From: Bruce Brown (bruce_brown@qmgate.anl.gov)
Date: 1998/11/19
Spallation Mail
Subject: budget alert
Subject: American Physical Society: Federal Budget Alert
From: opa@aps.org_at_internet at X400PO
Date: 11/17/98 5:47 AM
To: Members of the American Physical Society
From: Andy Sessler, APS President
The Clinton Administration has reached the critical stage in
formulating the budget for Fiscal Year 2000. THE STARTING
POINT IS A $28 BILLION CUT in discretionary spending to cover
the shortfalls created by the recently passed Omnibus
Appropriations Bill.
Federal agencies have now filed their requests with the Office of
Management and Budget, and the Administration is about to assign
priorities that will determine how the requests will be handled.
The budget that the Administration submits to Congress next
February will reflect the decisions made during the next two weeks.
WHETHER SCIENCE IS ASSIGNED A PRIORITY STATUS DEPENDS UPON WHETHER
INDIVIDUAL SCIENTISTS CONTACT THE WHITE HOUSE NOW!
To make your case, please send your letter to:
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Please send copies to:
The Honorable Jacob Lew
Director, Office of Management and Budget
252 Old Executive Office Building
17th Street and Pennsylvania, NW
Washington, DC 20503
The Honorable Gene B. Sperling
Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
Executive Office of the President
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
The Honorable Neal F. Lane
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
424 Old Executive Office Building
17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20503
In preparing your letter, I would suggest that you emphasize the
need for a balanced scientific portfolio, a position that the
President staked out in his address to the AAAS last February and
for which he should be complimented. You might also point out
that investment in science has been a bipartisan initiative and
offers Congress and the White House an unusual opportunity for
establishing common ground, a message that voters sent their
elected officials on November 3. Finally, you might note that
investment in peer reviewed science is consistent with the theme
of shared prosperity: it is entrepreneurial, a prime driver of
the American economy and a key to creating the jobs of the future.
Please keep your communication brief; a letter should not exceed
three paragraphs. For additional information send a return e-mail.
It will be forwarded to Michael Lubell (Director of Public Affairs)
and Francis Slakey (Associate Director of Public Affairs) in the
APS Washington Office [(202)-662-8700].
SOME HISTORY
Just three years ago, federal science funding was in serious decline
and fewer then a half dozen Members of Congress gave it any attention.
Under the guidance of APS Past-President D. Allan Bromley, reversing
this trend became a priority of the APS. The activities of the staff
of the APS Washington Office, APS members, and numerous scientific
societies have now produced a remarkable turnaround in the priority of
science in Congress.
For the second year in a row, the science budget has increased above
inflation. This year, President Clinton and key members of the House
and Senate identified science as a national priority. In October, the
Senate passed the Federal Research Investment Act calling for a
doubling of the science budget over the next twelve years. (The clock
ran out in the House, and the bill will be resubmitted next year.)
Rep. Vern Ehlers, an APS fellow, released a new science policy for the
nation. And this November, Rush Holt, also an APS member, won election
to the House of Representatives.
That is truly an astounding turn of events. However, there is still
more to achieve. I would like to see the Administration and the
Congressional leadership identify science as a priority for next
year. I would like to see the Federal Research Investment Act pass in
the House and again in the Senate and then be signed into law. I would
like a third year of increases in the science budget. And I would like
the APS to expand its legislative goals to include issues in arms control
and climate change, consistent with the recommendations of the APS
Council.
In order to achieve these goals, we need even broader participation of
the APS membership. Currently, 1,000 APS members have volunteered to be
part of the Physics and Government Network (PGNet). They are contacted
by the APS Washington Office when, and only when, their member of
Congress is critical to moving some science-related legislation. I hope
you will join this network if you are not yet a member. If you would like
to join, please send a return message.
FACTS AND FIGURES
(1) On October 8, the National Research Investment Act passed in the
Senate with the bipartisan co-sponsorships of 35 Senators. The Act has
as its purpose,"To invest in the future of the United States by doubling
the amount authorized for civilian basic scientific, medical, and
pre-competitive engineering research over the next twelve years." This
clearly indicates that the Senate regards science as a priority investment.
Sen. Domenici, chair of the Budget Committee, specifically stated that
science will be a priority in his Committee's upcoming deliberations.
(2) A statement similar to this bill has been endorsed by the presidents
of 110 professional societies, estimated to represent more than 3.5 million
scientists, engineers and mathematicians. This "Unified Statement" was
released on October 22, 1997.
(http://www.aps.org/public_affairs/decade.html)
(3) Today, more than 70% of all US industrial patent applications rely on
publicly supported research, according to a recent survey conducted by
CHI Research. The cause is clear: market pressures have forced American
industry to shorten its research time horizons and to adopted risk-averse
R&D strategies. The result is that almost all long-term, high-risk
research is now performed by universities and national laboratories, where
the federal government is the prime investor.
(4) Economic analyses show that since the end of World War II, technology
has accounted for more than half of all economic growth in the US. Today,
increased productivity, driven by technological innovation, receives much
of the credit for sustaining the current expansion, which is characterized
by low inflation and low unemployment. Briefly, federal investment in
research increases economic growth and keeps the nation within a balanced
budget.
(5) Science is the underpinning of technological progress. Indeed, basic
research, according to economists such as Stanford's Michael Boskin and
the Pennsylvania's Edwin Mansfield, provide extraordinary social returns
on the federal investment. Estimates on return run between 20% and 60%.
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