IP: FYI #120 - Making a Difference

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 120: August 21, 1998


Making a Difference


Someone visiting Capitol Hill today would find it pretty quiet. 
Except for tourists wandering the halls of the Capitol, the
almost ever-present swarm of Members, staffers, and constituents
on a mission is absent.  The impression that one could easily
take away is that nothing is happening, or will be happening.


Appearances are deceiving.  On Capitol Hill, staffers are trying
to put into place the final outlines of thirteen appropriations
bill that must be passed before October 1.  On the other end of
Pennsylvania Avenue, the people at the Office of Management and
Budget are working on an even longer time frame as they look
ahead to the FY 2000 budget request that will be sent to Congress
early next year.  Regardless of the time of year, people in
Washington are always thinking about and working on budgets.


The research community has an opportunity to make a difference in
how these budget numbers turn out.  S. 2217, the Federal Research
Investment Act, is a great opportunity for constituents, and
their Members of Congress, to demonstrate the importance of
strong support for federal research spending.  As previously
described in FYI #116, this bill would authorize a doubling of
civilian research spending over a 12-year period.  This
legislation, while not actually providing that money, would send
a message to budget people of all ranks, parties, and positions
on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue that civilian research is
important.  In figuring out how to cut the federal budget pie, S.
2217 serves as an important reminder of the share that should be
given to civilian research -- in FY 1999, FY 2000, and beyond.


Nineteen months ago today, Senator Phil Gramm introduced
legislation to double  R&D funding over ten years.  When
introducing his bill, Gramm stated, "The United States simply
does not spend enough on basic research."  Only four senators
cosponsored his bill.


Times have changed.  The last nineteen months saw additional
legislation introduced by Senators Gramm, Joseph Lieberman, Pete
Domenici, and Jeff Bingaman.  The Administration proposed large
increases in future federal research in its budget submission in
February.  On June 25, Senator Bill Frist introduced S. 2177,
which in less than two months has garnered 26 cosponsors.  They
are: (either officially listed or to be listed): Bill Frist, Jay
Rockefeller, Pete Domenici, Joseph Lieberman, Conrad Burns, Jeff
Bingaman, Phil Gramm, John Breaux, Max Cleland, Alfonse D'Amato,
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, John Kerry, Carol Moseley-Braun, Robert
Kerrey, Wayne Allard, Barbara Boxer, Spencer Abraham, Dianne
Feinstein, Mike DeWine, Olympia Snowe, Richard Durbin, Kay Bailey
Hutchison, Christopher Dodd, Lauch Faircloth, Mary Landrieu, and
Thad Chochran. The message about federal research spending has
not only been sent -- it has been received, in one of the most
important ways to express a message in Washington .


Washington, in a sense, runs on numbers.  One important figure is
the number of cosponsors that a bill has.  It determines if time
should be found in a tightly constrained floor schedule for
consideration of a bill.  The number of cosponsors also tells
policy makers on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue that something
is important.  As important as those 26 cosponsors are, more are
needed to send a message about federal R&D in the few weeks that
Congress will be in Washington before it adjourns.


Members of Congress look to their constituents to tell them what
is important.  You need to tell them. 


(For information on communicating with Congress, see our web site
at http://www.aip.org/gov/)


###############
Richard M. Jones
Public Information Division
American Institute of Physics
fyi () aip org
(301) 209-3095
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