ALERT re: NSF Appropriations for IT Research Funding

September 27, 1999

Status Of Appropriations for NSF IT Research Funding

The VA, HUD, and Independent agencies bill, which provides funding for the National Science Foundation, is moving through the Congress rapidly. Late last week the Senate passed its version of the bill, which includes nearly full funding for the NSF's information technology research program.

	NSF Request	House	Senate
IT Research	$110 million	$35 million	$105 million
Terascale Computing	$35 million	$0 million	$21 million

Recommended Action

Please contact your legislators as soon as possible. Call their Washington offices and ask for the legislative assistant who handles VA-HUD appropriations. Talking points are provided below, as are lists of the Senators and Representatives who will be involved in the VA-HUD conference and appropriate staff contacts when available. If you live in a state represented by one or more of these legislators, it is especially critical that you call them and express your support for the NSF funding.

Contact info for other legislators can be obtained from the blue pages (government section) of your local phone book; the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121; or the Congressional telephone directory.

Remember to ask for the legislative staffer who handles VA-HUD appropriations, although if you have an established relationship with a legislator's office, you might prefer to talk to your usual contact.

Talking Points for Calls to Senators

• I am calling about the VA-HUD appropriations bill, H.R. 2684, to express my thanks for the provision of full funding for the National Science Foundation and its information technology research activities in the Senate-passed version of the bill.

• I urge the Senator to promote the adoption of this provision in the final conference version by letting the VA-HUD subcommittee chair, Mr. Bond, know that you support his efforts on behalf of NSF and its IT research activities.

• Both versions of the VA-HUD bill call for increased funding for NSF's information technology research activities to implement the recommendations of an independent, Congressionally chartered panel of IT experts (PITAC); this panel identified an extraordinary potential for advances in IT to benefit every aspect of our society -- from communications, commerce, and national security to education, health care, and transportation.

• The Senate bill's provision of full funding for the NSF is essential as the agency is prepared to move forward in FY 2000 with a timely, compelling, and carefully crafted expansion of its IT research activities to take advantage of the many promising opportunities that are currently being missed; full funding will enable NSF to build on its superb track-record of wise investments in and efficient management of research initiatives in IT.

• The research community and many in the corporate IT sector strongly support expanding the NSF's investment in IT research, and we are actively seeking support among your counterparts in the House for the Senate bill's full funding of these activities; your help in in this effort would be most appreciated.

Contact Info for Senate VA-HUD Conferees

State	Member	Staff Contact	Phone	Fax
Alabama	Richard C. Shelby		202-224-5744	202-224-3416
Arizona	Jon Kyl	Mike Iarrobino	202-224-4521	202-224-2207
Idaho	Larry Craig	Brooke M. Roberts	202-224-2752	202-228-1067
Iowa	Tom Harkin	Richard Bender	202-224-3254	202-224-9369
Maryland	Barbara Mikulski, Ranking Member	Sean Smith	202-224-4654	202-224-8858
Missouri	Christopher S. Bond, Chairman		202-224-5721	202-224-8149
	Bond's subcommittee staff:	Che Kim	202-225-7858
Montana	Conrad Burns	Stan Ullman	202-224-2644	202-224-8594
New Jersey	Frank Lautenberg	Mitch Warren	202-224-4744	202-224-9707
Texas	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Mike Gerber	202-224-5922	202-224-0776
Vermont	Patrick Leahy		202-224-4242
West Virginia	Robert Byrd		202-224-3954	202-228-0002

Talking Points for Calls to Representatives

• I am calling about the VA-HUD appropriations bill, H.R. 2684, to urge the Congressman/Congresswoman to support full funding for the National Science Foundation and its information technology research activities, as provided in the Senate-passed version of the bill, and to express that support to the VA-HUD subcommittee chair, Mr. Walsh (for Republicans, or) the VA-HUD subcommittee ranking Democrat, Mr. Mollohan, and the other VA-HUD conferees.

• Both versions of the VA-HUD bill call for increased funding for NSF's information technology research activities to implement the recommendations of an independent, Congressionally chartered panel of IT experts (PITAC); this panel identified an extraordinary potential for advances in IT to benefit every aspect of our society -- from communications, commerce, and national security to education, health care, and transportation.

• The Senate bill's provision of full funding for the NSF is essential as the agency is prepared to move forward in FY 2000 with a timely, compelling, and carefully crafted expansion of its IT research activities to take advantage of the many promising opportunities that are currently being missed; full funding will enable NSF to build on its superb track-record of wise investments in and efficient management of research initiatives in IT.

• I was pleased to note the remarks of the VA-HUD subcommittee chairman, Mr. Walsh, who said during floor consideration of the bill that the NSF "is a priority, that if there is any way as we go through the process that we can provide some additional funds for NSF we will..."; this can now be accomplished by accepting the Senate's provisions for NSF, and I urge you to take action toward that end.

Contact Info for House VA-HUD Conferees

State	Member	Staff Contact	Phone	Fax
Alabama	Robert E. Cramer, Jr.	Dana Gresham	202-225-4801	202-225-4392
Florida	Carrie P. Meek	John Schelble	202-225-4506	202-226-0777
Kentucky	Anne Northup	John Lopez	202-225-5401	202-225-5776
Michigan	Joe Knollenberg	Jeff Onizuk	202-225-5802	202-226-2356
Mississippi	Roger F. Wicker	Jim Perry	202-225-4306	202-225-3549
New Hampshire	John E. Sununu	Marshall Bass	202-225-5456	202-225-5822
New Jersey	Rodney P. Frelinghuysen	Ed Krenik	202-225-5034	202-225-3186
New York	James T. Walsh, Chairman		202-225-3701	202-225-4042
	Walsh's subcommittee staff:	Frank Cushing	202-225-3241
North Carolina	David E. Price	Mark Harkins	202-225-1784	202-225-2014
Ohio	David L. Hobson	Stacy Rastauskas	202-225-4324	202-225-1984
Ohio	Marcy Kaptur	Deron Roberson	202-225-4146	202-225-7711
Texas	Tom DeLay	Juliane Carter	202-225-5951	202-225-5241
West Virginia	Alan B. Mollohan, Ranking Member	Lee Alman	202-225-4172	202-225-7564

Thanks very much for your interest and support! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need additional information or have any questions.

Lisa Thompson, Director of Government Affairs
Computing Research Association
1100 17th Street NW, Suite 507
Washington, DC 20036
tel: 202-234-2111 / fax: 202-667-1066
thompson@cra.org
Computing Research Advocacy Network