    [Budget of the U.S. Government]
    [VI. Investing in the Common Good: The Major Functions of the Federal Government]
    [14. General Science, Space, and Technology]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 145]]

                   14.  GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                   Table 14-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
                                                (In millions of dollars)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                Estimate
                Function 250                1996   -----------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Actual      1997       1998       1999       2000       2001       2002
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Spending:
      Discretionary Budget Authority...     16,692     16,629     16,439     16,427     16,246     16,235     16,226
      Mandatory Outlays:
        Existing law...................         28         38         38         31         31         31         31
    Tax Expenditures:
      Existing law.....................        845        880      1,475        830        790        780        770
      Proposed legislation.............  .........        430        787        540        234        111         41
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------
       Technology has become a major engine of economic growth, a
    significant contributor to our national security, a generator of new
    knowledge, and a critical tool in protecting our health and environment.
    Not only has technological innovation accounted for at least half of the
    Nation's productivity growth in the last 50 years, but the development
    of such new technologies as computers and jet aircraft has created new
    industries as well as millions of high-skilled, high-wage jobs.
       All too often, though, companies will not make the investments that
    could benefit all of us down the road--either the risk is too great, or
    the return to the companies is too small. Thus, by making such
    investments, the Federal Government plays an indispensable role in
    science and technology. Federal investments must run the gamut from
    basic research, to applied research, to technology development--because
    scientific discovery and technological innovation are so profoundly
    interwoven.
       The budget proposes $16.5 billion in 1998 to conduct science, space,
    and technology activities through the National Aeronautics and Space
    Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the
    Energy Department's (DOE) general science programs. The Government also
    seeks to stimulate private investment in these activities through nearly
    $1 billion to $2 billion a year in tax credits and other preferences for
    research and development (R&D).

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration

       The Government created NASA in 1958 as the successor to the National
    Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, which had supported aeronautical
    technology since World War I. NASA, for which the budget proposes $12.1
    billion in 1998, is the lead Federal agency for R&D in civil space
    activities, working to expand frontiers in air and space in order to
    serve America and improve the quality of life on Earth.
       NASA pursues this vision through balanced investment in:

       Space Science: These programs are designed to enhance our
    understanding of the creation of the universe, the formation of planets,
    and the possible existence of life beyond Earth. NASA has enjoyed major
    successes of late, including its discovery of possible evidence of past
    life on Mars. Also, NASA's Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter,
    dropped

    [[Page 146]]

    a probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, and found evidence of ice,
    possibly liquid waters, and volcanic activities on Jupiter's moons. NASA
    is shifting away from large, once-a-decade spacecraft missions and is
    instead focusing on smaller, cheaper missions that can fly frequently.
       Environmental Research: These programs focus on examining Earth's
    natural and human-induced environmental changes through long-term
    observation, research, and analysis of Earth's land, oceans, and
    atmospheric processes. NASA will launch the first in a series of
    environmental monitoring spacecraft in 1998.
       Space Transportation Technology: Working with the private sector,
    these programs explore technologies that could help produce an ambitious
    experimental launch vehicle--X-33--which should complete its first test
    flight by March 1999 and dramatically cut the costs of putting payloads
    in space.
       Human Exploration: These programs focus on establishing a permanent
    human presence in Earth's orbit by developing and operating the
    International Space Station. What we learn from the Space Station also
    will support future decisions on whether to conduct further human space
    exploration. In 1996, this program supported the successful launch of
    eight Space Shuttle flights, three missions to the Russian Mir space
    station, and continued construction of the International Space Station.
       NASA has about 21,000 employees at its headquarters and Federal
    research centers, and it conducts about 90 percent of its work through
    procurements with the private sector, leading to jobs for another
    175,000 people. With a constrained budget, NASA has cut redundant
    operations, privatized some operations, improved its management
    processes, and reformed its procurement process.

    National Science Foundation

       The Government created the NSF in 1950 to support research and
    education in science and engineering. NSF-supported activities have led
    to breakthroughs and advances in many areas, including superconducting
    materials, Doppler radar, the Internet and World Wide Web, medical
    imaging systems, computer-assisted-design, genetics, polymers, plate
    tectonics, and global climate change. While NSF represents just three
    percent of Federal R&D spending, it supports nearly half of the non-
    medical basic research conducted at academic institutions. NSF also
    provides 30 percent of Federal support for mathematics and science
    education.
       The budget proposes $3.3 billion in 1998 for NSF, which it would
    invest in four key program functions:

       Research: Support for research projects, comprising 56 percent of
    NSF's budget, includes individual, small group, and center-based
    activities.
       Education and Training: Education and training activities, accounting
    for 20 percent of NSF's budget, revolve around efforts to improve
    teaching and learning in science, mathematics, engineering, and
    technology at all educational levels.
       Facilities: Investments in facilities, representing nearly 20 percent
    of NSF's budget, include support for large, multi-user facilities for
    cutting-edge research, such as observatories, supercomputing facilities,
    and oceanographic research vessels.
       Administration: Administration, covering four percent of NSF's
    budget, includes internal salaries and expenses.
       NSF, recognized around the world for its high standards of quality
    and efficiency, relies on a rigorous, competitive process of merit
    review to choose which among the 30,000 proposals it receives each year
    to fund. NSF funds about a third (although it views about 70 percent as
    deserving support). NSF-supported activities leverage over $1.4 billion
    a year in cooperative investments from outside sources, including $250
    million by some 600 private corporations.
       NSF funds support over 25,000 senior scientists, and its research
    funds support over 50,000 other professionals and graduate and
    undergraduate students. NSF education programs reach over 120,000
    teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade. As evidence of the high
    quality of science that NSF supports, five of the six U.S. Nobel prize
    winners

    [[Page 147]]

    in 1996 received NSF support early in their careers.

    Department of Energy General Science Programs

       DOE's general science programs, for which the budget proposes just
    over $1 billion, fund its high-energy and nuclear physics R&D to expand
    knowledge about the fundamental nature of matter and energy. DOE is
    responsible for long-range planning for the Federal Government's program
    in general science, for maintaining a balanced national program between
    investing in new facilities and supporting researchers, for assuring
    U.S. leadership in the world, and for coordinating its efforts with
    NSF--the other leading Federal supporter of these programs.
       DOE provides over 90 percent of total Federal support for high-energy
    physics and 85 percent for nuclear physics. It also supports the
    premiere scientific facilities in both fields. DOE-supported research in
    these fields is conducted by 4,100 scientists and students from over 150
    universities, 12 national laboratories, and other nations. About 2,000
    U.S. users tap DOE's nuclear physics research facilities, and 2,500 U.S.
    users tap DOE's high-energy physics research facilities. DOE's high-
    energy and nuclear physics laboratories host about 500 visiting foreign
    scientists at any given time, and about 250 students a year earn their
    Ph.D.'s for research supported by these programs.
       Scientists supported by DOE's high-energy and nuclear physics
    programs, or who conducted their research in DOE's laboratories, have
    been recognized around the world for their contributions to a variety of
    important fields. Thirty researchers have won Nobel Prizes since 1939
    (most recently in 1995), and 49 researchers have won DOE's own highly-
    prestigious prizes--the Enrico Fermi Awards and the E.O. Lawrence
    Awards--demonstrating the excellence of DOE's programs.

    Tax Incentives

       Along with direct spending on R&D, the Federal Government has sought
    to stimulate private investment in these activities with nearly $1
    billion to $2 billion in tax preferences a year. The law provides a 20-
    percent tax credit for private research and experimentation expenditures
    above a certain base amount. The credit, which has expired in the past,
    is due to expire once again on May 31, 1997, but the President's tax
    plan would extend it for one year--that is, through May 31, 1998. The
    law also enables companies to deduct, up front, the costs of certain
    kinds of research and experimentation.