TESTIMONY OF

DEPUTY SECRETARY SAMUEL BODMAN

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE

UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 13, 2003

 

In his remarks at the presentation last summer of the National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology, President Bush reaffirmed this Administration’s commitment to science and technology by stating:

 

We’ll continue to support science and technology because innovation makes America stronger… Innovation helps our economy grow, and helps people find work.  Innovation strengthens our national defense and our homeland security…

 

Therefore, Chairman Boehlert, Ranking Member Hall, and Members of the Committee, it gives me great pleasure to have this opportunity to testify on the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 Budget request for science and technology programs within the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Technology Administration (TA).  I am pleased to share with you the Department’s budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. 

 

The FY 2004 President’s Budget request for NOAA is $3.326 billion in total discretionary budget authority.  The FY 2004 President’s Budget request for TA is $504.8 million in total discretionary budget authority, which includes $496.8 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  The Department’s entire budget request of $5.4 billion supports the President’s budget plan to focus resources on several core services, including:

 

  • fostering the Nation’s economic growth;

 

  • securing our homeland and enhancing public safety;

 

  • upgrading the Department’s facilities, infrastructure, and safety; and

 

  • implementing the Administration’s Climate Change Research Initiative to reduce present uncertainties in climate science so that we may make more knowledgeable policy decisions. 

 

To enhance these services, resources have been shifted from various lower priority programs.  I have spent much of the past year listening to leaders in technology industries describe the ways the Federal Government can better foster innovation in the private sector.  Secretary Evans and I also have been consulting closely with leaders of other Federal science and technology agencies to ensure the Department’s resources are directed to the areas where we can have the biggest impact and best coordination to meet national needs.  The Administration has made tough choices.  However, the Department has an ambitious agenda to use our science and technology resources, and I will specifically highlight the priorities that involve NOAA and TA. 

 

But before I do that, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the terrible and tragic loss of the shuttle Columbia and its crew just 12 days ago.  The seven astronauts who perished aboard the shuttle were courageous and brilliant men and women dedicated to forever pushing back the boundaries of our scientific understanding.  I should point out that NASA and NOAA have a long history as partners in the development of our environmental satellite systems.  As part of our routine support to the NASA shuttle program and satellite launches, NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and National Weather Service (NWS) provide specialized services, including space-based observations and weather forecasts.  In addition, NOAA’s NWS transmitted emergency broadcasts in Texas and Louisiana via the NOAA Weather Radio.  NOAA will continue to provide high resolution weather data and satellite services as needed for the Columbia shuttle investigation.

 

Fostering Economic Growth.  Economic growth is a central theme for the FY 2004 President’s Budget.  The Administration firmly believes that the Government’s job is to remove obstacles that inhibit faster economic growth and innovation.  President Bush is fond of saying that Government does not create wealth, people do -- so, our job is to create the right environment for businesses to flourish and prosper.  America leads the world in developing and commercializing new ideas.  This is critical to our economic security, national security and homeland security.  To continue the Nation’s leadership in science and technology in the 21st Century, the Administration is requesting funding for  NIST to support economic growth by enhancing programs, such as those involving nanotechnology, quantum computing, and health care quality assurance.   In addition, the Administration’s FY 2004 request supports NOAA’s efforts to promote economic growth by improving the efficiency of maritime shipping and through developing forecast products that can be used to support economic decisions.    

 

Homeland Security.  The Administration is, of course, committed to protecting the Nation.  We have a responsibility to protect our country from great dangers and to provide all Americans with a safe and secure place to live.  Our strong national science and technology base is a key to homeland security and a crucial advantage in the war on terrorism.  To contribute to this goal, the Department requests funding for NIST to provide the measurements and standards infrastructure necessary to provide for homeland security.  The resources will fund the development and dissemination of standards for safety and security of buildings, for biometric identification systems, and for radiation detection systems and radiation-based security systems.  The homeland security budget request for NOAA supports upgrading the NOAA weather radio operation to an All Hazards Warning Network, as well as the improvement of  physical security at 149 NWS facilities.

 

Facilities, Infrastructure, Safety, and Human Capital.  As I expressed last year when I testified before this Committee, Secretary Evans and I consider the safety and security of Commerce Department employees -- around the country and around the world -- to be one of our most important responsibilities.  The Department will focus on safety issues by instituting a new Occupational Safety and Health Program targeted toward preventing accidents and injuries through incident tracking and proactive prevention.  It is essential that the Department’s 37,000 employees work in a safe environment.

 

To protect critical research data from degradation, and to maintain employee safety and security, the Department is focusing substantial resources to upgrade NOAA and NIST facilities and laboratories.  The budget proposes funding for NIST to address inefficiencies and safety problems at its facilities in Boulder, Colorado and Gaithersburg, Maryland.  Valuable research continues to be lost or interrupted by power outages, spikes, and fluctuation.  The President’s FY 2004 Budget also seeks amounts to equip, maintain, and operate NIST’s Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML), and to fund time-scale dissemination backup elements.  I would like to thank the Committee members for your support of the AML, a measurement and research facility like no other in the world, on time and on budget to be completed in December 2003.

 

The Administration’s budget request also supports NOAA’s current infrastructure requirements, health, safety, and security-related activities.  This request for NOAA will support the upgrade of NWS facilities, ensure that ships and aircraft are available to support NOAA missions, and provide for workforce planning and employee training.

 

Climate Change.  The Department’s budget request also provides funding to support President Bush’s multi-agency Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI).  In response to President Bush’s challenge to address the scientific uncertainties in climate change and take steps to address the factors that contribute to climate change, NOAA is moving forward with a plan to focus and accelerate climate science research.  The CCRI will target the study of scientific uncertainty, strengthen climate and ecosystem observations and monitoring, and provide substantive scientific information for policy and management decisions.  Addressing global climate change with decisions based on sound science is a priority for the Department.  Moreover, NOAA is leading the charge to develop an international system that will provide comprehensive and sustained global observation and reliable operational climate forecasts.  In short, a global observation system will allow us to take the pulse of the planet.  The Bush Administration is firmly committed to addressing the many issues surrounding climate change, and I will highlight several programs later in my testimony that reflect our efforts and priorities.

 

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) PROGRAMS

NOAA plays a vital role in the everyday lives of our citizens through numerous contributions to the Nation’s economy, homeland security, and environmental health.  The President’s FY 2004 Budget request for NOAA of $3.326 billion in total discretionary budget authority represents an increase[1] of $190.0 million, or 6% over the FY 2003 President’s Request.  The Department of Commerce proposes increased spending in the following areas of interest to this Committee:  Economic Growth ($7.7 million increase; $116.0 million total);  Homeland Security ($7.7 million increase; $65.1 million total);  Facilities, Infrastructure, Safety, and Human Capital ($79.5 million increase, including adjustments to base; $248.4 million total);  Climate Change Research, Observations, and Services ($16.9 million increase; $295.9 million total);  Ecosystem Forecasting and Management ($76.0 million increase; $1017.1 million total); and Environmental Monitoring and Prediction ($99.5 million increase; $1600.6 million total).  I would like to highlight some of the major components of these priority funding areas.  These programs are carried out by NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).

The President’s FY 2004 Budget request for NOAA provides essential support to programs that enhance our scientific understanding of the oceans and atmosphere in order to sustain America’s economic vitality and environmental health.  Funding included in the President’s Budget request will allow NOAA to ensure that our vision for environmental stewardship and assessment and prediction of the Nation’s resources becomes a reality and that NOAA will continue to excel in our science and services to the American people.

 

Fostering Economic Growth.  The Administration’s request for NOAA includes an increase of $7.7 million (for a total of $116.0 million) for improving the efficiency of maritime shipping and developing forecast products that can be used to support economic development decisions.  This investment in enhanced forecasting capabilities has the potential to save energy consumers $30.0 million per day through the use of improved temperature forecasts for decisionmaking by energy producers, weather risk managers, and water resource managers.  Ninety-five percent of America’s non-NAFTA trade moves through the marine transportation system.  Improved oceanographic forecast modeling capabilities will assure safe and efficient maritime transit in U.S. waterways and vessel approaches into the Nation’s commercial ports, as well as increased efficiency in addressing hazardous material spills.

 

Homeland Security.  Ensuring public safety remains a priority of the Department as well as of NOAA and its National Weather Service (NWS).  The budget request for NOAA includes an increase of $7.7 million (for a total of $65.1 million) to enhance homeland security.  This increase includes new funding in the amount of $5.5 million to support a scaled upgrade of the current NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) operation to an All Hazards Warning Network.  This upgrade includes systems to standardize and automate receipt and dissemination of non-weather emergency messages.  The Administration is also requesting $2.2 million in new funding for emergency preparedness and safety to improve physical security at 149 NWS facilities in order to prevent unauthorized individuals from entering and/or tampering with NWS property.

 

Facilities, Infrastructure, Safety, and Human Capital.  The Administration’s budget request for NOAA supports an increase of $79.5 million (for a total of $248.4) for current infrastructure requirements, health, safety, and security-related activities.  It ensures that ships and aircraft are available to support our missions, and provides for workforce planning and analysis, employee training and retooling.  Specifically, the requested funds will support the application of resources to upgrade and maintain NOAA facilities and to provide a safe, productive environment for its valued employees, and also to target the current backlog of facilities projects.  The President’s FY 2004 Budget requests a

$3.0 million increase to accelerate the construction of NWS’s Weather Forecast Offices.  This facility will be located primarily in Alaska and has a planned completion date during FY 2008.  In addition, we are requesting $10.4 million for the construction of a new NOAA Science Center, which will house the existing National Center for Environmental Prediction, as well as other NOAA offices now located in Suitland, Maryland.

 

Climate Change.  One of the highlights of the Department’s FY 2004 Budget is the total request of $295.9 million for NOAA’s climate change research, observations and services.  This amount includes an increase of $16.9 million as part of a total request of $41.6 million for NOAA’s contribution to the President’s interagency Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI).  The NOAA FY 2004 CCRI request supports NOAA’s efforts to:

 

  • enhance ocean observations for climate;

 

  • augment carbon-monitoring capabilities in North America as well as in key under-sampled oceanic and continental regions around the globe;

 

  • advance the understanding of all major types of aerosols;

 

  • establish a climate modeling center within NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, which will focus on research, analysis, and policy applications for the development of model product generation; and

 

  • coordinate and manage the Nation’s interagency climate and global change programs through the Climate Change Science Program Office.

 

The President’s CCRI led to the creation of a new interagency framework in order to enhance coordination of Federal agency resources and research activities.  Under this framework, thirteen Federal agencies are working together under the leadership of a Cabinet-level committee on climate change, headed by Secretary of Commerce Evans and Secretary of Energy Abraham, to improve the value of U.S. climate change research.

 

The President’s FY 2004 Budget request for climate change activities reflects the President’s priorities by focusing Federal research on the elements of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) that can best support improved public discussion and decision-making.  Under the CCRI, various agencies will adhere to specific performance goals, including providing products to decision-makers within four years.  The priorities of the CCRI are:

 

  • reducing key scientific uncertainties;

 

  • designing and implementing a comprehensive global climate and ecosystem monitoring and data management system; and

 

  • providing resources to support public evaluation of a wide range of climate change scenarios and response options.

 

Even in this time of difficult budget decisions, the President is committed to fully funding climate research so that we can continue to reduce the uncertainties associated with climate change.

 

Other NOAA Priorities.  The Administration is requesting $76.0 million (for a total of $1,017.1 million) for the development and application of the necessary tools for managing marine ecosystems.  Of particular interest to this Committee is the increase of $2.0 million to study the effect of climate regimes on marine species.  The research will improve the understanding and prediction of climate change in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska and study the effects of climate change on North Pacific coastal and marine ecosystems.  The study will also help predict and mitigate social and economic effects of long-term climate change on fisheries-dependent coastal communities.

 

The Administration proposes an increase of $99.5 million (for a total of $1,600.6 million) for NOAA’s environmental monitoring and prediction programs.  This includes programs that are directed towards the collection of data to monitor the environment’s climate and weather patterns.  These resources also expand the use of data collection platforms (aircraft, observing systems, satellites) for improved weather predictions.  The program increases will sustain current operations and expand existing services which are essential to maintaining forecast abilities and predicting severe weather.  Following are elements of these total increases.

 

·        The request includes $2.0 million in new funds for enhanced coastal global observations, and $3.6 million in new funds for maintaining the existing observational infrastructure at four stations in Micronesia to continue observations in the Pacific Region.

 

·        Also requested is an increase of $3.7 million (for a total of $12.0 million) for NEXRAD technology infusion to accelerate the deployment of the NEXRAD Open Radar Data Acquisition and Dual Polarization.  Infusion and acceleration of NEXRAD planned product improvement by one to two years will result in increased tornado detection accuracy from 68 to 75 percent and improve tornado warning lead time from 11 to 15 minutes by FY 2007.

 

·        A request of $2.9 million in new funds will provide technology refreshment of the National Weather Service’s telecommunications gateway.  An addition of $1.3 million in new funds will sustain operations and maintenance of the Susquehanna River Basin Flood System enhanced flood prediction capabilities.

 

·        A replacement Turbo Commander for conducting snow surveys is requested and priced at $1.5 million.  Scheduled mid-life aircraft maintenance and other increases in aircraft upkeep requires an additional $1.6 million.

 

·        New funds in the amount of $1.3 million are requested for the international atmospheric research program, The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX).

 

·        Finally, an increase of $81.7 million (for a total of $668.6 million) is requested for NOAA’s major space-based observing platforms, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and NOAA’s Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).

 

TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATION (TA) PROGRAMS

 

TA is the focal point within Commerce for fostering the development of the technological infrastructure required to support U.S. industry through the 21st century.  TA accomplishes this by:

 

  • fostering the development, diffusion, and adoption of new technologies;

 

  • disseminating information on U.S. and foreign technology strategies and best practices; and

 

  • seeking to create a business environment conducive to innovation.

 

In support of the President’s priorities for science, technology, and U.S. competitiveness, TA’s Office of Technology Policy (OTP) is working on national policies and initiatives that use technology to build America’s economic strength.  OTP promotes innovation through advocating policies that encourage research, development, and ommercialization of new technologies (such as nanotechnology and biotechnology).  OTP chairs an interagency working group on Federal technology transfer, which seeks to improve the government’s technology commercialization practices and publishes annually the Secretary’s report to Congress on all Federal technology transfer efforts.  As part of its emerging technology initiative, OTP also has co-sponsored and organized National Nanotechnology Conferences at MIT and Northwestern University.  In addition, OTP has completed a report on fuel cell research.  As the President stated in his State of the Union Address, fuel cell research plays an important role in American competitiveness and innovation leadership.

 

As part of the Department’s contribution to national homeland security efforts, OTP has undertaken a “Critical Technology Assessment of Biotechnology in U.S. Industry”.  This assessment will provide information about national bio-defense capabilities and industry relationships with the Department of Defense, as well as a wealth of other information for policy makers who are interested in supporting this critical technology.

 

The FY 2004 President’s Budget request for all of TA is $504.8 million in total discretionary budget authority, including $8.0 million for the Office of the Under Secretary for Technology/OTP and $496.8 million for NIST.  This represents a decrease of $66.2 million, or 12 percent less than the FY 2003 President’s Request.  The NIST request includes funding in the following areas of interest to this Committee:  Economic Growth ($380.4 million); Homeland Security ($38.7 million); and Facilities and Infrastructure ($77.7 million).

 

THE PROGRAMS OF TA'S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY (NIST)

NIST carries out a key part of TA’s mission, performing world-class research to develop and promote measurements, standards, and technology in order to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life.

For more than one hundred years, the Nation has relied upon NIST for scientific and technical expertise to promote economic growth, commerce and trade, and national security.  The quality of NIST work is exemplified by the award of the world’s ultimate recognition in science, the Nobel Prize, since 1997, to two NIST scientists -- Bill Phillips in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Eric Cornell in Boulder, Colorado.  The work they are leading in super-cold matter and the strange nature of quantum mechanics is driving whole new areas of science and technology, from atomic clocks that do not gain or lose more than a billionth of a second in thirty years, to the potential for unimaginably powerful computers based on individual atoms, to new forms of telecommunications that provide the ultimate in information security.

NIST manages the Baldrige National Quality Program, the Nation’s premier program to recognize and promote performance excellence and quality achievement in businesses and organizations.  In 2002, SSM Health Care of St. Louis became the first Baldrige winner in the health care category, complementing the first three winners in the education category announced in 2001.  These award winners will be excellent 21st century role models for other organizations working to promote quality health care at lower cost as well as educational organizations that prepare our young people to succeed.  We are hopeful that the Baldrige Program will motivate the same kind of quality revolution in education and health care that it helped to launch in U.S. industry.

 

The President’s FY 2004 Budget request for NIST focuses on homeland security, supporting economic growth, and building the laboratory infrastructure NIST needs to meet current and future technology demands.  The President requests a total of $381.8 million for the NIST laboratory account, and $5.8 million for the Baldrige Program.  In addition, $69.6 million is requested in the construction account for NIST facility upgrades.  Finally, the President requests $27.0 million for the Advanced Technology Program and $12.6 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. 

Fostering Economic Growth.  The President’s request for the NIST Laboratories includes an increase of $9.2 million (for a total of $340.8 million) to strengthen the national measurements and standards infrastructure that enables innovation and economic growth.  The request will enable NIST to expand its work in the areas of nanotechnology, advanced information technology, and health care diagnostics – all areas with broad economic impact.

NIST will expand its program in nanotechnology, the so-called “tiny revolution” in technology, with a $5.2 million increase (for a total of $62.0 million).  NIST is already a leader in this exceptionally promising area.  Nearly all industrial sectors plan to exploit this emerging technology, and most of these plans call for appropriately scaled measurements and standards, NIST's specialty.  NIST closely coordinates its nanotechnology work with other Federal agencies through the President’s National Nanotechnology Initiative, or NNI. NIST appropriately has the lead in providing the measurements and standards infrastructure for the NNI.

The request also includes an increase of $3.0 million (for a total of $7.3 million) to build on NIST’s world-class expertise in quantum computing and communications.  This effort, with teams led by NIST’s two Nobel laureates, is developing revolutionary means of making calculations much more quickly than traditional electronic computers will ever be able to do.  NIST scientists already have made the working elements of quantum computers based on individual atoms.  NIST also will expand its work in using quantum properties to provide the ultimate security in telecommunications that are impossible to intercept without tipping off the people in the conversation.

The Administration also requests funding to allow NIST to strengthen its programs supporting health care diagnostics, which not only improve the quality of health care, but also ensure that U.S. manufacturers can fairly compete in the $20 billion global market for these products.  The request includes an increase of $1.0 million (for a total of $17.1 million) to strengthen this effort.

Consistent with the President’s emphasis on shifting resources to reflect changing national needs, the President’s FY 2004 Budget proposes terminating the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and requests a total of $27.0 million for administrative and close-out costs.  The FY 2004 President’s Budget also proposes maintaining the FY 2003 policy of significantly reducing Federal funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), for which the budget requests $12.6 million.  These programs have been well-run and effective, but the scarce resources are needed for higher priority programs.  The budget request focuses on NIST's core mission of measurements, standards, and laboratory research, rather than its extramural programs, by providing the 21st century facilities the NIST Laboratories need for success.  Investment of limited NIST resources in the Laboratory programs and facilities will have the greatest impact on strengthening homeland security and fostering innovation that leads to economic growth.

Homeland Security.  We request an increase of $10.3 million (for a total of $38.7 million) for NIST to address key national needs for homeland security measurements, standards, and technologies.  This request will strengthen NIST’s portfolio of more than 100 projects that address homeland security technology needs.

Included in this request is an increase of $4.0 million (for a total of $10.9 million) as part of a program to use lessons learned from the NIST-led investigation of the World Trade Center collapse to make buildings, occupants, and emergency responders safer from terrorist attacks on buildings and other building disasters.  Thanks to the support of this Committee, NIST is on track to complete the building and fire study of the World Trade Center disaster by the fall of 2004 as planned.  We are already getting useful information from the investigation.  The requested funds will help NIST, the private sector, and state and local agencies to learn more and to develop and disseminate guidance on building practices, building codes, occupant behavior, and emergency response to save lives and reduce property loss.  The Committee has recognized that NIST has the unique combination of technical expertise in a broad range of building and fire sciences and lengthy experience working with the building and emergency responder communities to provide the Nation with the maximum benefit from the WTC investigation and associated research.

The NIST homeland security request also includes an increase of $5.3 million (for a total of $26.8 million) to develop the measurement infrastructure needed to detect nuclear and radiological (“dirty bomb”) threats, to improve the use of radiation such as x-rays and other imaging techniques to detect concealed terrorist threats, and to safely and effectively use radiation to destroy biowarfare agents such as anthrax.

Our homeland security request also includes a total of $1 million to develop standards and test methods for biometric identification systems, used to positively identify the approximately 20 million non-citizens who enter the U.S. each year or apply for visas.  This will enable NIST to carry out the mandate of the USA PATRIOT Act, which requires NIST to develop technology standards for biometric identification, recognizing NIST’s long history of expertise in this area.

I want to emphasize that the President expects that the Nation will have a coordinated approach to homeland security that appropriately uses Federal resources and fully recognizes the crucial role of the private sector in providing homeland security technologies.  NIST has been working very closely with the Transition Planning Office of the Office of Homeland Security and agencies slated to join the new Department of Homeland Security to help develop the standards strategy for the Science and Technology mission of the new Department. Measurements and standards are key to enabling the development of new homeland security technologies by the private sector and Federal laboratories, ensuring the technologies perform as expected, and enabling state and local governments and emergency response organizations to make informed decisions about purchasing and using homeland security technologies.  NIST expects to play a key role in providing the measurements and standards infrastructure for homeland security.  NIST has more than 100 years of experience working with the private sector on measurements and standards issues.

Facilities, Infrastructure, and Safety.  We are requesting an increase of $43.3 million (for a total of $77.7 million) for facilities, infrastructure, and safety projects to help ensure that the NIST laboratories are adequate to deliver on our promises.   The request includes an increase of $21.3 million (for a total of $33.1 million) for long-overdue improvements at NIST's laboratories at Boulder, Colorado, where most of the buildings are nearly 50 years old.  Obsolescence already threatens the ability of the Boulder staff to provide services that meet the levels of accuracy required by their industrial customers.  The list of improvements to be made is long, but we intend to make a serious start on improving those facilities.

The facilities, infrastructure, and safety request also includes an increase of $10.6 million (for a total of $33.1 million) for maintenance, repair, and safety improvements at both the Boulder, Colorado, and Gaithersburg, Maryland campuses.  Even with facilities improvements initiated in Boulder and completion of the AML, most NIST laboratory facilities are 35 to 50 years old, and the maintenance and safety requirements grow each year.  NIST also requests a total of $3.4 million in new funding to design the future renovations of NIST Gaithersburg Building 220.

 

Finally, the Administration requests a total of $6.7 million for equipment and maintenance of the AML, to ensure that the Nation’s investment in this unique facility can be fully used.  We also request a total of $1.4 million to ensure that the National time scale maintained by NIST is secure and backed up against possible failure or attack.  The NIST national time scale is used several hundred million times each day to ensure that time-keeping devices of all kinds are accurate.  Federal regulations require that certain electronic financial transactions be time-stamped using NIST time, and electric power grid switching, navigation and communications are among the other activities highly dependent on this service from NIST.

 

This Committee has been a strong advocate of ensuring that NIST has the facilities and physical infrastructure needed to do the job.  We appreciate your long-standing support, and we will continue to demonstrate to you that investment in NIST returns great benefits to the Nation.

CONCLUSION

 

This completes my statement.  The Department has many exciting technology initiatives.

I look forward to working with you as these proposals move through the legislative process.  I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.


[1] As in the Department of Commerce Budget in Brief, references in this testimony to FY 2004 “increases” refer to changes from the base.  Base is the combination of the President’s FY 2003 Budget request and any adjustments to base.