Friday, 12 July 1991 Washington, DC
1. SPACE STATION GAINS, NSF LOSES, IN SENATE APPROPRIATIONS
BILL!
Wednesday, the Senate HUD/VA/Independent-Agencies
Appropriations Subcommittee voted to fund the space station
program at $2.02B in FY 92, the full amount requested by the
President and $120M more than the House agreed to (WN 7 Jun 91). The subcommittee also
restored some of the space science funds cut by the House. Where,
you may ask, did the money come from? Housing for the elderly
was the biggest loser, but some of the money was trimmed from the
NSF request. On paper, NSF lost $35M out of the $2.722B request;
bad enough, but the real cut would almost certainly be $140M. The
subcommittee charged the Antarctic program's logistical support
to the DOD. When Congress tried that last year, Richard Darman,
who as director of OMB is the official scorekeeper, disallowed
the charge (WN 1 Nov 91), and will
again, as the committee must know. Worse yet, Darman's action
came after the appropriations process was over, so there was no
chance for relief. Yesterday, the full Appropriations Committee
passed the bill without change.
2. SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES SPEAK OUT ON IMPACT OF THE SPACE
STATION!
Fourteen scientific societies joined to send a
letter to all members of the Senate, urging them not to fund
Space Station Freedom at the expense of scientific programs. The
letter, which was delivered on Tuesday, expressed particular
concern about NSF and EPA funding in the coming years. It was
signed by Presidents of the American Physical Society, the
American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, Optical
Society of America, American Crystallographic Association and the
Acoustical Society among others, and has rekindled debate over
the space station. Attempts to justify the station program seem
to have undergone yet another change; supporters now describe it
as a medical laboratory that will find cures for everything from
Alzheimers to tennis elbow.
3. SUPERCOLLIDER SURVIVES ITS FIRST MAJOR SHOWDOWN IN THE
SENATE,
but problems with international contributions
worsen. During the debate on the FY 92 Energy Appropriations
Bill, Senator Bumpers (D-AK), as expected, introduced an
amendment to kill the SSC (WN 5 Jul
91). It was brushed aside 62 to 37. Indeed, Bumpers, who
has consistently opposed megaprojects in this period of spending
caps, predicted his arrow would fall short, "because the Energy
Department has very thoughtfully contracted a piece of the SSC in
43 states." The Senate bill diverted $75M slated for clean-up of
nuclear weapons facilities to the SSC, partially offsetting the
$100M cut by the House (WN 31 May 91).
But in Waxahachie, J. Fred Bucy, the Chairman of the Texas
National Research Commission, resigned. TNRC is responsible for
raising Texas' $1B contribution to the SSC. He indicated he
thinks the project is in deep yogurt and wants to spend his time
convincing Congress to forget about foreign contributions.
Meanwhile, Deputy Energy Secretary Henson Moore was in Moscow
trying to persuade the Soviets to join. Their contribution could
just be deducted from American financial aid.
Robert L. Park (202) 232-0189 The American Physical Society
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