House Appropriations Committee Recommendations on NSF

Research and Related Activities The House Appropriations Committee has released its report (105-175) on the VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill, H.R. 2158. While this report language is not binding, and is subject to change following a conference with the Senate Appropriations Committee later this year, it provides important insight into the thinking of the House appropriators.

The committee fully funded NSF’s Research and Related Activities (R&RA) budget request, and then increased it by $23 million, to $2,537.7 million. Of this $23 million, $13 million is for an increase in the Next Generation Internet program. The following are selections from the committee’s report regarding the R&RA budget:

NEXT GENERATION INTERNET: “The Committee has included a total of $23,000,000 for the National Science Foundation’s effort associated with development of the Next Generation Internet. The funding provided is an increase of $13,000,000 to the budget request for this item. The Committee action is in recognition of recent changes in this multi-agency effort and is consistent with how the program will be executed during fiscal year 1998.”

KNOWLEDGE AND DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENCE: "...KDI is a major Foundation-wide research and education initiative that could have a profound impact on the research and education enterprise in this country.... The Committee strongly supports the Foundation’s role in interagency efforts to enhance development of very high speed networking systems as well as the KDI initiative. The Committee notes that KDI, and the collaborative potential it represents, could revolutionize the way we communicate and educate ourselves, and create entirely new areas of economic growth and individual opportunity. The manner in which KDI is expected to promote interaction among behavioral, social, physical, and computer scientists and engineers is of particular interest to the Committee as it encourages the Foundation to continue developing innovations which all society can appreciate.”

SUPERCOMPUTER CENTERS: The report language cites the phase-out of two current supercomputer centers, and states: “The Committee does not disagree with the decision of the [National Science] Board to begin the new partnerships, but the Committee is concerned that inadequate funding allocated for phase-out of the two centers which were not selected to lead new partnerships. Accordingly, the Committee has provided an additional $5,000,000 to be used only for the orderly phase-out of operations.”

NATIONAL HIGH MAGNETIC FIELD LABORATORY: “The Committee notes the accomplishments of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and its innovative collaborations with private businesses. However, the Committee recognizes that other countries are making strides for world leadership in the nuclear magnetic resonance field. The chemical, biological, and materials advances that could result from such an initiative could have major commercial and economic benefits. The Committee therefore directs the National Science Foundation to review and evaluate recent foreign initiatives in nuclear resonance; develop, in cooperation with the Office of Science and Technology Policy and other agencies, appropriate federal responses to these initiatives, with particular attention to instrumentation and interagency cooperation; and report its findings to the Committee by February 1, 1998.

“The Committee is aware that the Foundation recently extended their support for the Laboratory for an additional five years and increased the level of support substantially. However, the Foundation was unable to fund the research areas related to structural biology and aspects of magnetic resonance. The Committee encourages the Foundation to work with the Laboratory, its partner, and new collaborators such as the University of Miami,to more effectively explore the applications of this important technology through an interagency, financial, collaborative agreement with the National Institutes of Health. The Committee requests that the Foundation report on progress made in assisting the laboratory and the National Institutes of Health to work together as partners.”

OCEAN SCIENCES: "...The Committee is aware that ocean research continues to be an underpinning of U.S. economic expansion, national security, and world scientific leadership. The Committee believes that ocean sciences should be a priority for the Nation and deserves appropriate funding to address that challenges within the agencies which have fiduciary and oversight responsibilities for research.”

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: “The Committee has been impressed by the proposal for a nonregulatory National Institute for the Environment with a mission to improve the scientific basis for making decisions on environmental issues.... The National Science Foundation has the authority to advance such an Institute. Therefore, the Committee directs that Foundation to study how it would establish and operate such an institute, including the potential cost of such an institute, and report to the Committee by April 1, 1998.”

GEMINI TELESCOPE PROGRAM: "...The Committee continues to be pleased with the excellent performance of the project team. After more than five years, the project remains on schedule and virtually within the original budget estimate of $176,000,000. Given the requirement to work with a variety of national and cultural backgrounds, this represents a significant achievement and should serve as a model for future international cooperative programs.”

The Committee report also supported the World Congress on Information Technology, the U.S./Mexico Foundation for Science, and NSF’s efforts in North Greenland, and included language on Internet registration fee disposition.

See forthcoming FYIs for information on Major Research Equipment, including the South Pole Station, and the Education and Human Resources budget.