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President's Science Advisor Speaks on R&D Cuts
From: Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 16:47:55 -0400
IEEE-USA ELECTRONIC INFORMATION BULLETIN No. 95-19, April 18, 1995 PRESIDENT'S SCIENCE ADVISOR LAMBASTES CONGRESS ON R&D CUTS AT AAAS COLLOQUIUM Presidential science advisor John Gibbons gave a strong statement in support of the President Clinton's science and technology policies and critical of Congressional budget- cutters in a keynote address at the annual Policy Colloquium held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science on April 12, 1995 here in Washington, DC. The following highlights are quotes on selected subjects excerpted from Dr. Gibbons' prepared address. The complete text of Dr. Gibbons' speech is available via e-mail from the IEEE Washington office. Send your e-mail request to (c.brantley () ieee org). ON CONGRESSIONAL R&D BUDGET RESCISSIONS "The bad news for R&D reads like a litany of the lost. Congress already has agreed to cut half-a-billion dollars from this year's budget for science and technology in the military supplemental, and they're about to take another half-billion whack in civilian rescissions supplemental. Most of the cuts so far have been in technology programs, but science has taken a substantial hit, too -- $100 million from the Department of Defense programs in computer science, mathematics research, and engineering education at universities; upwards of $80 million from the National Institutes of Health; and $45 million from DOE research on materials, climate change, and the human genome." "The cuts we've seen already are nothing compared to what they are thinking about doing: The Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Rep. Kasich, recently released an "illustrative list" of cuts for next year's budget, in which the toll for science and technology was a whopping $2.5 billion. Over the next five years, it's targeting $13 billion. More than half-a-billion of these "illustrative" figures for FY96 come from NIH -- $2.5 billion over five years. Agricultural research declines by $1.3 billion over five years." "And while NSF hasn't appeared on a public hit list yet, Director Neal Lane has been told to expect at least a 20 percent cut. That's more than $600 million -- nearly all of it from the research bench, since 95 percent of NSF money goes out in grants." ON BUDGET REALITIES "One of the things that will stand out about 1995 is that it is the first year that we have really felt the pain of living with true public fiscal austerity -- the escalating budgets of the spendthrift '80s are over. I think this is where I'm supposed to say, "I feel your pain." "Now, I don't want to raise the false expectation that we in the Administration will be able to completely insulate science and technology from the real fiscal pressures that will drive the next decade of budget policy. The reality is grim for science and technology funding. There will be cuts; R&D will have to take some of them. But the cuts should be judicious and managed, not across-the-board salvos that wreak havoc throughout the research enterprise." ASSESSING CONGRESS' EFFORT TO REDEFINE NATIONAL S&T PRIORITIES "This kind of priority-setting -- difficult as it is -- represents the actions of deliberate and dedicated government, husbanding and making careful, multiple use of the resources for the future for our children and our grandchildren. It reflects the vision of the Clinton Administration -- science and technology in the service of society, an engine of growth for the economy and the creator of knowledge that is the key to a new world condition. It is a vision that draws people into science and brings many of us here today. Crafting such a vision requires great care. It cannot be done by a Congress motivated solely by the desire to move dollar signs from one side of the ledger to another. It cannot be done in 100 days, or 200 days, for that matter. It cannot be done by simple fiat or decree. It cannot be done by a Congress so weary it can't see straight; so driven that it doesn't even have time to read the material on which it is about to vote. It must not be done with a meat ax when the precision of a scalpel is necessary. Yet the spectre of finishing the first session of the 104th Congress with S&T resources slashed by a meat ax is a real one. In their rush to cut government, (Dan Greenberg, I think, recently labeled it "demolition politics") some Members have launched a wholesale attack on anything that isn't nailed to the table -- including R&D, and especially the "D" in R&D. But don't be lulled into thinking that basic research is sacrosanct." "My hope is that wise heads in Congress will intervene, that history will record that they saved the nation from permanently damaging our research and development base by moderating the hasty, ill-informed or ideology-driven decisions -- penny-wise, pound-foolish decisions we have seen in attacks on technology partnerships and environmental protection, and in irresponsible regulatory reform. But my fear is that history will record that extremists in Congress prevailed as prevailing in an atmosphere of budget chaos driven by a fundamental disregard for reinvestment in science and technology." "There is a good way to go about reform, and there is a bad way. I venture to say that each of you has been trained in the good way -- experiment, observe, and test your observations before implementing innovation across the system. Is this the process that we've seen at work in the Congress over the past 100 days? It is not. Rather, we have seen dog-tired Members marching lockstep ahead with their eyes fixed only on the end of the 100 Days. Many of the changes wrought by the House were passed without the benefit of a single hearing, or at best with a minimal legislative record. Is this what Jefferson and Madison had in mind?" "Science and technology programs in the 104th Congress are the legislative equivalents of endangered species. In Congress' rush to slash government and lower taxes -- taxes that already are among the lowest in the industrial world, I might add -- we are in danger of losing the very excellence in technology that has made our country the envy of the world." ON THE PROPOSAL FOR A CONSOLIDATED DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE "Let me be very clear about one thing -- this Administration unequivocally opposes the creation of a Department of Science of the kind now being discussed in Congress. We are not against change; under the leadership of the Vice President, we have been remaking the very structure of federal agencies -- not just shuffling programs around and renaming them. But we are against change for change's sake -- or for the sake of as-yet-undocumented savings in federal resources." "Congressional supporters of the Department of Science idea argue that it's important to have all the science programs centrally located -- except, of course, for health ... and defense ... and agriculture. They say this, by the way, as though it were a given and without a shred of evidence about its effectiveness. But the genius of U.S. science policy to date has been its recognition that pluralism of support and diversity of performers allows the crucial freedom of enquiry that unleashes the creative spirit of our world-class researchers and their students. The proposal to create a Department of Science flies in the face of this pluralism by instituting a command-and-control model of rigid bureaucracy." "We are all in favor of making science more responsive to the needs of the Nation. But we believe the worst possible thing you can do to policy and associated missions is to divorce them from a science base. To say that food safety will be greater because someone, somewhere in that science agency across town is doing some kind of pesticide research is ludicrous -- Just as in industry, Federal agencies depend on the feedback from research that is inextricably linked to their mission. There is no productive way to unhitch science and policy. Nor should we. The result will be poor science conducted in a vacuum and even poorer policy." "This Administration has a mechanism to encourage cooperation where advantageous, consolidation where necessary, and coordination overall. It's the National Science and Technology Council -- the first time in history that the United States has had a comprehensive coordinated Cabinet-level body devoted to reviewing the Federal R&D enterprise. The principal purpose of the NSTC is to establish clear national goals for federal science and technology investments, and to ensure that policies and programs are implemented that contribute to those goals. The NSTC provides a structure through which we can prioritize the many legitimate demands on the public's R&D dollar. It assures a forum where critical national needs cannot be pushed aside by urgent and parochial agency needs. It sensitizes agencies to the advantages of symbiosis over isolated pursuit of objectives. Isn't this what the promoters of a Department of Science say they want?" GIBBONS' CALL TO ACTION "Surviving with our national R&D portfolio even relatively intact will require aggressive action. We must engage the R&D community, the industrial community, the education community, Congress -- ultimately, we must engage the American people, if they mean to remain their own governors. Congress must be part of this dialogue. I respect the leaders of the new Congress as hard-working agents of change, and I truly believe they think they are doing what's right for America. I admire their conviction, and their tenacity. But I want to work with the Congress to make sure every Member understands the enormity of the change being proposed, and its impact on the ecosystem we call the Federal R&D enterprise." -------------------------- This electronic bulletin is provided as part of an on-going effort by IEEE's United States Activities Board to apprise IEEE members of important developments related to U.S. technology and career-related policy issues. Please feel free to post this message and/or forward it to other individuals who you believe would be interested. Contact: Chris J. Brantley Manager, Government Activities Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States Activities 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202 Washington, DC 20036-5104 E-mail: c.brantley () ieee org Phone: 202-785-0017 ====END OF ITEM====
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