Friday, 7 February 1992 Washington, DC
1. A FREEZE ON DOMESTIC DISCRETIONARY SPENDING? DON'T BET ON
IT.
When the Townes Task Force met last fall to set priorities for
DOE research facilities, it was instructed to assume zero budget
growth--not even inflation (WN 20
Sep 91)--even though the Budget Enforcement Act allows an
inflation adjustment. That led to ugly speculation that the
"missing inflation increase" was being held back for the SSC. In
fact, the Bush budget does not include an inflation increase. In
his introduction to the 1,714-page Budget of the United States
Government for FY 1993, OMB Director Richard Darman outlines the
Administration plan for "Budget Discipline": the first step is a
"freeze" on domestic discretionary spending. The Congressional
Budget Office calculates that in FY 93 this would amount to a
real reduction of $8.6B out of some $211B in domestic
discretionary programs. Most observers think Congress and the
Administration will have to agree to breach the "fire wall"
between domestic and defense discretionary spending.
2. SENATOR BYRD IS RETHINKING HIS POSITION ON THE SPACE
STATION
and the SSC in light of the freeze. In a floor speech last week,
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), the powerful chair of the Appropriations
Committee, had a change of heart. "Exotic luxuries like the
space station and the super collider," Byrd said, "perhaps ought
to be put off or canceled until we can shore up our faltering
economy." Last year Byrd backed both programs. Sen. Dale Bumpers
(D-AR), who led the fight to kill them, heard Byrd's speech on C-
Span from his office and rushed to the floor to thank him for his
remarks. Bumpers had written a "Dear Colleague" letter to members
of the Senate, urging them to defer committing themselves to the
space station until it has again been debated. A majority of the
Senate signed a letter endorsing the station before last year's
debate; after the debate, 13 of the signers voted to terminate
the program. It was the first full Senate debate on the station.
3. HOW SHOULD WE ANSWER THE PHONE IF E.T. CALLS? THE FY93
BUDGET
includes continued funding for SETI, Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life. Discoveries that diminished
the specialness of human beings--the Copernican revolution,
Darwinian evolution, the discovery of galaxies--had profound
cultural impacts. Discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence
would presumably have a similar impact. A series of NASA
workshops is looking into this, along with the question of how to
respond to a signal. It may be a bit premature; it would take at
least 4 years to deliver an answer.
4. THE WASHINGTON SHUFFLE: W. HENSON MOORE,
Deputy
Secretary of Energy, the point man for Secretary Watkins on the
SSC, is moving to the White House to become Deputy Chief of
Staff; LINDA STUNTZ has been designated acting Deputy. DAVID
SANCHEZ, NSF's Assistant Director for Mathematics and Physical
Sciences, will complete his assignment in May; NSF Director
Walter Massey has begun a search for potential candidates to
replace him. The deadline is 6 March.
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