Re: Senator Barbara Mikulski on "Scientific Patriotism" [ for those who dont know Senator Milulski i

[David Farber <>]

Date: Tue, 15 Feb 1994 10:23:54 -0500
To: farber () central cis upenn edu (David Farber)
From: cbrownst () nsf gov (Charles Brownstein)
Subject: Re: Senator Barbara Mikulski on "Scientific Patriotism" [ for
those who


Dave-
I believe that panic reaction to the rhetoric can blind one to a very
simple political message from this senator: e.g., the research community
(in and out of the government) must get its act together to give her the
tools (in the form of information that is comprehendable to her colleagues)
to support its federal funding needs and desires, or it- and she- will be
overwhelmed by the deficit cutting and social issues that face the country.
She thinks every scientist ought to do their own thing- but that some of
the federally funded ones ought to justify their thing in terms of the long
term strategic potential of the research.


PS- Her committee also oversees NASA and 20 other independant agencies.
This means among other things that if health care costs rise at VA
hospitals, there is less in that committee's budget allocation from the
Senate Budget Committee for NSF, NASA, etc. The mechanics of the federal
budget affects, overwhelms, and often confuses people about) the
implementation of sciency policy.