Clinton threatens to veto 1995 omnibus science act

The House passed an amended version of the Omnibus Civilian Science Authorization Act of 1995 by a vote of 248-161 on October 12. President Clinton has threatened to veto the legislation if Congress passes it.

House Science Committee Chair Robert S. Walker (R-PA) introduced HR 2405 in late September. The bill authorizes fiscal 1996 and 1997 appropriations for the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Department of Energy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Fire Administration. Total spending authorized for 1996 is $21.5 billion, $3 billion less than what was budgeted for those agencies in 1995 and about $3.3 billion less than the president's 1996 budget request for those agencies.

The seven separate authorization bills should be considered as a package "to make the point that science is a national issue deserving of major national attention...; to consider civilian science R&D as a whole, in order to set better priorities...; [and] to make it clear that science is vital to our long-term economic interests," Walker said in a press release. "With HR 2405, we are attempting to elevate science to the same kind of consideration that our defense priorities have always had."

The Clinton administration opposes the legislation. In a statement released by the White House in October, Vice President Al Gore said the legislation, which "seeks to eliminate critical investments in civilian technology, is unwarranted, unwise and unnecessary.

"Congress, through this bill, is taking direct aim at federal investments in high-risk, long-term research and development," Gore said. "This bill effectively eliminates those merit-based, cost-shared efforts, such as the Commerce Department's Advanced Technology Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, that bridge the gap between basic research and commercial development of products."

A statement of administration policy said cuts in NSF's budget would mean that "investments in basic research and education will have to be curtailed." NASA's budget for High-Performance Computing and Communications would be decreased 50%, the statement said.

"The appropriation authorization levels for the Commerce Department's civilian technology programs are unacceptable. The fiscal 1996 authorization of appropriations for the entire National Institute of Standards and Technology of $338 million is $685 million less than the president's budget," the policy statement said. "Such a drastic cut will undermine the NIST labs' ability to provide the scientific and industrial community with the measurement base essential to industrial competitiveness and public health and safety."