Hearing Summary: House Appropriations Subcommittee
Hears NSF's Budget Request
April 1, 1998
The National Science Foundation outlined its budget
request for the coming fiscal year before the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent
Agencies in a hearing marked more by laudatory comments
than hard-edged questions. Dr. Neal Lane, the NSF
Director, was the beneficiary of praise for his service
at NSF and congratulatory remarks in view of his impending
nomination to become the Director of the Office of
Science and Technology Policy.
The NSF budget request, which would increase the agency's
total funding by 10 percent to $3.77 billion, was
outlined by Dr. Lane to a generally receptive committee.
Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) noted that the President's
budget assumes revenues from a tobacco settlement
- a funding source that is uncertain at best. He urged
Dr. Lane to work with the committee to define the
agency's priorities in the event that revenues and
offsets did not materialize. Lane noted that the highest
priorities would be in three themes outlined in the
budget - Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence, Life
and Earth's Environment, and Educating for the Future.
Education was a topic much on committee members' minds
as they raised questions about the disappointing performance
of US 12th grade students on international tests,
the need for more attention to rural systemic reform,
the importance of the Advanced Technological Education
program, funding for informal science education, and
the need for more attention to science and engineering
education outreach.
Dr. Vera Rubin testified on behalf of NSB and was
warmly received by the committee. Vera responded specifically
to questions regarding TIMSS and provided information
on the new NSB task force; she also commented on the
NSB's resolution on the NIE, describing its content.
The hearing had been rescheduled from an earlier date
and was shortened to half of its usual all-day format.
This meant members had time to touch only briefly
on a number of issues that might have been more vigorously
pursued had time allowed, including affirmative action
at NSF, the private sector role in support of basic
research, natural disaster mitigation, and the proposal
to establish a National Institute for the Environment
at NSF.
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