Department of Energy and its science programs.

The full House of Representatives started consideration of comparable
legislation yesterday. This bill, H.R. 6, contains the provisions of an
authorization bill passed earlier by the House Science Committee. (See
http://www.aip.org/enews/fyi/2003/047.html for information on this bill.)

Yesterday, Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Jeff
Bingaman (D-NM), and John Warner (R-VA) introduced a yet-unnumbered bill to
increase the annual authorization levels for the Office of Science. Their
strategy is to demonstrate widespread support for a much larger budget for
the Office of Science by obtaining many more Senate cosponsors for their
bill before the April 29 Energy Committee mark up. Congress will be on
spring recess for the next two weeks. The only way that this new bill will
receive the cosponsors that it needs to be effective is if constituents
bring this bill to the attention of their senators.

The “Energy and Science Research Investment Act of 2003” explains that
“the Office of Science programs, in constant dollars, have been flat funded
for more than a decade . . . [which] has led to a decline in the number of
grants awarded, students trained, and scientists supported . . . [and]
underuse of the facilities that the United States has invested hundreds of
millions of dollars to construct.” The bill charges the Secretary of Energy
with conducting a comprehensive program of fundamental research,
strengthening user facilities, maintaining a leading-edge capability in
nanoscience, ensuring a future S&T workforce, and informing the applied R&D
programs of DOE. The annual authorization levels are heart of the Senate
bill, which are very close to those in the House bill.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION:

A time-tested way to demonstrate political support on Capitol Hill is
through the mechanism known as a “Dear Colleague.” Members sharing a
similar position on an issue agree to sign a letter to other key Members,
often following the urging of their constituents. Five Members initially
signed a letter that will be sent to VA, HUD Appropriations Subcommittee
Chairman James Walsh (R-NY) and Ranking Minority Member Alan Mollohan
(D-WV). Both Walsh and Mollohan are well-known supporters of NSF; this
“Dear Colleague” provides them with a ready “illustration” of Member support
for the foundation as the appropriations bill is written.

Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) has been joined by Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson
(D-TX), Nick Smith (R-MI), Ralph Hall (D-TX), and Rush Holt (D-NJ) in
supporting this effort. The letter, which they are seeking other Members’
signatures for, begins as follows:

“We are writing as longtime supporters of fundamental scientific research
and education. Science and technology fuel the growth of our economy,
provide the means of our national security, and inspire our children. Many
of the benefits we reap today stem from wise investments made decades ago.
Last year, Congress recognized we must continue to invest in America’s
scientific enterprise by overwhelmingly passing the National Science
Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-368). This legislation
authorizes a path toward doubling the National Science Foundation (NSF) over
the next five years. In order to meet this goal we request a funding level
of $6.39 billion for Fiscal Year 2004.”

The letter cites the “monumental” impact of the research that NSF has
supported, the programs encouraging a strong S&T workforce, the importance
of the foundation’s educational programs, and the successful effort to
increase NIH funding. Regarding this last point, the letter cites the
importance of the physical sciences to health-related research, and states,
“Doubling the NIH’s budget has thrown off the relative balance in funding
between NSF and NIH.”

The letter continues: “We believe that it is critical to restore this
balance starting this year, and that it can be accomplished even during
tight budgets. In fact, last year we increased NIH’s budget by $3.6-billion
to complete the doubling commitment. This increase is over half of what we
are requesting for NSF’s entire budget.” The letter concludes: “We ask you
to address this imbalance and strengthen science and technology research,
development, and education by increasing the NSF budget to $6.39 billion for
FY2004. The increase would be used to expand core science programs,
enabling NSF to begin funding highly ranked grant proposals that are turned
down solely for lack of funding. It would also fund K-12 education programs
that are critical for improving math and science education throughout the
country, as well as large facility projects that have already been approved
by the National Science Board.” “We believe that Congress’ long-term goal
should be to at least double the NSF’s resources, and we respectively
request your support in achieving this goal.”

Constituents should refer to Rep. Ehlers’ April 10 “Dear Colleague” letter
regarding NSF.

Richard M. Jones

Media and Government Relations Division

The American Institute of Physics

fyi@aip.org

(301) 209-3094