IP: Baby its cold out there -- Geo Brown on Sci Budget

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

From: cssp () acs org (CSSP)


CHILL WINDS  HIT R&D COMMUNITY WITH 
HURRICANE FORCE IN YEAR 1998 AND PRODUCE
SERIOUS DEVASTATION BY 2000:


GEORGE BROWN COMMENTS  ON 
 R&D BUDGET PROJECTIONS


George E. Brown, Jr., ranking Democrat on the House Science Committee,
offered the following comments on the President's R&D budget request:
....I am reasonably pleased by the President's request for FY1997-
a request that increases overall R&D funding by 1.7%.


(CSSP's preliminary  analysis is that, at an assumed 2.2% inflation loss
 /year, the President's Budget will cut federal R&D over 27% from 
1995-2000 and the House Majority Budget could show substantialy 
larger cuts)


Rep Brown says that it is difficult to compare the President's request to the 
Republican budget plan.  However,  AAAS finds that the President's budget
reduces nondefense R&D by 11.7% by 2002 and  Republican budget 
figures would impose a cut of almost 29% on those same programs. 
Obviously, if forced to choose between those two visions of the future, 
Brown  would support the President's and says "However, in my
opinion, neither budget goes far enough to protect programs that
represent a crucial investment in our nation's future."


Rep. Brown, who will be speaking at the CSSP Congressional Breakfast
on May 7,  says "The only way the numbers are going to improve above 
the President's projections is if the R&D community and the public give 
Members of Congress and the President a reason to change them.  As of 
now, the community is making inadequate efforts to educate the public 
and politicians about the stakes of these programs and making only weak 
efforts to get involved in the process of setting budget priorities.  
Spending public money and setting national priorities is an inherently 
political and increasingly partisan process.  We can all regret this 
situation, but we still have to cope with it."  


Brown concluded : "The scientific community needs to step up to the 
challenge or live with the consequences."