Broad Support for FY 2008 DOE Science Request
The American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society, Optical Society of America, and 54 other corporations, associations, and academic institutions have endorsed a statement supporting the Administration’s FY 2008 request for the DOE Office of Science. Under this request, funding would increase from the current budget of $3.8 billion to $4.4 billion.
Earlier this week, the Energy Sciences Coalition sent a statement endorsing “a minimum funding level of $4.4 billion” to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittees. The ESC, to which AIP, APS, and OSA belong, is “a broad-based coalition of organizations representing scientists, engineers and mathematicians in universities, industry and national laboratories who are committed to supporting and advancing the scientific research programs of the U.S. Department of Energy, and in particular, the DOE Office of Science.”
The House and Senate are scheduled to agree next week on an overall spending plan that will guide the FY 2008 appropriations process. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) has announced that some subcommittees will start to mark up their individual funding bills next week. Reports indicate that the Energy and Water Development bill may be one of the first bills that could be sent to the House floor. The Senate will not move on its appropriations bills until late May or June.
Yesterday, House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) spoke at the AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy. Gordon spoke of the importance of constituents informing Members of Congress of their views. The AIP Science Policy website provides guidance on communicating with Congress, including email links to House and Senate offices; see http://www.aip.org/gov/commcong.html . An analysis of the FY 2008 Office of Science request is available at http://www.aip.org/fyi/2007/018.html
The Energy Sciences Coalition FY 2008 Funding Statement follows:
“Support $4.4 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science in FY08
“The Energy Sciences Coalition (ESC) supports a minimum funding level of $4.4 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science in FY 2008, the amount contained in the President’s FY 2008 budget request. This funding level is consistent with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Democratic Innovation Agenda announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in November 2005, the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative announced in January 2006, and with recommendations made by the National Academies 2005 report, ‘Rising above the Gathering Storm.’
“The amount being requested by the ESC will:
- Allow the Office of Science to maintain and strengthen DOE’s core research programs at both the DOE national laboratories and at universities;
- Enable support for 25,500 PhD’s, postdoctoral associates, and graduate students in FY08 – approximately 3,600 more than were supported in FY06;
- Ensure maximum utilization of DOE research facilities;
-Allow the Office of Science to develop and construct the next-generation facilities necessary to maintain U.S. preeminence in scientific research; and
- Enable DOE to continue to pursue the tremendous scientific opportunities outlined in the Office of Science Strategic Plan and in its 20 Year Scientific Facilities Plan.
This statement was endorsed by the following 55 organizations:
AeA (American Electronics Association)
American Chemical Society
American Institute of Physics
American Mathematical Society
American Physical Society
American Society for Microbiology
American Society of Agronomy
American Society of Mechanical Engineers Energy Committee
American Society of Plant Biologists
Association of American Universities
ASTRA, The Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America
Battelle
Biophysical Society
Business-Higher Education Forum
California Institute of Technology
Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC)
Computing Research Association
Cornell University
Cray Inc.
Crop Science Society of America
Electronic Industries Alliance
Fusion Power Associates
General Atomics
Georgia Institute of Technology
IBM Corporation
Intel
Iowa State University
Jefferson Science Associates
Krell Institute
Materials Research Society
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michigan State University
National LambdaRail
National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
Ohio State University
Optical Society of America
Procter & Gamble
Oregon State University
Princeton University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Semiconductor Industry Association
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Soil Science Society of America
Southeastern Universities Research Association
Stanford University
University of California
University of California, Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Cincinnati
University of Houston System
University of Pittsburgh
University of Michigan
University of Southern California
University of Tennessee
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Van Fleet and Associates
