[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]


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               14.  GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

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               Table 14-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY              
                                            (In millions of dollars)                                            
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                                                                            Estimate                            
            Function 250                1996   -----------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Actual      1997       1998       1999       2000       2001       2002  
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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
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   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 

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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 

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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.