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NSF Congressional Highlight
Senate VA, HUD Appropriators Recommend 5.2 Percent Increase for NSF
September 4, 2003
On Wednesday, September 4, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked-up
its FY 04 VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill and provided
NSF with $5.585 billion, which is $275.8 million (5.2 percent) over FY
03, but $54 million under the House approved level. Within that increase
the Research and Related Activities Account will grow from $4.056 billion
to $4.220 billion, a $164.15 million (4 percent) increase. The Office
of Polar Programs is increased by $11.8 million over the request to $341.7
million to accommodate unusual ice conditions in recent years. Major Research
Instrumentation is funded at $115 million, with $30 million of that funding
directed to provided instruction and enhance digital and wireless infrastructure
at MSI's. The Nanotechnology Initiative receives an extra $25 million
of the request, of which $5 million is from CISE, $10 million from Engineering,
and $10 million from Math & Physical Sciences. Individual Directorate
funding levels are provided in the table below.
In the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) account
the Subcommittee provided the requested level of funding for the George
E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation, and increased
funding for the South Pole Station Modernization ($1.3 million vs. $960,000
request), and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array ($51.04 million vs. $50.84
million request). Projects funded at less than the requested level include
the Terascale Computing Systems ($10.06 million vs. $20 million request);
EarthScope ($43.73 million vs. $45 million request); and IceCube Neutrino
Detector ($35.46 million vs. $60 million request). The Committee did not
fund any new starts "due to budgetary constraints."
The Education and Human Resources account is funded at $975.87 million,
a $72.7 million (8%) increase over FY 03. The Math and Science Partnership
program is funded at $145 million, an increase of $18.3 million over FY
03, but $55 million below the request. The bill added funding for EPSCoR
(+$25 million above the request, to $100 million); the TechTalent program
is increased by $23 million over the request; the Informal Science Education
(+$15 million above the request, to $65 million); Advanced Technology
Education (+$7.71 million above the request, to $45.87 million); the Louis
Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (+$2.27 million above the
request, to $35 million) and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Undergraduate Program (+5.03 million to $25 million); the AGEP program
(+$5.7 million above the request to $17.5 million);
NSF's Salaries and Expenses account is funded at the requested level
of $225.70. The National Science Board is provided $3.9 million, up $420,000
from last year. The Office of the Inspector General is funded at $10 million,
$1.28 million over the requested level.
As with the mark-up in the House, members noted the difficulty they had
in meeting the needs of the various agencies given the small allocation
they had to work with. Chairman Bond noted that NSF's increase was not
what he had hoped for, and is far short of the funding path that they
had agreed to in the NSF Authorization Act, but that under the circumstances
they simply could not do any better. The bill language states that "the
Committee continues to be supportive of the efforts achieved in the NSF
Authorization Act of 2002 and the pursuit of a doubling path for NSF.
. . and will continue to pursue these efforts in the future."
Senate VA/HUD Mark
September 4, 2003
(all $ in millions)
| |
FY 03 Plan |
FY 04 Request |
FY 04 Senate |
Change
Over
FY 03
Plan |
%
Change |
Biological Sciences |
570.68 |
562.22 |
577.22 |
6.54 |
1.1 |
 |
CISE |
581.89 |
584.26 |
609.39 |
27.5 |
4.7 |
|
Engineering |
540.51 |
536.27 |
550.00 |
9.49 |
1.8 |
|
Geosciences |
692.21 |
687.92 |
692.21 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
|
Math & Physical
Sciences |
1,041.02 |
1,061.27 |
1,085.87 |
44.85 |
4.3 |
|
Social, Behavioral &
Economic Sciences |
194.34 |
211.74 |
206.74 |
12.4 |
6.4 |
|
U.S. Polar Programs |
319.07 |
329.93 |
341.73 |
22.66 |
7.1 |
|
Integrative Activities |
116.74 |
132.45 |
157.45 |
40.71 |
34.9 |
|
Total, Research and Related Activities |
4,056.46 |
4,106.36 |
4,220.61 |
164.15 |
4.0 |
|
Education and Human Resources |
903.17 |
938.04 |
975.87 |
72.70 |
8.0 |
|
Major Research Equipment & Facilities |
148.54 |
202.33 |
149.68 |
1.14 |
0.8 |
|
Salaries and Expenses |
189.11 |
225.70 |
225.70 |
36.59 |
19.3 |
|
Inspector General |
9.19 |
8.77 |
10.00 |
0.81 |
8.8 |
|
Office of the National Science Board |
3.48 |
N/A |
3.90 |
0.42 |
12.1 |
|
TOTAL NSF |
5,309.95 |
5,481.20 |
5,585.76 |
275.81 |
5.2 |
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See also:
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