NSF & Congress
Congressional Highlights

NSF CONGRESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS - 107th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION

December 19, 2002
President Signs H.R. 4664, NSF Reauthorization Act
On Thursday, December 19, the President signed in to law H.R. 4664, a five-year reauthorization bill for the National Science Foundation. Although this act does not provide funds for NSF, it does provide the authority to obligate funds for specified activities. The act includes portions of legislation previously enacted by the House that authorize the Math and Science Partnership and the Science and Engineering and Technology Talent Expansion Act. Full Highlight

October 16, 2002
House Appropriations Committee Approves FY03 VA-HUD Appropriations Bill
The House Appropriations Committee approved the subcommittee version of the FY 03 NSF budget without change today providing the agency with a 12.8 percent increase, or $614 million, over last year. The Research and Related Activities account is increased by 15.3 percent, or $551 million, which would put it on course for doubling in five-years. Full Highlight

September 12, 2002
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Reports Out NSF Authorization Bill
On Thursday, September 5, 2002, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee reported out S. 2817, "The National Science Foundation Doubling Act." The bill provides for a doubling of the NSF authorization levels over the next five fiscal years, from $4.8 billion in FY 2002 to $9.8 billion in FY 2007. Full Highlight

July 25, 2002
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY 2003 NSF Budget
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the subcommittee version of the FY 03 NSF budget without change today providing the agency with an 11.78 percent increase over last year. In extensive report language the committee outlined plans for a number of significant changes for the agency in the coming year. Among the most noteworthy is an increase in the Graduate Fellowship stipend to $30,000 per year. This is above the $25,000 requested level, which was itself an increase over the current $21,500 level. Full Highlight

May 30, 2002
National Science Foundation Reauthorization Legislation Moving in Congress
On May 22, 2002, the House Committee on Science approved the "Investing in America's Future Act," H.R. 4664, by voice vote. The bill is described by the Committee as legislation "to place the National Science Foundation (NSF) on a track to double the agency’s budget in five years [and] to bolster undergraduate science, math and engineering education." Full Highlight

February 13, 2002
House Science Committee Holds Hearing on President's Budget Request for Research and Development
On February 13, the House Science Committee held a hearing to examine the President's budget request for research and development. Testifying at the hearing were: Dr. Jack Marburger, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; Dr. Rita Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation; Dr. Samuel Bodman, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce; and Dr. Bruce Carnes, Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Energy. Full Highlight

NSF CONGRESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS - 107th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

November 27, 2001
Summary of NSF Appropriation for FY 02
On November 26, the President signed into law the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies appropriations bill (H.R. 2620) for the 2002 fiscal year, which includes funding for the National Science Foundation. Overall, NSF funding increased by $372.5 million to $4.789 billion. This represents an 8.4 percent increase over the previous year. Full Highlight

July 19, 2001
NSF Senate Appropriations Mark-up
The Senate VA-HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations subcommittee marked up the FY 02 appropriations bill Thursday morning, to be followed by a full committee mark-up in the afternoon. Noting that their subcommittee allocation prevented them from providing the $600 million that they felt was needed to keep NSF on a doubling track, Senators Mikulski and Bond provided the agency with a 5.6% increase over last year's budget. Full Highlight

April 9, 2001
NSF Budget Goes to Congress
President Bush's FY 02 budget proposal, including a $4.47 billion request for NSF, was delivered to Congress. The FY 02 NSF request is a 1.3 percent increase over last year's figure. A breakdown of budget categories shows an 11% increase in education and human resources and 6 to 8 percent increases for salaries and expenses and the Inspector General, respectively. These increases are buffered by a 20.6 percent reduction in major research equipment (MRE) and a slight decrease (0.5 percent) in research-related activities, which at $3.43 billion constitute nearly three quarters of the NSF budget. Full Highlight

February 16, 2001
House Science Committee Organizes
Chairman Sherry Boehlert (R-NY) and Ranking Democrat Ralph M. Hall (D-TX) announced this week that the House Science Committee has named the following as subcommittees chairs and ranking minority members for the 107th Congress. Full Highlight

January 12, 2001
Committee Chair Named
Rep. Sherry Boehlert, (R-NY) has been named Chairman of the House Committee on Science. Rep. Boehlert has been a member of the Committee on Science since first coming to Congress in 1981. Full Highlight

For past years' highlights, see NSF & Congress Archive.