Date: 2011-11-17
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of the conference report containing fiscal year 2012 appropriations for Agriculture. Commerce. Justice. Science. Transportation. Housing. and Urban Development. My support is somewhat tempered. as I find several items to cheer in this agreement and several that are of great concern to me. But recognizing the constraints within which the appropriators were working. I thank and applaud them for their hard work to achieve agreement and bring this bill before us today. In particular. I want to thank Chairman WOLF and Ranking Member FATTAH for their longtime support for research and development and STEM education. As Ranking Member of the Committee on Space. Science. and Technology. today I limit my remarks to those agencies in this conference report that are within my committees jurisdiction: NIST. EDA. NOAA. OSTP. NASA. NSF. and certain of FAAs activities. Let me begin with what I think is one of the bright spots in this conference agreement. and that is the budget for the National Science Foundation. NSF is the only federal agency that supports basic research across the entire range of science and engineering disciplines. continuingly refreshing both our intellectual capital and the new ideas and technologies that combined serve as the backbone for the creation of new industries and jobs in our nation. The Foundation also plays a critical leadership role in the nation in improving the quality of STEM education at all levels and for all students. Therefore I am quite pleased with the 2.5 percent increase proposed for the Foundation. This is exactly what setting priorities during tough budget times should look like. Likewise. I am pleased that the Scientific and Technical Research Budget at the National Institute of Standards and Technology is increased by 11 percent. I am also pleased that the agreement maintains funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. MEP. program. but I am very disappointed that the agreement eliminates all funding for the Technology Innovation Program and the Baldrige National Quality Award. and fails to provide any funding for the promising AMTech program. While I am pleased that the agreement proposes $17.8 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA. a strong sign of support within these challenging fiscal times. we must be mindful that the overall program that NASA is being asked to accomplish with these funds has not changed significantly despite yearly reductions in the agencys appropriations. That said. I am pleased that the bill provides funding to maintain the James Webb Space Telescope program on a schedule for launch in 2018 and that the bill provides funding and direction for NASA to pursue a flagship planetary science mission. if it can be scoped so that NASAs costs can be accommodated within appropriated funding levels. While funding for the Space Launch System. SLS. and Multipurpose Crew Vehicle. MPCV. proposed in this bill is more than requested by the Administration. it is significantly below authorized levels. This downward trend cannot continue. It is vital that the SLS and MPCV stay on track so that we reinstate a U.S. government capability to launch American crews into orbit. provide a backup crew and cargo transfer capability for the International Space Station. and return the United States to the forefront of the human exploration of outer space beyond lowEarth orbit. I am pleased that the conference report provides the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA. with a $306 million increase above this fiscal years level. However this increase is insufficient for the many missions that this important agency is being asked to undertake at this time. America has already experienced in this year alone ten extreme weather events with economic costs to date approaching $50 billion. The National Weather Service provides weather and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States and maintains the national infrastructure of observing systems that gather and process data worldwide from the land. sea. and air. The Joint Polar Satellite System weather satellite program. a vital component of this mission. must have consistent and sufficient levels of funding in order to provide these much needed products and services. Further. I am disappointed but not surprised that this bill does not support the Administrations efforts to better align the agency to provide reliable weather and climate products and services now and into the future. If left uncorrected. current political efforts to undermine these services will have significant negative economic consequences down the road. With respect to the Economic Development Administration. EDA. I am pleased that the agreement provides $5 million in funds for loan guarantees for small- and mediumsized manufacturers. as authorized last year in the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. And while I am disappointed that the bill does not include a separate line item of funding for the Regional Innovation Strategies program. as also authorized in the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. I am pleased that the agreement recognizes the importance of EDAs work in regional innovation and encourages it to continue. However. I am concerned about the budget for the Office of Science and Technology Policy. I fear that the 32 percent cut to OSTP will do significant collateral damage to the formal infrastructure that helps ensure that billions of dollars in federal R&D initiatives are coordinated across the agencies efficiently and effectively. I wish the appropriators would have found another path forward to deal with the disagreements that motivated this cut. and I certainly hope that in the next fiscal year we can see this matter resolved and OSTP made whole again. Finally. with respect to the FAA. I am encouraged by the conferees recognition that arbitrary funding reductions imposed earlier by the House Majority were unwise as such cuts negatively affect aviation safety and halt job creation. Furthermore. I appreciate the conferees support of NextGen air traffic modernization activities because of the importance of NextGen in preventing future gridlock in our skies. while allowing FAA to manage air traffic in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. I agree with the funding level provided to FAAs commercial space regulatory activities. since hearings conducted by the Science. Space. and Technology Committee and its Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee during this session confirmed that commercializing space transportation has not progressed as quickly as expected and thus the need for the additional funding sought in the original FAA budget request was not supportable. In closing. I once again would like to thank Chairman WOLF. Ranking Member FATAH. and their colleagues in the House and Senate for all of their work on this agreement. and for their implicit recognition of the critical role that federal investments in R&D and STEM education play in ensuring our nations longterm health and prosperity.