AAS
ACTION ALERT 2000-02
SUMMARY
This
action alert summarizes current events
related
to the Federal Budget and advocates
new and
continued action on the part of AAS members,
members
of its divisions and supporters of
astronomy
research. This alert is rather
long
mainly due to the sample letters and addresses
of
Congressional offices towards the end of the
alert.
CURRENT
SITUATION
The
President's budget was submitted to Congress
on
February 7. The situation for science
funding
in the
Administration budget looks quite good
overall,
with large increases planned for NSF and
NASA,
which fund most federally supported astronomical
research. Other agencies that fund astronomy research
such as
the Department of Energy and the Department
of
Defense also fared well in general in the amount
available
for research, but exact numbers related to
astronomy
funding are difficult, if not impossible to
extract
from the agency funding documents.
Members
of the AAS and its Divisions were mailed a Public Policy
Brief
in early March outlining much of the detail of
the
budget and the appropriations process.
Extra copies
of this
document are available, contact Kevin
Marvel
(marvel@aas.org) for more information.
A PDF file
of the
brief is available online at the AAS public
policy
web page (http://www.aas.org/policy/FY2001Budget.html).
NASA's
Office of Space Science is slated to receive a
large
overall increase in funding for FY 2001 of
nearly
$200 million or about 9.4%. This would
move
the
Office from a funding level in FY 2000 of $2.2
billion
to a level in FY 2001 of $2.4 billion.
Detailed
budget information is available from the
NASA
Code B web page (http://ifmp.nasa.gov/codeb/).
Note
that some care must be exercised when reading
these
documents as NASA's budgeting scheme is
detailed
on a functional basis, while the funding
of
interest to astronomy researchers is often mission
oriented. This means that various portions of funding
for a
mission are often listed under multiple functional
categories. The total cost accounting measures
(described
on the
web page above) provide separate documents
for
major OSS efforts that combine all the various
expenses
for a given mission/project (sources: NASA FY 2001
budget
documents).
Reports
on the Faster-Better-Cheaper program and the
failed
Mars missions have been released and at least
as of
now have had little impact on the Hill. In his
hearing
with NASA's oversight committee, Administrator
Dan
Goldin was grilled on the status of the International
Space
Station and the ongoing delays caused by
Russian
participation. He also had to answer
probing
questions
from Congress regarding the Faster-Better-Cheaper
philosophy
as well as Mars program failures. Look
for
the
Mars issue to come up during Congressional debate
on NASA
funding since the President suggested a significant
increase
to the Mars exploration effort (sources: NASA
documents,
Capitol Hill contacts).
NSF
Astronomy scores a significant increase in
funding
in the FY 2001 budget, supporting Director
Rita
Colewell's message of "a rising tide floats all
boats". The Astronomy Research and Instrumentation
program,
which directly funds grants, is proposed
to increase
from $43.6 million to about $59.8
million
for a percentage increase of 37.3%.
Unfortunately,
the
Facilities program (National Centers) would
receive
only a minor increase, essentially remaining
flat in
FY 2001 (source: NSF FY 20001 budget documents).
The
House of Representatives has approved (as of March 23)
its
version of an FY 2001 budget resolution in response
to
President Clinton's proposed FY 2001 budget.
This is
the
first step in the Congressional budget procedure and sets
the
tone for the coming months of debate on the Hill.
This
resolution does not actually appropriate funds
for
agencies, but outlines Congress' budget targets
in
response to the President's submitted requested
budget. The levels proposed are $29 billion below
the
President's
requested level, but $45 billion above the
scheduled
budget cap mandated by Congress in 1997
This
resolution, if endorsed by the Senate
(as of
4-7-00 still under consideration on the
Senate
Floor), sounds the death knell for the 1997
budget
caps (sources: Science Magazine 31-March-2000,
Congressional
documents).
The
appropriations process begins in mid to
late
spring and continues into the early fall.
This is
when members must be prepared to
respond
quickly to any negative Congressional proposals.
The
good news is that the House's resolution matches
large
portions of the President's proposed budget for
FY
2001. NSF would receive $175 million
less for
R&D
than the President's requested level under the House
resolution
and, agency-wide, NASA would receive
$317
million less than the Administration level for R&D
(source:
AAAS House Resolution analysis, Congressional
documents).
The
most dramatic part of the House resoultion is that
it
clearly deviates in the outyears from the President's
projected
outyear budgeting. This should not be
an
immediate
concern, as the current administration will
not be
responsible for the FY 2002 and subsequent
budgets
bringing to mind the cliche of crossing
that
bridge when we come to it. However, it
is a clear
sign
that the current Congress values other areas of
expenditure
(like tax cuts) more than investment in basic
research. We must continue to communicate to our
representatives
that
one major reason the nation has a booming economy is that
the
Federal government funded basic research 30 to 40 years
ago at
levels approaching 2 percent of our GDP.
The
current
federal investment is less than 1 percent of the
GDP. Industry has made up the difference,
investing an amount
equal
to nearly 2 percent of the total GDP in research. Most
of this
investment is in applied research leading to marketable
products
and lacks the fundamental character of federally funded
basic
resarch in the 1960's. (source: AAAS Analysis graph =>
http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rd/trendusg.pdf).
A final
bit of good news is that the appropriations process
is
likely to take place very quickly this year to allow
members
of both parties to return to their districts and
campaign
for re-election. This will likely limit
the
total
number of earmarks in the final budget simply due to
time
constraints as well as limiting debate on the budget.
Both
should place funding levels for agencies close to the
President's
requested levels.
WHAT TO
DO NOW
First
of all, members of the AAS, its divisions and
other
supporters of astronomy research should actively
thank
members of Congress (both House and Senate, the
Senate
will likely pass its budget resolution by early
next week
at the latest) for their early efforts in
support
of R&D funding. Of particular note,
some members
(Vernon
Ehlers (R-MI), Rush Holt (D-NJ), James Rogan (R-CA),
Dave
Weldon (R-FL), David Dreir (R-CA) and Nick Smith (R-MI))
went
out of their way to place support for R&D into the
House
budget resolution. The addresses of all
House
members
who helped support R&D in the resolution are listed below.
Second,
contact with individual members of Congress
should
continue. Remember that it takes only 5
letters
per
week to a Congressional office to become "an issue"
at the
weekly meetings. Plan on sending
letters regularly
to your
members of Congress and attempt to arrange a visit
with
them when they are in the home district.
Third,
letters to the NSF, both to Director Rita
Colwell
and the Head of the Mathemeatics and Physical
Sciences
Directorate, Robert Eisenstein as well as Hugh
Van
Horn, head of the Astronomical Sciences Division should
be sent
expressing appreciation for the increased funding
levels
for the grants program and pledging to work on behalf
of the
foundation to guarantee continued funding increases
in the
coming years.
Finally,
stay informed. The Congressional
appropriations
process
is expected to move quickly this year so that
members
of the majority party can return to their districts
and
effectively carry out their re-election campaigns.
There
are several resources available on the AAS Public
Policy
web page that will keep you informed as to what
is
happening and how to participate effectively.
RESOURCES
Addresses
for key House members who supported R&D in the House Budget
Resoultion
passed on March 23, 2000 by fighting for an increased
function
250 level. Budget Function 250 covers
expenditure for
Basice
Science, Space and Research.
Vernon
Ehlers (R-MI)
1714
Longworth House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Rush
Holt (D-NJ)
1630
Longworth House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
James
Rogan (R-CA)
126
Cannon House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Dave
Weldon (R-FL)
332
Cannon House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
David
Dreir (R-CA)
237
Cannon House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Nick
Smith (R-MI)
306
Cannon House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Steven
T. Kuykendall
512
Cannon House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Dan
Miller
102
Cannon House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
John
Kasich
1111
Longworth House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Lynn Rivers
1724
Longworth House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Ken
Bentsen
326
Cannon House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
James
Moran
2239
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Darlene
Hooley
1130
Longworth House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
David
Price
2162
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
John
Sptratt, Jr.
1536
Longworth House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Sample
Thanks Letter to Congress
Dear
Representative X,
Thank you for your support of Federal R&D funding.
By
working with your colleagues to pass the House Budget
Resolution
with an increased function 250 level on
March
23, you have ensured that R&D funding
will
receive adequate support for the coming fiscal year.
[personal
info paragraph]
I work at a small college in Georgia where
I teach
introductory
physics and upper level classes in astronomy.
My
students are thrilled by every new scientific result that
appears
in the press and I am always sure to let them know when
that
result is funded by the Federal government.
Many don't
know
that the Federal government is practically the only source
of
funding for truly basic research and are surprised to find
out
that basic research funded by the Government in the late
1950's
has led directly to the digital revolution we are
experiencing
today.
I look forward to working with you in the
coming
year to
ensure that your good intentions as expressed by
your
efforts on the House Budget Resolution will be implemented
in the
appropriations process. If I can
provide you with
any
information about astronomy research, undergraduate science
education
or help your efforts in any way, please do not
hesitate
to contact me.
Sincerely,
Fred E.
Astronomer
NSF
Address:
National
Science Foundation
4201
Wilson Boulevard
Arlington,
VA 22230
Sample
Letter to NSF
Dr.
Colwell,
Thank you for your hard work this past
year. It has
paid
off handsomely with a wonderful result for NSF in the
President's
proposed budget. The situation appears
even
better
as this week the House of Representatives passed
a
Budget Resolution that will allow the large increase for
NSF to
be funded. We have now to only work our
way
through
the appropriations process to see your
laudable
goals realized.
I am particularly excited about the
improved situation
for the
Division of Astronomical Sciences. As
you know,
the
division has been hard pressed to support both its
wonderful
National facilities and its grant program.
This
year
the grant program is slated to receive a very large
increase
of nearly 40%. This increase will go a
long way
at
alleviating the small size and number of grants available
to
astronomy researchers through the division.
[Include
below paragraph if you support the national centers]
However, I am concerned that continued
flat-funding of the
facilities
program will lead to decreased user support and
facilities
upkeep that is so vital for our Nation's astronomy
facilities. Please consider working hard next year to
find a
way to
increase this very vital funding. Our
nation currently
leads
the world in astronomy research, helped in no small way
by the
NSF's excellent facilties. Please don't
let them fade
away
under the biting press of flat funding.
They are too
good
and perform at too high a level to deserve this awful fate.
I will be actively supporting NSF in the
coming year during
the
appropriations process by visiting my members of Congress
when
they are in the home district and regularly writing letters
to them
when they are in Washington. If you
ever need any
assistance
in your quest to grow the NSF, please do not hesitate
to
contact me.
Sincerely,
Cindy
A. Astrophysicist.