Date: 2002-06-05
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4664. the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002. I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Chairman BOEHLERT). the ranking member. the gentleman from Texas . and the gentleman from Michigan (Chairman SMITH) for working with me and the rest of the committee in a bipartisan manner on this important piece of legislation that makes a strong statement about our commitment to invest in Americas future. H.R. 4664 places the National Science Foundation on the path to double its budget in 5 years. which was the goal of H.R. 1472. the NSF authorization bill that I introduced last April 2001. I introduced H.R. 1472 because I strongly believed that investing in basic research. math and engineering research is essential to the future economic prosperity and global competitiveness of our country. Even after September 11. what we are depending on most now will be the kinds of technology that the research from the National Science Foundation has brought to the forefront. The National Science Foundation plays a leading role in educating our youth in math and sciences and training. the scientists and engineers of tomorrow. and the agency is working to ensure that tomorrows hightech workers reflect a diversity of America. It is my sincere hope that my colleagues will recognize the importance of basic research to our Nations future and will pass H.R. 4664. The National Science Foundation expends only 3.8 percent of the Federal research and development funds. yet this relatively small amount belies the importance of the agency to our country. The National Science Foundation provides 23 percent of the basic research funding at academic institutions. For specific research areas. the National Science Foundations role at universities is even larger. It funds 36 percent of research in the physical sciences. 49 percent of research in the environmental sciences. 50 percent of research in engineering. 72 percent of research in mathematics. and 78 percent of research in computer science. So. clearly. the National Science Foundation plays a disproportionately important role in funding some of the most basic research areas that have implications far beyond their own academic area. To give an idea of the quality and importance of the NSFfunded research to our Nation. consider the fact -that over 100 Nobel prizes have been awarded to scientists supported by the National Science Foundation research in the fields of physics. chemistry. physiology and medicine and economics. In nearly every field of science and engineering are examples of outstanding research supported by the National Science Foundation. This research leads to critical advances in the understanding of our world and in technology that improves our lives. For example. the National Science Foundation support at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois developed the first Internet browser that led to the explosive growth of the World Wide Web. The National Science Foundationfunded research in atmospheric chemistry identified the ozone depletion over the Antarctic. the ozone hole. as it has come to be known. NSFfunded research on mathematics and solid modeling led to the widespread use of computeraided design and computeraided manufacturing that has revolutionized industry and enhanced workplace productivity. These are but a few examples of the scientific breakthroughs that have been funded by the NSF in recent years. and this and other research supported by NSF ultimately strengthens our economy. The connection between research funding and the strength of the economy has been expounded by such diverse sources as former presidential science advisor Allen Bromley. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. and the HartRudman Commission for National Security. Yet despite the importance of basic research to the future economic health and wellbeing of our country. NSF now must decline more than $1 billion worth of high quality research proposals each year. Why? Because NSFs budget is insufficient to meet the demands of our Nations vibrant research sector. Mr. Chairman. while it is true that everyone must learn to live within their budget. and NSF has. it is a shame that topnotch proposals go unfunded for lack of resources. It is essential that our Nations premier science research agency has the resources it needs to fund advances that could lead to the next World Wide Web or deciphering the genome of a critically important crop. Our generation has benefitted enormously from the investment of our parents and grandparents made in basic research decades ago. and we owe it to our children to see that they enjoy the same pace* of technological advancement that we have enjoyed. It is critical that we invest in basic research today that will lead to better life tomorrow. These are but a few examples of the scientific breakthroughs that have been funded by NSF in recent years. and this and other research supported by the NSF ultimately strengthens our economy. The connection between research funding and the strength of the economy has been expounded by such diverse sources as former presidential science advisor Allen Bromley. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. and the HartRudman Commission on National Security. Yet despite the importance of basic research to the future economic health and wellbeing of our country. NSF now must decline more than 1 billion dollars worth of high quality research proposals each year. Why? Because NSFs budget is insufficient to meet the demands of our Nations vibrant research sector. Mr. Chairman. while it is true that everyone must learn to live within their budget. and NSF has. it is a shame that topnotch proposals go unfunded for lack of resources. In addition to funding basic research at our Nations laboratories. the National Science Foundation makes essential investments in training the scientists and engineers of tomorrow. NSF research awards and direct research fellowships help train over 24.000 graduate students each year. the future scientists and engineers essential to our hightech economy. The bill before us today seeks to strengthen NSFs graduate research fellowships by funding more research grants and increasing the average grant size and duration. NSF programs also help to improve science education for all students and to prepare them for citizenship in a world increasingly dominated by technology. Today we continue to have manpower shortages in many high technology fields. and many industries rely on the labor and brain power of foreign nationals. The ideal way to alleviate the shortages is by ensuring that our Nations children of all races and both genders receive the basic grounding in science and mathematics that will prepare them to pursue careers as scientists. engineers and technologists. Now. more than ever. we need to ensure that an adequate number of Americans choose careers in the sciences and engineering. We cannot allow inadequate funding to cripple NSFs efforts in this area. . Mr. Chairman. over the past few months. there has been a great deal of debate about the appropriate level of funding for the National Science Foundation. Some have proposed essentially flat levels of funding. while others have proposed a small 8.8% increase for one fiscal year. These levels are simply not enough for an agency as highly regarded and as critical to the future wellbeing of our Nation as the National Science Foundation. I say that we must double the budget of NSF and invest in our Nations future. H.R. 4664 was developed in a bipartisan fashion and enjoys the strong support of the Science Committee. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation.