Not wanting to go too far into an election year vulnerable to charges of not keeping the government running, Congress rolled all its undone appropriations bills into one omnibus package. After including an across-the-board 0.59 percent "adjustment" to pay for increased veterans benefits, the numbers bode fairly well for science and technology programs, although in most cases they are lower than would have been the case had the bills passed individually.

• National Science Foundation: The NSF budget will increase 5 percent over fiscal year 2003, which is more than the 3.2 percent requested by the Administration but far below the 10.4 percent increase approved in the last budget cycle. While the agency is authorized to receive $6,390 million under the "NSF doubling" legislation enacted last year, the new budget is only $5,577.9 million. The science, math and engineering community will be pressing for appropriations equal to the authorized amounts in the fiscal year 2005 and future budget cycles. The conference report on the omnibus appropriations bill seems to acknowledge this concern, and directs NSF "to include multi-year budget estimates and future budget impacts for multi-disciplinary and mid-level activities in the annual operating plan and in future budget requests."

• National Institute of Standards and Technology: NIST funding is down significantly, 11.8 percent below last year’s levels. It still exceeds the Administration’s request, however, largely because it continues the Advanced Technology Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships which were proposed for phase-out. On the laboratory side, however, the omnibus bill provides a cut of 4.3 percent.

One appropriations bill which did make it through the normal process to stand on its own provides an increase of 5.8 percent in the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (to $3, 451.7 million), compared to the FY 2003 cut of 1.5 percent. The new level is still $333 million below the level authorized for FY 2004 in the omnibus energy bill which would set a funding path for the Office of Science to grow by 76 percent from last year through FY 2008. Because of politically controversial provisions in the 1000-page omnibus energy authorization, the bill may die in the Senate when Congress reconvenes on January 20. In that case, the pursuit of real growth in the Office of Science budget would have to start all over again.

With an unusual amount of publicity, President Bush on December 3 signed the 21^st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which the White House called "one of the President’s highest multi-agency R&D priorities." The new law authorizes $3.7 billion over the next four years for the National Nanotechnology Initiative. It requires the creation of research centers, education and training efforts, research into the societal and ethical consequences of nanotechnology, and efforts to transfer technology into the marketplace. The White House fact sheet made special note of the opportunities opened up by carbon nanotubes for future electronic devices and energy applications. It also noted that "Nano-manufacturing of parts and materials from the bottom up – by assembling them on an atom-by-atom basis – may one day be used to reduce waste and pollution in the manufacturing process."

Hearings are expected early in the new year on a bill recently introduced by House Science Subcommittee Chairman Vern Ehlers (R-MI), the "Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act." The measure would establish a new Undersecretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Technology to oversee federal manufacturing research and development policy and act as the lead in the federal government on these issues. The

President would be directed to establish an Interagency Committee on Manufacturing Research and Development consisting of representatives from the federal agencies that have significant manufacturing technology programs. NIST would be responsible for a new competitive grant program to enlist university researchers in conducting applied research to help manufacturers. The Manufacturing Extension Partnerships program would be expanded so that MEP centers could compete for new funds to help solve specific manufacturing problems. In remarks on the House floor, Rep. Ehlers noted that "While Congress, the Administration and the American people have discussed the many challenges facing our nation’s manufacturers, such as international trade, China policy, tax policy and health care costs,…a fundamental issue has been generally left out of the debate – innovation. For decades, innovation has underpinned America’s dominance in the world economy. If our manufacturing sector is to remain competitive in the global marketplace, we must foster innovation within this sector…Funding research and development underpins innovation."

The National Science Board has released a report following a three-year study on the U.S. science and engineering workforce, calling on the government to "act now" to meet future needs in science, engineering and technology fields.

The report concludes that a sampling from 2000 census figures indicates a larger than previously known percentage of degree-holding, foreign-born professionals working in the U.S. in science and engineering occupations. At the same time, there has been a downturn in the number of H1-B visas issued to foreign-born workers in science and technology. One of the NSB’s key recommendations is that the government should provide undergraduate students and institutions with substantial new support in scholarships, financial assistance and incentives to assure success in S&E study by American students. The NSB calls for more federal support for graduate and postdoctoral research programs through improved stipends, benefits and interdisciplinary opportunities. Pre-college teachers of mathematics, science and technology also need better compensation, in-service training and support as an integral part of the scientific and engineering professions, NSB declares.

The full report is available at http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/documents/2003/nsb0369/nsb0369.pdf