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Bush Administration Opposes Doubling NSF, Broadening EPSCoR

The Association of American Universities has posted the text of a September 17 letter written by Rita Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), that outlines the Bush Administration’s opposition to S. 2817, a bill to double the size of the NSF budget over a five-year period. A similar effort has been introduced in the House by Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and co-sponsored by members of both parties (see May 10, 2002 SSTI Weekly Digest).

The Colwell letter was sent to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), chair of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In it, Director Colwell states:

"[T]he amounts authorized in S. 2817 do not conform to the Administration’s FY 2003 Budget request for NSF. NSF supports the Administration’s budget request and therefore the bill should be amended to reflect the amounts contained in the authorizing legislation the Foundation transmitted to the Congress on May 14, 2002. Moreover, Dr. John Marburger, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the President’s Science Advisor, has stated that any plans for increased expenditures must be supported by a specific rationale for each increase, rather than an arbitrary formula."

The Administration has supported Congress’s efforts to double the budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a process which should be completed with the FY 2003 appropriations.

In addition to several other complaints with the bill, the letter also singles out concern with language in S. 2817 that would expand the number of states eligible to receive funding through the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The EPSCoR program promotes the development of eligible states’ science and technology resources through partnerships involving a state’s universities, industry and government, and the federal R&D enterprise. EPSCoR’s goal is to maximize the potential inherent in a state’s S&T resources and use those resources as a foundation for economic growth. Matched by state funds, EPSCoR activities provide the core of several states’ efforts to develop tech-based economies.

Colwell writes, "EPSCoR, as you know, is a state-NSF partnership to stimulate sustainable improvements in R&D competitiveness through the development and utilization of science and technology resources in a state’s major research universities. The current eligibility rate of .7% will allow those states most in need to participate in this program. Increasing this eligibility rate to 1%, which would increase the number of participating states, could have the effect of diluting available funds to the states most in need, thus jeopardizing the program’s purpose – to help the neediest states develop their research base and improve science and engineering research and education programs at their colleges and universities."

The text of the letter is available at: http://www.aau.edu/research/NSFLtr9.17.02.html

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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