Bipartisanship Infuses House Science Mark-up of Authorization Bills

What a difference a year makes. At an all-day mark-up on April 16 by the House Science Committee, bipartisanship was the spirit of the day, and committee members commended the new chairman, James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working cooperatively. In contrast, last year’s mark-up of House Science bills was heated and acrimonious. This year, the committee passed ten authorization bills with very little contention. Sensenbrenner hoped to get the bills, which authorize programs under the Science Committee’s jurisdiction for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, to the House floor before the corresponding appropriations bills. He noted that the bills authorized a total increase of just less than 3 percent over FY 1997 funding levels for the R&D programs within the committee’s purview, just below what the committee had recommended in its “Views and Estimates” (see FYI #48 .) Sensenbrenner said the committee would “set aside” the remainder of their suggested 3 percent increase for later adjustments. The following four bills, of particular interest to the physics community, were approved as amended, and are scheduled for House floor action this week.

H.R. 1273: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: While the President’s FY98 request of $3.367 billion for NSF represents a 3 percent increase over FY97, the Science Committee’s bill, sponsored by Basic Research Subcommittee Chair Steven Schiff (R-NM), would authorize a total of $3.505 billion for FY98 -- a 7.2 percent increase. The Committee would authorize a total of $3.614 billion for NSF for FY99. Research and Related Activities (R&RA) funding would be authorized at $2.563 billion for FY98 (an increase of 5.4 percent over the FY97 level) instead of the request of $2.50 billion. The FY99 R&RA authorization amount would be $2.740 billion. The FY98 authorization for the Education and Human Resources Directorate, at $625.5 million, would equal the President’s request. An amendment to freeze education funding at the FY97 level was defeated. The Committee’s bill would also authorize one-time funding of $115 million for upgrading of the South Pole Station.

H.R. 1274: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY: Technology Subcommittee Chair Connie Morella (R-MD) announced that her bill authorizes funding for all of NIST’s programs, including the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). Sensenbrenner noted that, “unlike the previous chair, who was philosophically opposed to the ATP, I am not.” For NIST’s core laboratories, the bill authorizes $278.6 million for FY98, slightly more than the request of $271.6 million. The lab authorization for FY99 would be $286.9 million. The ATP would be authorized for FY98 at $185.1 million, less than the request of $275.6 million. The ATP authorization for FY99 would be $150 million. The bill would also require industry partners to provide 60 percent of the project funds, rather than the 50 percent matching funds required now. The Manufacturing Extension Partnerships would be authorized at $117.8 million for FY98, less than the request of $123.4 million, but sufficient to fully fund the 75 existing centers. Its FY99 authorization level would be $113.2 million. The Committee approved an amendment by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) that would eliminate any “sunset” time limit for ending federal support for the centers.

H.R. 1275: NASA: Space Subcommittee Chair Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) identified his highest priorities as shuttle safety, development of a reusable launch vehicle, space science, and the international space station. Total NASA funding would be authorized at $13.836 billion for FY98 and $13.9 billion for FY99. The FY98 amount is a less-than-one-percent increase over FY97 funding. However, it is better than the President’s FY98 request of $13.5 billion, a decrease from FY97. While the original bill contained a reduction to Mission to Planet Earth, an amendment was passed that would restore the program’s authorization to the level of the President’s request of $1.4 billion. Based on recent concerns about the Russians’ ability to act as reliable partners for the space station, Sensenbrenner, along with Ranking Minority Member George Brown (D-CA), offered an amendment to address this issue. Sensenbrenner remarked that the amendment would not force NASA to cancel the station, remove the Russians from the critical path, nor “impose a solution on the President” during the midst of negotiations. Instead, it would: prohibit transfer of funds to Russia for elements they pledged to build; require NASA to develop a contingency plan for removing the Russians from the critical path; require NASA to certify monthly whether the Russians are fulfilling their obligations; require the President to make a decision about replacing Russian components by August 1; and prohibit any more U.S. astronauts on the Russian MIR station unless it meets U.S. safety standards. Sensenbrenner’s and Brown’s amendment was agreed to. Several amendments offered by station opponent Tim Roemer (D-IN), to terminate or cut the station’s funding, were rejected.

H.R. 1277: DOE CIVILIAN R&D: Rep. Ken Calvert’s (R-CA) bill would authorize $4.63 billion (about $200 million less than the request) for civilian R&D within the Energy Department for FY98, and $4.65 billion for FY99. The bill calls for an increase of $15 million each year in FY98 and FY99 for Fusion Energy Sciences, authorizing $240 million for FY98 instead of the request of $225 million. The most contentious issue was bill language prohibiting the expenditure of funds toward construction of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Europe’s CERN Laboratory in Geneva, until the Energy Secretary submits a report from the National Academy of Sciences on how participation in LHC construction would affect U.S. High Energy Physics (HEP) facilities. Science Committee members were split over LHC construction funding. Some wanted to prohibit U.S. contributions entirely, because Europe did not contribute to the now-terminated SSC; others argued that participation in the LHC was important to the U.S. HEP community, and that the bill should not make U.S. participation conditional upon the report. Republican Joe Barton of Texas said that while he was not opposed to American scientists performing research at CERN, he did not want to “pay ransom” in order for them to participate. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) argued that if the U.S. was “truly committed to funding a robust High Energy Physics program,” Congress had no choice but to provide funds for the LHC. He called Barton’s argument “petty and counterproductive.” Ultimately, mindful that Sensenbrenner was planning to visit CERN to participate in negotiations, the Committee did not change the original bill language, agreeing that it would provide the chairman with some leverage for bargaining. Another section of the bill specified that $141.6 million of the FY98 authorization for HEP should go to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), with the intent of allowing fuller utilization of the newly-built B-Factory. Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI), the only PhD physicist in Congress, sponsored an amendment to remove the earmark for SLAC, saying that other DOE facilities around the country were facing the same situation. His amendment was approved.