REPUBLICAN SENATORS SAY ELIMINATE DEFENSE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

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                      COMPUTING RESEARCH ASSOCIATION


                                 BULLETIN


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Volume 2 Number 18                                         December 9, 1994
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REPUBLICAN SENATORS SAY ELIMINATE DEFENSE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND
TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS!


On December 5, Senators John McCain (Arizona) and John Warner (Virginia)
sent a letter to President Clinton that harshly criticized his spending
priorities and recommending severe cuts to defense reaserch funding. They
raised concerns about declining defense readiness and lagging defense
modernization. The letter goes on to say:


     "...We have identified nearly $8 billion in FY 1995 appropriations
     for programs which are wasteful and which contribute little, if
     anything, to our defense posture. ... We request that you
     immediately notify Congress ...  that you intend to defer
     obligation of these funds."


Included in their list were the following programs proposed for elimination:


* Technology Reinvestment Program ($550 million) -- "Rescind FY1995
appropriations and terminate planned program."


* Defense Conversion Programs ($1.5 billion) -- "Rescind FY1995
appropriation for dual use and conversion programs, including manufacturing
technology, SEMATECH, advanced simulation, etc."


* Medical and University Research ($1.5 billion) -- "Rescind FY1995
appropriation for medical research and $1.1 billion for university research
grants, most of which is not defense specific."


Given the influence of these Senators on defense policy and their positions
on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the letter is seen as a shot
across the bow, as an early statement of Republican spending priorities
and attitudes toward research.


The impacts of such cuts on the computing research community would be
devastating. Last year, the following estimates of the percentages of
university funding obtained from DOD were released by the government:


Math and Computer Science   50%
Engineering Sciences        42%
Electrical Engineering      53%


Nearly fifty percent of current graduate student support in computer
science comes from DoD Funding.