Estimated Basic Research by Agency Table 3. All of these figures are well above the President's request.
Basic research is a high priority despite tight constraints on discretionary spending.
NIH basic research would account for an unprecedented 49 percent of all federal support for basic research in the Senate plan. Most federally sponsored basic research is performed in the nation's colleges and universities. Congress is writing its appropriations bills to stay under the discretionary spending caps imposed by the balanced budget agreement signed into law in August 1997. Under the agreement, total discretionary spending in FY 1999 is allowed to rise by less than one percent over FY 1998. In August it looked as if, given the tight cap on nondefense discretionary spending, the overall appropriations process would be a zero-sum game requiring a loser for every winner.