COMMERCE DEPARTMENT BUDGET REFLECTS PRESIDENT'S FOCUS IN FY 2005

Department maintains commitment to Economic Growth, Leadership in Science and Technology and Natural Resource Management

Secretary Evans’ $5.8 billion FY 2005 budget request for the U.S. Department of Commerce reflects President Bush’s priorities to keep America’s economy growing, to create jobs, to maintain a competitive edge in science and technology and to manage our Nation’s natural resources.

“Our budget request reflects this department’s continuing commitment to creating conditions for both economic growth and employment opportunity by promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, and stewardship,” said Evans. “President Bush is determined to fund the important domestic priorities to win the war on terror and protect the homeland, while showing spending restraint in non-security areas of government.”

The Commerce Department’s budget also will focus on its partnership with US businesses in maintaining a prosperous productive America, committed to consumer safety and the protection of natural resources. The Department will continue to maintain its record of innovation in manufacturing, transportation, communications, and measurement that has helped sustain US leadership of the international marketplace.

Economic Growth

A central theme for the President’s FY 2005 Budget is growing jobs and strengthening the economy. The FY 2005 budget request contains requests of more than $245 million in increases to programs at the Department of Commerce aimed at growing the economy.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has created a new office called Manufacturing and Services, focusing on the domestic and international aspects of US industrial competitiveness; working with US industry to evaluate the needs of American manufacturers; assessing the economic impact of new and existing government rules and regulations on US manufacturers; and representing and advocating for the interests of the US manufacturing and services sector.

ITA is requesting an increase of $4.5 million for the State Department’s Capital Security Cost Sharing Program (CSCSP) to cover the State Department’s capital security costs associated with building new embassy compounds. CSCSP is scheduled to begin in FY 2005 and continue through FY 2018. ITA requests an increase of $0.5 million for the Activity-Based Cost Accounting and Management System to allow for more precise management and planning of resources as well as a better understanding of ITA’s performance and commitment to priority activities. ITA also requests an increase of $0.2 million for Free Trade Agreement Secretariats to enable ITA to meet a requirement under the Singapore and Chile Free Trade Agreements.

Along the same lines, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) requests an increase of $3 million to conduct an annual survey of minority owned business enterprises (SMOBE). The SMOBE will provide more timely, frequent and comprehensive statistical data about the minority business universe than the current 5-year SMOBE. MBDA also requests an increase of $2.1 million for the Business Development Centers and Minority Business Opportunity Committees programs to improve opportunities for minority businesses in areas with the highest minority business density. Finally, MBDA requests an increase of $0.5 million to establish trade activities in response to the President and the Secretary of Commerce’s initiative on trade promotion for US minority businesses with Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) request will help accelerate the Nation’s economic growth by promoting a favorable business environment to attract private capital investments and higher-skill, higher-wage jobs. EDA requests an increase of $5 million to assist areas that demonstrate a high level of economic distress from long-term economic deterioration or that are suffering from sudden and sever dislocation to their economies.

Furthering the Department’s commitment to the economy, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), part of the Economic and Statistics Administration (ESA), requests an increase of $15 million over FY 2004 to continue to generate more timely economic data, meet US international obligations in complying with international standards for reporting statistics, and acquire real-time data to improve quality of BEA measures; and will produce up-to-date annual estimates on business investment spending and employment and compensation data by industry.

The Bureau of the Census requests an increase of $217 million over FY 2004. These additional funds will be used in the Bureau’s multi-year effort to reengineer the Decennial Census by implementing the American Community Survey (ACS), modernizing its geographic database information, and developing plans for a short-form only Decennial Census in 2010.

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the review and enforcement of export license conditions, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is requesting funding to develop a comprehensive export license condition compliance and enforcement program. This program will enhance the enforcement of license conditions by working with exporters to ensure that they have in place appropriate export management systems and devoting dedicated resources to detecting and prosecuting violations of conditions.

Leadership in Science and Technology

Important priorities for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in FY 2005 are to upgrade facilities and laboratories, to protect critical research data from degradation, and to maintain employee safety and security. The budget provides increased funding to NIST laboratories for continuing construction projects and high priority research areas. The request includes $31 million to equip and operate the Advanced Measurement Laboratory and $25 million for continued renovations of NIST’s Boulder, Colo. facilities.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) request will support the third year of the PTO strategic plan to keep pace with workload growth and to enhance the quality of products and services. In FY 2005, the Administration proposes giving PTO full access to its fees, an increase of $310.9 million. With these funds the PTO will improve processing capacity by hiring additional patent examiners, deliver an operational electronic patent application processing system, continue moving to an electronic trademark operation, and expand quality reviews to all stages of patent and trademark examination.

In order to foster technological leadership in the areas of telecommunication, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) increase request of $7.1 million will provide the resources necessary to improve dramatically the overall capabilities of NTIA research, manage and represent internationally the government’s and industry’s spectrum usage.

Natural Resource Management

This budget supports the core activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including its fisheries and oceans programs, climate research activities, weather forecasting capabilities, and the satellite infrastructure necessary to support these functions. In addition, the request continues to focus on maintenance and safety issues associated with NOAA facilities, vessels, and aircraft.

In order to meet international standards for research surveys and substantially improve the quality of fishery research, NOAA requests an investment of $34 million to complete NOAA’s third fisheries survey vessel. They will also seek to expand its focus on climate research by devoting $19 million of new funding to address the critical knowledge gaps identified in the recently released Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan. Finally, NOAA will continue to improve its weather forecasting abilities by requesting funding to expand air quality forecasts nationwide and investing in improved long-range weather forecasting. The Department will also request an additional $56 million for the continued development of next-generation geosynchronous and polar orbiting satellite programs.