WASHINGTON NEWS

FROM THE FEDERATION OF MATERIALS SOCIETIES

November 29, 2002

NSF DOUBLING BILL FINALLY A REALITY

On November 15, the House and Senate gave final approval to legislation leading to a doubling of the National Science Foundation’s budget over the next five fiscal years.

The bill (H.R.4664), a long-term goal of the science and engineering community, combines five House-passed bills, the Senate version of the NSF authorization, and language worked out with the White House Office of Management and Budget to satisfy Administration concerns.  It is expected to be signed by the President as one of the last accomplishments of the 107^th Congress.

Administration concerns had included the use of the politically-charged term “doubling” in the bill’s title, and objections to the five-year span of authorization.  Bill sponsors compromised by calling the bill simply the “National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002” and by making the last two years of authorization (fiscal years 2006 and 2007) contingent on a finding by the Congress that NSF “has made successful progress toward meeting (specified) management goals,” taking into account OMB’s evaluation on that progress.

The “Policy Objectives” section of the bill echoes the call of the science and engineering community for balance among broad disciplines, directing NSF “to strengthen the Nation’s lead in science and technology by (A) increasing the national investment in general scientific research and increasing investment in strategic areas;  (B) balancing the Nation’s research portfolio among the life sciences, mathematics, the physical sciences, computer and information science, geoscience, engineering, and social, behavioral, and economic sciences, all of which are important for the continued development of enabling technologies necessary for sustained international competitiveness…”

The final version of the legislation included provisions of several other bills that originated in the House Science Committee related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.  The Senate version had attempted to consolidate math and science partnership programs from the Department of Education with the merit-based programs of NSF, but after objections from the science and technology community the two programs were kept separate.  The final bill also authorizes a Noyce Scholarship program to encourage STEM majors to pursue teaching careers, a Tech Talent program to encourage college students to pursue STEM careers, and Centers for Research on Learning and Education improvement.

DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL HIGHLIGHTS S&T

The conference report on the recently-signed authorization bill for the Department of Defense makes very clear that Congress is concerned about “the continuing trend of overall reduction in the military departments’ science and technology programs and the effect of that trend on the critical role that the military departments play in the transition of science and technology into acquisition programs…[A] major reason the military departments’ science and technology budgets have declined is because the services have had to emphasize funding for current operations.  The shift…raises issues of whether the services are investing sufficiently to properly address their long-term technology needs.  The Department’s science and technology program has long played a crucial role in the development of technology and in the education and training of the scientific and engineering personnel required to support the continuing technical advances critical to maintain superior military capabilities…The conferees commend the Department of Defense commitment to a goal of three percent of the budget request for the defense science and technology program and progress toward this goal.”

TMS and other members of the Federation of Materials Societies joined with other technical organizations and universities in a letter to the DOD Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics endorsing the recommendations of the Defense Science Board and the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review Report that three percent of the Department’s budget should be allocated to DOD’s basic, applied and advanced technology development (6.1, 6.2 and 6.3) programs in FY 2004 and beyond.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

The new Department of Homeland Security will have its own science and technology policy infrastructure and its own R&D portfolio, drawing on transfers of programs from other agencies as well as newly created R&D programs and R&D performing organizations.  An Under Secretary for Science and Technology will head the Directorate of Science and Technology, one of four broad directorates in the new department.  This Directorate will have responsibility for setting homeland security R&D goals and priorities, coordinating homeland security R&D throughout the federal government, funding its own R&D, facilitating the transfer and deployment of technologies for homeland security, and advising the DHS Secretary on all S&T matters.  There will be a Homeland Security Advisory Committee representing first responders, citizen groups, researchers, engineers, and businesses to provide advice to the Under Secretary.  DHS will also have authority to create a new federally funded research and development center, the Homeland Security Institute, to act as a think tank for risk analyses and strategic plans for counterterrorism technology development.  An Office for National Laboratories will coordinate DHS interactions with DOE national labs.  One or more university-based centers for homeland security will be established.  Finally, a new Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HARPA) will be established within the Department of Defense, based on the model of DARPA.

A comprehensive overview and analysis of R&D within the new Department is available from the American Association for the Advancement of Science at www.aaas.org/spp/rd