[Senate Hearing 114-432]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2017
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U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES
[Clerk's Note.--The subcommittee was unable to hold
hearings on nondepartmental witnesses. The statements and
letters of those submitting written testimony are as follows:]
Prepared Statement of the American Bar Association
Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairwoman Mikulski, and subcommittee
members, I am Paulette Brown, President of the American Bar Association
(ABA) and a partner at Locke Lord LLP.
REQUEST: I am submitting this statement today on behalf of the ABA,
which has over 400,000 members. The ABA recommends funding for the
Legal Services Corporation (LSC) at $475 million, the administration's
fiscal year 2017 budget request.
For the implementation of ``Equal Justice Under Law,'' our
Government has a true partner in the ABA. We have created an annual ABA
Day of Service in October, operate an ABA Center for Pro Bono, produce
an annual award program for pro bono work, established the Commission
on the Future of Legal Services, and host, with our colleagues at the
National Legal Aid and Defender Association, the annual Equal Justice
Conference.
To strengthen legal aid is to strengthen the rule of law. I do not
just pay lip service to legal aid and to pro bono work; I am very
passionate about these services and try every day to remember and live
``to whom much is given, much is required.'' In my third year of law
school I personally participated in a clinical program which partnered
with Essex/Newark Legal Services in New Jersey. Following my graduation
and for several years thereafter, I worked pro bono for that same legal
services office, successfully representing dozens of tenants in an
important landlord/tenant case. Later, as a member of the ABA
Litigation Section, I helped train young legal services lawyers and
other lawyers who provided pro bono services. Furthermore, I have
provided pro bono services to members of our military. However, pro
bono services themselves are not sufficient to meet the needs of our
vulnerable.
HISTORICAL NEED: First of all, I want to thank the Senate
subcommittee for taking the initiative to restore LSC's budget--5.4
percent, 2.6 percent, and 2.6 percent increases over the past 3 years.
However, the fiscal year 2016 LSC appropriation is still 15.7
percent lower than it was in 2010 (in fiscal year 2016 dollars), while
the number of people qualifying for assistance is about 25 percent
higher than it was in 2007. Compare also the fiscal year 2016 funding
of $385 million to LSC's average appropriation of $663,944,870 (in
fiscal year 2016-adjusted dollars) during the 1980s. LSC seriously
needs an increase.
Furthermore, robust funding for the LSC is desperately needed
because other funding sources have diminished since the country's
economic downturn. All States, save Alabama, Florida, and Idaho, now
provide State-government funding for legal aid programs. However, as a
lingering effect of the recession, in some States State funding is
indeed way down due to declines in filing fees supporting legal aid.
Revenue from Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) has also
decreased approximately 80 percent nationally in the past 9 years,
causing their grants for legal aid programs to diminish by 68 percent.
Funding for the Legal Services Corporation has been a high priority
issue for the ABA for four decades. The ABA has supported the provision
of legal services to those who cannot afford them since establishing
the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID) in
1920. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, while serving as ABA
President in 1964, called for a major expansion of the Nation's legal
services, and the ABA worked closely with many others to achieve this
goal, culminating in President Nixon signing LSC into law in 1974.
I commend your efforts for low-income Americans now when the need
for legal aid is near an all-time high. Civil legal aid is a
constituent service performed in every State and congressional district
in the country, complementary to your own constituent services. I
believe there is an opportunity for legal aid programs to work more
closely with your constituent services staffers to help constituents
resolve their legal matters, thus potentially alleviating the need for
other Federal program funds. In so doing, LSC funding provides long-
term benefits.
The local legal aid programs help people at or below 125 percent of
Federal poverty levels--this year, $11,880 for an individual and
$24,300 for a family of four. The most recent data from the U.S. Census
Bureau show that over 95.2 million Americans--one in three--qualified
for civil legal aid at some point in 2014.
Significantly, studies show that 50-80 percent of all eligible
people seeking legal aid services are turned away due to lack of
resources. That impediment seriously hamstrings justice in our legal
system. In fact, in 2015 the World Justice Project ranked the United
States 65th of 102 countries in its Rule of Law Index for civil justice
access, behind Moldova, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela.
Consider a few examples of how funding increases bolster
accessibility. LSC's modest increases over the past three fiscal years
allowed Alabama's program to keep the Anniston office open and
Maryland's program to open an office in Montgomery County and expand
the statewide Self-Help Center. Mr. Chairman, LSC is the largest
provider of civil legal assistance to low-income Americans, and Alabama
is more dependent on LSC funds as part of Legal Services Alabama's
overall budget than any other State in the country. LSC grants fund
legal aid programs in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and American Samoa.
AREAS OF HELP: Legal aid helps clients with health concerns,
consumer and finance matters, family law, obtaining an education,
individual rights, income maintenance, juvenile law, tribal law,
employment, disability, housing matters like foreclosures and
evictions, and more.
BENEFICIARIES: Several groups in particular are beneficiaries of
legal aid services:
1. Veterans returning from war,
2. Older Americans,
3. Rural Americans,
4. Women, constituting nearly 70 percent of clients, and
5. Natural-disaster victims.
Returning military veterans and families, such as over 1.6 million
U.S. troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, receive
legal aid for consumer issues, employment, family law, homelessness,
and benefits for service-related injuries that can take months or years
to obtain.
Older Americans often need help as victims of financial fraud.
Additionally, seniors commonly have housing issues. Vice Chairwoman
Mikulski, Maryland faces one of the Nation's highest foreclosure rates.
Housing issues account for 38 percent of the Maryland Legal Aid
Bureau's caseload. Nationally, housing issues account for the second-
largest percentage of LSC grantees' total caseload (28 percent). This
includes landlord-tenant disputes, prevention of foreclosures,
renegotiation of home loans and mortgages, and assistance to renters
whose landlords are undergoing foreclosures. Last year LSC aided over
half a million people with housing issues nationally.
For example, Nicole Perez, an attorney with Legal Aid of Los
Angeles, spent a year and a half saving an elderly disabled widow of a
Vietnam veteran from foreclosure. The elderly woman's husband had
suffered from the effects of Agent Orange poisoning, but had been
denied benefits. Nicole and her colleagues successfully blocked the
forced sale of the house and managed to get the $45,000 in retroactive
benefits and nearly $1,500 in ongoing monthly payments from the VA,
ensuring the elderly widow would be financially secure in her home.
Rural Americans oftentimes have difficulty obtaining needed legal
assistance. Mr. Chairman, Legal Services Alabama is working to ensure
those rural areas have a means of accessing legal aid. In 46 of
Alabama's 67 counties, more than 50 percent of the population lives in
rural areas, making legal aid more difficult to obtain. LSC grantees
are sometimes the only means by which low-income citizens living in
more remote areas can receive legal aid. This year LSC developed a
Rural Summer Legal Corps that will commence in the summer of 2016.
Women often gain assistance with the most frequent type of case:
family law issues. More than one-third of all cases deal with family
law matters such as domestic violence, custody, and guardianship for
children without parents.
Disaster victims really see value in the LSC's work. In my home
State of New Jersey, LSC provided storm-related legal assistance for
victims of Hurricane Sandy, including help with improper evictions,
identity verification, denial or inadequate reimbursement of insurance
claims, delays in repairs, and home repair scams. Each year natural
disasters throw thousands into poverty, create extensive legal
entanglements, and can overwhelm legal aid programs.
SPECIFIC EMPHASES: This year's request emphasizes the improved use
of technology with LSC's Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) program. It
has provided efficiencies associated with statewide Web sites and
enhanced case management systems.
LSC is also innovating with its Pro Bono Innovation Fund (PBIF),
first funded in fiscal year 2014. The PBIF supports collaborative
projects to develop replicable pro bono legal service innovations. The
thousands of hours of pro bono service private lawyers provide each
year in a public-private partnership are critical but totally
insufficient to replace Federal LSC funding, which provides the
framework through which most pro bono services are delivered. These
projects create partnerships with local law schools, community
organizations, rural populations, and corporate attorneys. Having this
Federal money to leverage more pro bono efficacy is critical.
In accordance with its strategic planning, the LSC this past year
followed through on its commitment to strong management and
accountability for Federal funds. Examples include new purchasing and
contracting protocols, mandatory training on conflicts of interest and
whistleblower policies, and updated records-management policy and
retention schedules.
COST/BENEFIT: In March 2015 the Tennessee Bar Association published
a new report entitled ``Economic Impact of Civil Legal Aid
Organizations in Tennessee.'' The chart below summarizes the principal
economic benefits that civil legal aid programs provide.
The report and chart reveal $11.21 of economic benefit per dollar
invested. Eighteen percent of the benefits are attributable to
preventing foreclosure, which itself offsets the cost of all legal aid,
providing a 2-to-1 return. Foreclosure lowers property values, damages
consumers' credit, soaks up the time and resources of lenders, and
reduces municipalities' property tax collections. Preventing
foreclosure is a measureable public good.
Likewise, preventing domestic violence saves a victim the trauma
and costs of ``medical treatment, counseling, police protection, and
other support,'' valued at over ten thousand dollars per victim per
year.
The savings for the communities alone merit the cost. Likewise, do
the direct client and family benefits. On top of the community savings
and direct client and family benefits, the well-recognized economic
multiplier effect guarantees the value of LSC appropriations.
CONCLUSION: As the economy revives, LSC funding should also revive.
Down 15.7 percent from 2010 (in fiscal year 2016 dollars) and with 25
percent more people qualified for legal aid, LSC is in serious need of
an increase. Certainly no decrease is in order. Given LSC's excellent
benefit/cost ratio and exemplary management and accountability for
Federal funds, we encourage you, while still considering the fiscal
issues the country faces, to fund this meritorious program at $475
million.
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Prepared Statement of the American Educational Research Association
Chairman Shelby, Ranking Member Mikulski, and members of the
subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony
on behalf of the American Educational Research Association.
Appreciative of the continuing stringent times, we recommend that the
National Science Foundation receive $8 billion in fiscal year 2017.
This recommendation is consistent with that of the Coalition for
National Science Funding, in which we are an active member. In
addition, I would like to state our support for the $953 million
requested for the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate and
$289 million requested for the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and
Economic (SBE) Sciences in fiscal year 2017.
AERA is the major national scientific association of 25,000
faculty, researchers, graduate students, and other distinguished
professionals dedicated to advancing knowledge about education,
encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education, and promoting the
use of research to serve public good. Many of our members are engaged
in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education
research. Our members work in a range of settings from universities and
other academic institutions to research institutes, Federal and State
agencies, school systems, testing companies, and nonprofit
organizations, engaged in conducting research in all areas of education
and learning.
AERA values the leadership role of the National Science Foundation
(NSF) in advancing scientific breakthroughs and fundamental knowledge.
This testimony focuses specifically on the two directorates that
primarily support education research at NSF. We are particularly
enthusiastic about how the Education and Human Resources Directorate
(EHR) plans to use these resources to advance sustained and significant
STEM research. In addition to the significant investments in education
sciences provided by EHR, AERA values the important role the Social,
Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) in funding important
education research, including the essential statistical information
provided by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
On behalf of AERA, I wish to highlight significant activities
within the EHR Directorate and to offer our enthusiastic support for
continued emphasis on core STEM education research to better engage,
sustain, and retain STEM learners, leading to an inclusive and
competitive STEM workforce.
The EHR Directorate at NSF is responsible for providing the
research foundation necessary to achieve excellence in U.S. STEM
education. EHR sets out to accomplish this goal by supporting the
development of a scientifically literate citizenry as well as a STEM-
skilled workforce. This responsibility requires coordination and
collaboration across all NSF directorates and with other Federal
agencies.
AERA supports the three core research areas: Broadening
participation and institutional capacity; learning and learning
environments; and STEM professional workforce development. Furthermore,
we are pleased to see that the EHR Core Research (ECR) program
continues to be a top priority in fiscal year 2017 with increased
funding in every division. Investments like ECR have successfully
increased the percentage of funding allocated to research and
development within the EHR Directorate.
EHR bolsters Federal investments in STEM education by funding the
research and development that informs strategic education investments
across NSF and other agencies. We urge the subcommittee to look
favorably on this request as an opportunity to support a well-developed
and compelling plan.
AERA's interest in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
(SBE) Directorate relates primarily to the directorate's support of
research that promotes the understanding of people and reveals basic
aspects of human behavior in the context of education and learning. The
budget plan for SBE in fiscal year 2017 reflects priorities for
advancing fundamental knowledge in the social, behavioral, and economic
sciences that provides critical research to promote the Nation's
economy, security, and global leadership. The budget for SBE is not
even 4 percent of the NSF budget, yet it provides approximately 66
percent of the Federal funding for basic research in social,
behavioral, and economic sciences at academic institutions. In
addition, AERA has a strong interest in the National Center for Science
and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within SBE. NCSES provides
invaluable statistical information about science and engineering in the
U.S. and around the world.
NCSES collects and analyzes data on the progress of STEM education
and the research and development. This information also provides
valuable information on the trajectories of STEM graduates both in STEM
and non-STEM careers.. The fiscal year 2017 budget request for NCSES
will support critical activities to improve surveys and redesign
questionnaires to improve data on measures of educational pathways for
scientists; develop new data techniques building on administrative
data; and enhance data tools, techniques, and visualizations to
facilitate access to statistical resources.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony in
support of $8 billion for the National Science Foundation reflecting
$953 million for the Education and Human Resources Directorate and $289
million requested for the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and
Economic Sciences in fiscal year 2017. AERA would welcome any
opportunity to work with you and your subcommittee to best support the
crucial advances of the National Science Foundation. Please call on us
if we can provide additional information regarding this budget
proposal.
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Prepared Statement of the American Geophysical Union
fiscal year 2017 budget request
The American Geophysical Union (AGU), a non-profit, non-partisan
scientific society, appreciates the opportunity to submit testimony
regarding the fiscal year 2017 budget request for the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation
(NSF). The AGU, on behalf of its more than 60,000 Earth and space
scientist members, respectfully requests that the 114th Congress
appropriate:
--$20.3 billion overall for NASA,
--$2 billion for the Earth Science Mission Division,
--$1.71 billion for the Planetary Science Mission Division,
--$740 million for the Heliophysics Mission Division;
--$6.05 billion overall for NOAA;
--$8 billion overall for NSF.
national aeronautics and space administration
AGU requests that Congress appropriate $20.3 billion for NASA in
fiscal year 2017. Additionally, AGU requests that Congress appropriate
$2 billion for NASA's Earth Science Mission and $1.71 billion for
NASA's Planetary Science Mission. These increases represent a 5 percent
increase over the fiscal year 2016 appropriated levels and ensure that
NASA is able to continue its work and preserve U.S. leadership in Earth
and space science and exploration. Of note is that a request of 5
percent allows NASA to grow above the rate of inflation and make
critical progress towards achieving the scientific goals outlined in
the Decadal studies produced by the National Research Council.
AGU also requests that Congress appropriate $740 million for NASA's
Heliophysics Science Mission. Unlike NASA's other Science Missions,
Heliophysics received a cut in fiscal year 2016 and has seen only
nominal increases in earlier years. This request is a 5.7 percent
increase year-over-year from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2017 and
will ensure that NASA's Heliophysics Division is able to fulfill the
intention of the National Space Weather Strategy and restore real
dollar investments in heliophysics missions.
Within NASA's Science Mission Directorate, AGU requests that
Congress set equitable appropriation levels for the Earth, Planetary,
and Heliophysics Divisions to ensure they are in harmony with their
respective Decadal studies produced by the National Research Council.
Earth Science and Planetary Science Divisions
Missions within NASA's Earth Science Division aid in flood and
drought prediction, earthquake response, and optimizing military and
commercial marine operations. Greater knowledge and forecasting skills
are urgent when we consider the effort, time, and costs of protecting
coastal infrastructure, human and animal health threatened by toxic
algal blooms, developing new water resources for manufacturing and
agriculture, and restoring communities in the wake of hazards. These
observations, and many others like them, are integral and require the
vantage point of outer space.
NASA's Planetary Science Division advances our understanding of the
solar system and inspires future generations of scientists. NASA is on
schedule to launch the next Mars rover in 2020 and plans to launch a
Europa mission in the same decade, furthering our understanding of the
conditions needed to sustain life.
Both areas of science, Earth and planetary, are complementary. The
study of the Earth system--Earth's interacting physical, chemical, and
biological processes--informs our understanding of other worlds in the
solar system, and our exploration of these bodies advance our knowledge
of Earth's evolution.
Heliophysics Science Division
Studying the sun and its interactions with Earth is crucial to
increasing our knowledge of the dynamic solar processes that impact all
life on our planet. This includes advance detection and warning of
space weather events, such as solar storms, that have the potential to
cause serious damage to our satellites, energy grid infrastructure, and
the electronics we depend on everyday. The request would ensure that
NASA's Heliophysics Division continues to advance our understanding of
the threat of space weather, as directed by last year's National Space
Weather Plan, and other interactions between the sun and the Earth.
national oceanic and atmospheric administration
AGU requests that Congress appropriate $6.05 billion for NOAA in
fiscal year 2017. This would be a 5 percent increase over the fiscal
year 2016 appropriated level for NOAA. Investing in NOAA not only keeps
our country resilient in the face of environmental and public health
hazards, but also strengthens our Nation's capacity for science-based
innovation and provides superior economic value by enabling businesses
and government to better manage risk.
In the face of natural hazards and environmental emergencies, NOAA
serves as an essential foundation of community resiliency and public
health. Weather, water, and climate events cause an average of
approximately 650 deaths and $15 billion in damage per year. NOAA is
also responsible for around 90 percent of all presidentially declared
disasters. Strong support for NOAA will allow the agency to create
detailed flooding forecasts for the 100 million Americans who do not
currently have them; maintain the NEXRAD radar system used for 85
percent of all tornado and severe storm warnings; and continue adding
to the 39,000 lives saved by NOAA's satellite rescue program. The
services provided by NOAA are irreplaceable in emergency situations
where time is a matter of life and death.
NOAA also plays a critical role in ensuring our economic stability.
One third of U.S. GDP is affected by weather and the environment; 2015
saw 10 weather and climate disaster events resulting in losses
exceeding $1 billion. From large corporations to small businesses, the
decision-based forecasting provided by NOAA allows American enterprises
to make informed choices that save vital time, money, and resources.
The high quality, uninterrupted data provided by NOAA and interpreted
by NOAA scientists is a fundamental tool that millions of Americans
rely on every day.
NOAA is constantly improving its ability to prepare for, respond
to, and recover from major disasters and national security emergencies.
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center forecasts geomagnetic storms
from the sun, and can provide a 15- to 60-minute warning time before
the surge of charged particles reaches Earth. These storms can disable
power grids, shut down telecommunications, and disrupt commercial and
military global positioning systems (GPS). Experts estimate the next
large storm has the potential to cost our economy $1-2 trillion.
Without NOAA's advanced warnings, our national security and economy are
left in a dangerously vulnerable position.
national science foundation
AGU requests that Congress appropriate $8 billion for NSF in fiscal
year 2017. This would be a 7.2 percent increase over the fiscal year
2016 appropriated level for NSF.
The Foundation is critical to America's ability to compete globally
in technological and scientific innovation. Faced with ever-increasing
international competition, maintaining U.S. scientific leadership
requires continued robust investments in basic research and STEM
education. NSF's annual budget provides about a quarter of the total
Federal budget for basic research conducted at U.S. colleges and
universities. NSF is the only Federal agency that supports research and
education across all STEM fields at all educational levels. Over 90
percent of NSF's projects are funded using grants or cooperative
agreements, of which three-fourths go to academic institutions.
Research and education programs supported by NSF help increase and
develop the knowledge base needed to push the frontiers of science,
mathematics, and engineering disciplines, contribute to the development
of the future science and technology workforce, underpin new fields of
inquiry, and promote interdisciplinary research and education. All of
these undertakings facilitate technological innovation.
Even under tight budget constraints, it is vital for NSF to have
steady budget levels that demonstrate real growth. Under constant 2014
dollars, NSF lost 5.8 percent of its budget from fiscal year 2010 to
fiscal year 2014. This stagnant pace of funding is creating an
innovation deficit in the U.S.--a widening gap between the actual level
of Federal Government funding for research and higher education and
what the investment must be for the U.S. to remain the world's
innovation leader.
Geosciences Directorate
The Geoscience Directorate (GEO) awards research grants in the
Earth, atmospheric, ocean, and polar sciences. Much of the geoscience
research budget leads to a better understanding of critical national
needs, such as water and mineral resources, energy resources,
environmental issues, climate change, and mitigation of natural
hazards. AGU asks the subcommittee to strongly support these programs.
GEO supports infrastructure, operation, and maintenance costs for
cutting edge facilities that are essential for fundamental and applied
research. Geoscience-based research tools and academic expertise helped
to track and contain the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, saving
billions of dollars for Gulf industries and untold costs to the
environment. Among the major infrastructure that NSF supports are the
U.S. Arctic and Antarctic Facilities and Logistics, Academic Research
Fleet, EarthScope Operations, Incorporated Research Institutions for
Seismology (IRIS), the Ocean Drilling Program, the Ocean Observatories
Initiative, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. All of
these programs are essential to our Nation's innovation and economic
well-being. AGU strongly supports robust and steady funding for the
operation and maintenance of these major facilities.
Earth Science Education
The geoscience workforce is aging and retiring at a fast rate.
Congress can grow this workforce, stimulate economic growth in the
energy, natural resources, and environmental sectors, and improve
natural resource literacy by supporting the full integration of Earth
science information into mainstream science education at the K-12 and
higher education levels. AGU strongly supports the new NSF INCLUDES
program (Inclusion Across the Nation of Communities of Learners that
have been Underrepresented for Diversity in Engineering and Science),
the Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and
Education program (INSPIRE), the Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF),
the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), and the Faculty
Early Career Development Program (CAREER). These programs are effective
in building a science and engineering workforce for the twenty-first
century that supports academia, industry, national defense, and Federal
and local governments.
______
Prepared Statement of the American Geosciences Institute
Thank you for this opportunity to provide the American Geosciences
Institute's perspective on fiscal year 2017 appropriations for
geoscience programs within the subcommittee's jurisdiction.
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) supports critical earth
science research conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF),
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Cutting-edge research on
the Earth, energy, and the environment has fueled economic growth,
mitigated losses, and improved our quality of life. All of these
agencies carry out vital mission-focused geoscience research and
participate in a range of interagency collaborations with the U.S.
Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, other Federal agencies,
and State, tribal, and local agencies on topics ranging from emergency
planning and response to anticipating water availability. The Earth
system is highly complex and interconnected, geoscience information
from all these agencies is vital for decisionmaking at all levels of
government.
AGI respectfully requests at least $8 billion funding for NSF,
including $1.4 billion for the Geoscience Directorate. AGI supports the
President's request for $5.85 billion for NOAA, $1 billion for NIST,
and $2.03 billion for NASA Earth Science programs.
AGI is a nonprofit federation of 51 geoscientific and professional
societies that represent more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists,
and other Earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information
services to geoscientists, serves as a voice for shared interests in
our profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience
education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role
the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resilience to
hazards, and the health of the environment.
national science foundation
Research across all areas of science and engineering contributes
knowledge and understanding about many societal issues ranging from
homeland security to cyberinfrastructure, and it produces revolutionary
and often unforeseen breakthroughs. Basic research provides information
that is used to improve people's quality of life, it is the foundation
for a dynamic and innovative economy, and it strengthens the security
of the Nation.
NSF not only provides core funding and essential infrastructure for
basic research, it also supports the education and training of the next
generation of the workforce. AGI believes that investment in NSF
programs, where funding is allocated based on competitive, scientific
merit and peer review, will pay important dividends in maintaining U.S.
dominance in science and technology far into the future. AGI supports
the President's request for $8 billion for NSF.
NSF Geosciences Directorate: The Geosciences Directorate (GEO) is
the principal source of Federal support for academic earth scientists
and their students who seek to understand the Earth and the processes
that sustain and transform life on this planet. The Geosciences
Directorate provides about 64 percent of Federal funding for basic
geoscience research at academic institutions. The Directorate expects
to distribute about 1,400 research grants and 1,600 competitive awards
in fiscal year 2017 while also supporting indispensible research
infrastructure and instrumentation. AGI respectfully asks the
subcommittee to provide the Geosciences Directorate with at least $1.4
billion for fiscal year 2017.
The GEO Directorate plays a significant role in NSF's cross-
foundational initiatives, particularly the Innovations at the Nexus of
Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) and Prediction of and
Resilience against Extreme Events (PREEVENTS) activities. Geoscience
research is fundamental to all elements of INFEWS, contributing
information on fossil, nuclear, and renewable energies; the quantity,
quality, and distribution of water supplies; the characteristics,
health, and stability of soils; and on the critical zone where earth,
biological, and human systems intersect. The PREEVENTS initiative will
strengthen the Nation's resilience to natural disasters such as
hurricanes, droughts, and earthquakes, which are all linked to the
Earth system. These investments in pre-disaster research and mitigation
will provide an excellent return on investment, both in monetary and
social terms. AGI supports $62 million for INFEWS and $43 million for
PREEVENTS, including $14.78 million for INFEWS and $23.50 million for
PREEVENTS in the Geoscience Directorate, and particularly stresses the
importance of the Earth Science Division's contribution to this work.
NSF's Division of Polar Programs (PLR) funds basic research in the
Arctic and Antarctic and manages all U.S. activities in Antarctica as a
single, integrated program. As the U.S. enters its second year chairing
the international Arctic Council, it is especially important to enhance
polar research initiatives. The polar regions are the focus of intense
scientific and political interest as the new navigation routes are
opening access to resources and presenting security challenges. NSF-
funded research and infrastructure are helping the United States
understand environmental conditions in extreme environments, develop
polar technology, and construct data-driven strategic and security
policies. AGI suggests a minimum of $465 million for the Division of
Polar Programs.
NSF funds facilities that enable researchers to access locations,
data, and technologies that serve the overall research community. AGI
strongly supports robust and steady funding for infrastructure and the
operation and maintenance of major facilities, including the Academic
Research Fleet, Geodetic and Seismological Facilities for the
Advancement of Geosciences and EarthScope (GAGE and SAGE), Ocean
Drilling Activities, the Ocean Observatories Initiative, and the
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). A centralized pool of
national geoscience infrastructure is an efficient way to achieve the
maximum return on investment and to ensure that the nation has the
equipment and expertise needed to respond rapidly to opportunities and
emergencies. AGI supports both the discretionary and mandatory funding
requested by the President for these essential facilities within the
Geosciences Directorate.
Directorate for Education and Human Resources: AGI's Status of the
Geoscience Workforce Report 2014 predicts a shortfall of approximately
135,000 geoscientists by 2022. NSF funding for geoscience education is
essential to develop the competitive, skilled workforce that can fill
this predicted gap in areas of vital national interest including energy
and the environment. Geoscience education also creates an informed
citizenry prepared to make well-founded decisions about the management
of our planet and its resources. Outreach and education are important
at all levels from K-12 through graduate-level education and should
include formal and informal outlets to facilitate lifelong learning.
AGI strongly supports funding for geoscience education at all levels
and particularly supports programs to diversify the geoscience student
population and workforce such as the INCLUDES (Inclusion across the
Nation of Communities of Learners that have been Underrepresented for
Diversity in Engineering and Science) initiative. AGI urges Congress to
provide funding for the President's total request of $242 million for
NSF's Directorate for Education and Human Resources.
national oceanic and atmospheric administration
Geoscientists rely on NOAA for much of the data and long-term
monitoring that enable research and rapid response for events such as
hurricanes, drought, marine oil spills, and a range of coastal
phenomena. The National Weather Service (NWS), Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research (OAS), National Ocean Service (NOS), and the National
Environment Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) programs
provide the data necessary for understanding and mitigating these
events, as well as sustaining our natural resources. AGI supports the
President's request for $5.85 billion for NOAA and hopes that the
subcommittee will continue to support these crucial initiatives.
In addition, AGI supports increased funding for NWS to support
landslide hazard assessments and to reduce losses from landslides and
other ground failures.
national institute of standards and technology
Earth scientists and geotechnical engineers versed in the
geosciences conduct basic research at NIST that is used by the public
and private sectors to build resilient communities and stimulate
economic growth. The research conducted and the information gained is
essential for understanding natural hazards, identifying the
infrastructure needed to build strong communities, and stimulating
economic growth.
NIST is the lead agency for the National Earthquake Hazard
Reduction Program (NEHRP), an interagency program responsible for the
efficient coordination of research and resources to understand and
mitigate earthquakes, but has received only a small portion of
authorized funding in the past. AGI strongly supports the President's
request for $1 billion for NIST and urges Congress to reauthorize and
fund the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).
national aeronautics and space administration
NASA's current fleet of Earth-observing satellites provides the
data necessary to understand our dynamic planet. Scientists rely
heavily on data gathered from space to support weather and climate
predictions and to understand the links between oceans, atmosphere,
land, and biological systems. Government agencies and the private
sector use NASA information intensively for decisionmaking and in
business.
Continuous, consistent, reliable data is the foundation for
accurate assessments and forecasting of Earth's interconnected systems.
Landsat satellites have been observing Earth's land surfaces
continuously since 1972; geoscientists use Landsat data to monitor,
predict, and react to drought, wildfires, changes in vegetation, and
other changes to the Earth's surface. Data from the GRACE mission allow
scientists to calculate groundwater and soil moisture levels, providing
vital information for farmers and water managers. The GRACE-FO (Follow-
On) mission will extend this essential dataset. AGI strongly supports
the continuation of the Landsat program and applauds the commitment to
launch Landsat 9 as early as 2021 and Landsat 10 in or close to 2029.
We support the President's request for $2.03 billion for NASA Earth
Science, including $131 million for Landsat 9 and $34 for the GRACE-FO
mission.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony to the
subcommittee.
______
Prepared Statement of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium
This statement focuses on the National Science Foundation (NSF) and
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
On behalf of this Nation's 37 Tribal Colleges and Universities
(TCUs), which compose the American Indian Higher Education Consortium
(AIHEC), thank you for the opportunity to express our views and
recommendations regarding the National Science Foundation's TCU Program
(NSF-TCUP) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's
Minority University Research and Education Project (NASA-MUREP) for
American Indian and Alaska Native STEM Engagement Program (MAIANSE) for
fiscal year 2017.
summary of requests
National Science Foundation (NSF)--Education and Human Resources
Directorate (EHR): Since fiscal year 2001, a TCU initiative has been
funded and administered under the NSF-EHR. This competitive grants
program enables TCUs to enhance the quality of their STEM
instructional, research, and outreach programs. TCUs that have been
awarded an NSF-TCUP grant are expected to complete a comprehensive
program needs analysis and to develop a plan for addressing both their
institutional and NSF goals, with a primary goal being significant and
sustainable expansion and improvements to STEM programs. Through NSF-
TCUP, tribal colleges have been able to establish and maintain programs
that represent a key component of the career pipeline for the American
Indian STEM workforce. We urge the subcommittee to fund competitively
awarded NSF-TCUP grants at a minimum of $14,000,000.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)--NASA
Headquarters, Office of Education--Minority University Research and
Education Programs (MUREP): In 2014, the NASA-MUREP program initiated
two competitive grant programs to enhance the range of STEM education
and research opportunities open to 34 eligible TCUs: (1) Earth Systems,
Technology, and Energy Education for MUREP (ESTEEM); and (2) the TCU
Experiential Learning Opportunity program. Together, these programs
comprise MUREP's program for American Indian & Alaskan Native STEM
Engagement (MAIANSE). Activities funded under these programs help to
address critical science education and research needs of TCUs, are
helping to build the Native (and national) STEM workforce, and enhance
the economic development of tribal communities. We strongly urge the
subcommittee to fund the NASA MUREP program for American Indian &
Alaskan Native STEM Engagement (MAIANSE) at, or above, the fiscal year
2014 level.
Tribal Colleges and Universities: ``DOING SO MUCH WITH SO LITTLE.''
TCUs are an essential component of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/
AN) education. Currently, 37 TCUs operate more than 75 campuses and
sites in 16 States, within whose geographic boundaries 80 percent of
all American Indian reservations and Federal Indian trust land lie.
They serve students from well over 250 federally recognized tribes,
more than 85 percent of whom receive Federal financial aid--primarily
Pell grants. In total, the TCUs annually serve 160,000 AIs/ANs and
other community members through a wide variety of academic and
community-based programs. TCUs are public institutions accredited by
independent, regional accreditation agencies and, like all U.S.
institutions of higher education, must regularly undergo stringent
performance reviews to retain their accreditation status. Each TCU is
committed to improving the lives of its students through higher
education and to moving AI/ANs toward self-sufficiency. To do this,
TCUs serve many roles in their reservation communities, functioning as
community centers, libraries, tribal archives, career and business
centers, open access computer labs, summer camps, community farms,
economic development centers, GED training and testing centers, child
and elder care centers, and more.
The Federal Government, despite its direct trust responsibility and
binding treaty obligations, has never fully funded TCU institutional
operations as authorized under the Tribally Controlled Colleges and
Universities Assistance Act of 1978. Yet despite funding challenges,
TCUs are leading the Nation in preparing AI/AN nurses and more
recently, in preparing teachers for our Native schools. For example, in
2014, half of all AI/AN special education teachers in Montana graduated
from Salish Kootenai College. TCUs train other professionals in high-
demand fields, including agriculture and natural resources management,
human services, IT technicians, and building tradesmen. By teaching the
job skills most in demand on our reservations, TCUs are laying a solid
foundation for tribal economic growth, with benefits for surrounding
communities, and the Nation as a whole. But that is not enough. TCU
leadership understands that we must do more--we must move beyond simply
workforce training. Today, TCUs are tackling the tougher--but much more
significant--issue of job creation, because we know that to break the
cycle of generational poverty and end the culture of dependency that
grips so much of Indian Country, simply preparing students for a very
limited labor market is not enough. We must create new industries, new
businesses, and a culture of self-sufficiency and innovation. Our job
creation initiative is focusing initially on advanced manufacturing,
through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, National
Laboratories, TCUs, and industry.
Tribal colleges continually seek to instill a sense of hope and
identity within Native youth, who one day will lead our tribal nations.
Unfortunately, the high school drop-out rate for Native students
remains around 50 percent. To help address this alarming reality, TCUs
are partnering with the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian
Education to help create a lasting ``college-going culture'' in Indian
middle and high schools. TCUs are reaching back to create a bridge for
Indian students as early as elementary school, encouraging them to
abandon any notion of dropping out of high school and instead, to think
that the natural course is to finish high school and go on to the local
TCU. In addition, TCUs offer Dual Credit courses for high school
students, provide math teachers for local high schools as a strategy
for improving course delivery, host Saturday academies, after school
programs and summer camps for middle and high school students, and at
the other end of the spectrum, they offer GED training and testing.
As noted earlier, the TCUs' operations funding is insufficient, and
their budgets are further disadvantaged because, on a per student
basis, the colleges receive funding for only about 85 percent of their
academic enrollments. Approximately 15 percent of the TCUs' collective
enrollments are non-Indian students living in the local community, but
TCUs receive Federal funding based only on Indian students, defined as
members of a federally recognized tribe or the biological children of
enrolled tribal members. While many TCUs do seek funding from their
respective state legislatures for their non-Indian, State-resident
students (often referred to as ``non-beneficiary'' students) successes
have been, at best, inconsistent. Given their locations, often hundreds
of miles from another postsecondary institution, TCUs are open to all
students, Indian and non-Indian, believing that education in general,
and postsecondary education in particular, is a catalyst to a better
economic future for their areas.
A recent independent, economic impact study proves this,
illustrating that TCUs create lasting value from multiple perspectives:
students, society, and taxpayers. TCUs elevate their students' lifetime
incomes, and this in turn benefits society as a whole by increasing the
region's economy and generating a wide array of savings through
improved lifestyles. The increased employment benefits taxpayers
through increased tax receipts and a reduction in the need for welfare
and unemployment benefits. In fact, every dollar spent is quadrupled in
the lifetime income of students; society gains over five times the
investment in added income and social savings; and the taxpayers get
back almost two and a half times the investment. In short, the TCUs are
a very sound investment of Federal funds.
justifications
National Science Foundation/Tribal Colleges and Universities Program
(NSF-TCUP) in the Education and Human Resources Directorate
American Indian students have the highest high school drop-out
rates in the country. Those who do pursue postsecondary education often
require developmental classes before beginning their studies in
earnest. Placement tests administered at TCUs to first-time entering
students indicate that 71 percent required remedial math. Of these
students, our data indicate that while 63 percent successfully complete
the course, many do not do so in 1 year. Without question, a large
proportion of the TCUs' already limited resources is dedicated to
addressing the continual failings of K-12 education systems.
To help rectify this, TCUs have developed strong partnerships with
their K-12 feeder schools and are actively working, in large part
through support from NSF-TCUP grants, to engage young students in
community and culturally relevant science and math education and
outreach programs. These efforts include weekend academies and summer
STEM camps that reinforce and supplement the instructional programs
that K-12s are able to provide.
For the past 15 years, NSF-TCUP has provided essential capacity
building assistance and resources to TCUs. In the years since the
program began, NSF-TCUP has become the primary Federal program for
building STEM capacity at the TCUs. NSF-TCUP has served as a catalyst
for capacity building and positive change at TCUs and the program can
be credited with many success stories. Today, American Indians and
Alaska Natives are more aware of the importance of STEM to the long-
term survival of tribes and tribal communities, particularly in areas
such as renewable energy and technology-driven economic development.
The NSF-TCUP, administered by the Education and Human Resources
Directorate, is a competitive grants program that enables TCUs to
develop and expand critically needed science and math education and
research programs relevant to their respective communities. Through
this program, TCUs that have been awarded an NSF-TCUP grant have been
able to enhance their STEM instructional offerings, workforce
development, research, and outreach programs.
For example, NSF-TCUP funds have allowed Northwest Indian College
(NWIC) in Bellingham, Washington to cultivate a comprehensive science
education program that, beginning at the high school level, provides a
range of mentoring, peer tutoring, research, service learning, and
academic enrichment opportunities that help to grow the next generation
of American Indian scientists, science teachers, and leaders. A new
NSF-TCUP grant awarded to NWIC is producing a collaborative research
partnership for geoscience education with Western Washington University
(WWU). This collaborative is designed to increase and modify the
geosciences curriculum at NWIC and establish an educational continuum
that will facilitate the articulation of NWIC graduates into the
graduate geoscience curriculum at WWU. A shared research agenda will be
developed between the two institutions that uses the Bellingham Bay
ecosystem as a theme for scholarly studies and place-based instruction.
Administrative changes at both institutions will include student
mentoring, articulation agreements, co-listed courses, and cross-
cultural faculty development.
Despite its advances and successes, funding for the NSF-TCUP
program has been stagnant. Therefore, not all of the TCUs have had an
opportunity to benefit from this program; in fact the percentage of
proposals funded has declined each year beginning in 2004. We urge the
subcommittee to fund competitively awarded NSF-TCUP grants at a minimum
of $14,000,000.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of
Education/Minority University Research and Education Programs
(MUREP) and American Indian & Alaskan Native STEM Engagement
(MAIANSE)
College of Menominee Nation (CMN) in Keshena, Wisconsin is one of
four tribal colleges to win 3-year grant awards designed to improve
teaching and learning about global climate change. For this project,
CMN is working in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and UW-Platteville, National Council
for Science and Environment, and of course, NASA. The overarching goals
of the CMN project are to explore climatic factors that affect
photovoltaic module performance, and to design an evaluation tool for
comparing different solar energy systems. The project has three main
objectives: (1) to provide an experiential learning opportunity for
four to six STEM students to construct a user-friendly solar energy
system evaluation tool, including cost analysis and investment payback
schedule; (2) to establish innovative teaching curricula that meld STEM
concepts with climate change literacy resulting in combined social
science and physical science courses with wide student appeal; and (3)
to develop an educational train-the-trainer model as a training outlet
for TCU faculty and local middle school teachers to learn how to
incorporate climate change topics in the classroom. The project is
intended to advance discovery and understanding of climate-related
research while promoting teaching, training, and learning of STEM
principles. The results of this research will advance knowledge and
understanding of the short- and long-term performance of solar energy
systems, thereby allowing consumers to make educated choices about
solar module return on investment for residential and commercial
energy. One of the goals of the MAIANSE programs is to create a diverse
and highly skilled climate-related workforce. Continuation and
expansion of these NASA programs will give more TCUs the opportunity to
increase their capacity and advance the NASA mission in Indian Country.
We strongly urge the subcommittee to fund NASA-MUREP MAIANSE programs
at a minimum of $3,500,000.
conclusion
Tribal Colleges and Universities provide access to quality higher
education opportunities, including STEM-focused programs, for thousands
of American Indians and Alaska Natives. The modest Federal investment
that has been made in TCUs has paid great dividends in terms of
employment, education, and economic development. Continuation of this
investment represents one of the most cost-effective strategies for
enabling Tribal (and national) STEM-based economic development.
We greatly appreciate your past and continued support of the
Nation's Tribal Colleges and Universities and your thoughtful
consideration of our fiscal year 2017 appropriation request.
______
Prepared Statement of the American Physiological Society
The American Physiological Society (APS) thanks you for your
sustained support of science at the NSF and NASA. The APS is a
professional society, numbering more than 10,000 members, dedicated to
fostering research and education as well as the dissemination of
scientific knowledge concerning how the organs and systems of the body
function. In this letter we offer our recommendations for fiscal year
2017 funding levels for these two agencies.
--The APS urges you to fund the fiscal year 2017 NSF budget at a net
level of $7.96 billion to prevent further erosion of program
capacity.
--The APS urges you to restore cuts to NASA's life sciences research
budgets and to increase funding for the Human Research Program.
NSF and NASA support scientific research and technology development
programs that are critical to the future technological excellence and
economic stability of the United States. Federal investment in research
is critically important because breakthroughs in basic and
translational research are the foundation for new technologies that
help patients, fuel our economy, and provide jobs.
NSF Funds Outstanding Research and Education Programs
NSF provides support for approximately 20 percent of all federally
funded basic science and is the major source of support for non-medical
biology research. This includes integrative, comparative, and
evolutionary biology, as well as interdisciplinary biological research.
Time and time again we have seen that the knowledge gained through
basic biological research is the foundation for more applied studies
that sustain the health of animals, humans and ecosystems. NSF-funded
research has led to countless new discoveries that could not have been
envisioned when the research began. Nevertheless, these unforeseen
applications have had enormous impact on science, health and the
economy worlds.
The majority of the NSF funding is awarded through competitive,
merit-based peer review. Merit review ensures that the best possible
projects are supported. Both the scientific reviewers and NSF program
staff consider not only the intellectual merit of each research
proposal, but also its broader impacts. NSF's criteria for broader
impact address the potential for research to benefit society or to
achieve specific outcomes. NSF has an exemplary record of
accomplishment in terms of funding research that produces results with
far-reaching potential. Since its inception in 1950, NSF has supported
the work of 217 Nobel Laureates, including the 2015 winners of the
Chemistry and Economics prizes.
Biological research is just one part of the NSF portfolio. The APS
believes that each of the NSF directorates support research that is
critical to NSF's mission ``to promote the progress of science; to
advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the
national defense . . .'' Collaboration among scientific disciplines is
increasingly recognized as the best and most efficient way to advance
science. This will only be possible with strong support for all
disciplines of research.
In addition to funding innovative research in labs around the
country, the NSF education programs foster the next generation of
scientists. The APS is proud to have partnered with NSF in programs to
provide training opportunities and career development activities to
enhance the participation of underrepresented minorities in science. We
believe that NSF is uniquely suited to foster science education
programs of the highest quality, and we recommend that Congress
continue to provide Federal funds for science education through the
NSF.
The APS joins the Federation of American Societies for Experimental
Biology (FASEB) in recommending that the NSF be funded at a level of
$7.96 billion in fiscal year 2017. The NSF is poised to address major
challenges facing our Nation and our world in the 21st Century. The
agency is already engaged in crucial efforts to enhance understanding
of everything from the human brain to how the climate is changing, but
it needs adequate resources to continue to carry out its mission.
Support for Life Sciences Research Should Be Increased at NASA
NASA sponsors research across a broad range of the basic and
applied life sciences, including gravitational biology, biomedical
research and the Human Research Program (HRP). The gravitational
biology and biomedical research programs explore fundamental scientific
questions through research carried out both on Earth and aboard the
International Space Station, which provides an environment for the
conduct of experiments in space. NASA's HRP conducts focused research
and develops countermeasures with the goal of enabling safe and
productive human space exploration.
During prolonged space flight, the physiological changes that occur
due to weightlessness, increased exposure to radiation, confined living
quarters, and alterations in eating and sleeping patterns can lead to
debilitating conditions and reduced ability to perform tasks. APS
scientists are actively engaged in research that explores the
physiological basis of these problems with the goal of contributing to
the identification of therapeutic targets and development of novel
countermeasures. The knowledge gained from this research is not only
relevant to humans traveling in space, but is also directly applicable
to human health on Earth. For example, some of the muscle and bone
changes observed in astronauts after prolonged space flight are similar
to those seen in patients confined to bed rest during periods of
critical illness as well as during the process of aging.
NASA is the only agency whose mission addresses the biomedical
challenges of human space exploration. Over the past several years, the
amount of money available for conducting this kind of research at NASA
has dwindled. The number of projects and investigators supported by
NASA through the HRP has declined by 30 percent over the last twelve
years; similarly, the number of projects and investigators supported
through the Space Biology program has declined by more than 50 percent
over that same period. (https://taskbook.nasaprs.com/Publication/).
In the past, appropriations legislation specified funding levels
for biomedical research and gravitational biology, but recent internal
reorganizations at NASA have made it difficult to understand how much
money is being spent on these programs from year to year. The APS
recommends that funding streams for these important fundamental
research programs be clearly identified and tracked within the NASA
budget. The APS also recommends restoration of cuts to peer-reviewed
life sciences research to allow NASA-funded scientists to conduct
research that will be critical in not only supporting the success of
future long-range manned space exploration but also leading to
innovative discoveries that can be applied to Earth-based medicine. As
highlighted above, investment in the basic sciences is critical to our
Nation's technological and economic future. This innovative engine of
research fuels our world leadership and our economy. The APS urges you
to make every effort to provide these agencies with increased funding
for fiscal year 2017.
______
Prepared Statement of the American Psychological Association
national science foundation
The American Psychological Association (APA) is a scientific and
professional organization of more than 122,000 psychologists and
affiliates. APA urges the subcommittee to fund the National Science
Foundation (NSF) at $8 billion in fiscal year 2017. The Coalition for
National Science Funding (CNSF), an alliance of over 140 universities,
businesses, and scientific associations (including APA) also endorses
this level of support for NSF, the only Federal research agency
``charged with the promotion of scientific progress across all
scientific and engineering disciplines'' and one that is vital to U.S.
economic health, educational achievement, global competitiveness, and
national security.
APA urges Congress to:
1. Support Core Psychological Research at NSF
NSF is the only Federal agency whose primary mission is to support
basic research and education in math, engineering and science--
including the behavioral and social sciences. NSF's investment in basic
research across these disciplines has allowed for extraordinary
scientific and technological progress, ensuring continued economic
growth, improvements in the design, implementation and evaluation of
public education, strengthened national security, and the generation of
cutting-edge new knowledge.
Although psychologists receive funding from diverse programs within
NSF, most core psychological research is supported by the Social,
Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE), with its focus on
the variables that determine human behavior across all ages, affect
interactions among individuals and groups, and decide how social and
economic systems develop and change. In addition to core behavioral
research in cognitive neuroscience, human cognition and perception,
learning and development, and social psychology, SBE will continue to
invest funds to participate in initiatives and Cross Directorate
programs such as Understanding the Brain (which includes cognitive
science, neuroscience, and the BRAIN Initiative), Innovations at the
Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS), Risk and Resilience,
and the effort to increase participation of underrepresented groups in
STEM fields (NSF INCLUDES).
The Biological Sciences Directorate at NSF also provides support
for research psychologists who ask questions about the very principles
and mechanisms that govern life at the level of the genome and cell, or
at the level of a whole individual, family or species. In previous
testimony, APA has expressed concern about diminishing support for key
behavioral research programs within this Directorate, most notably
those focused on learning and cognition. We urge NSF to strengthen
support both in the Biological Sciences Directorate and Foundation-wide
for research projects that seek to understand the neural or genetic
mechanisms by which learning occurs, use learning as an assay for the
effects of environmental change on a biological system, construct and
evaluate artificial learning systems, conceptualize the role of
learning in biodiversity and evolution, and apply learning principles
to education and workforce challenges.
2. Counter Specific Threats to NSF Merit Review and the Social and
Behavioral Sciences
Addressing questions about human behavior is as critical to our
Nation's survival and well-being in a global context as investigating
those physical mysteries both minute as a nanostructure and vast as the
universe. Leaders in industry as well as science continue to urge
Congress to stop singling out individual scientific disciplines or
entire NSF Directorates, such as SBE, for elimination or further
drastic reductions, and to stop attacking individual, peer-reviewed
grants funding social and behavioral scientists (including
psychologists). All NSF grant proposals are reviewed with two merit
criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. Grant proposals must
advance knowledge and benefit society, and for the last 60 years, NSF
has used this gold-standard merit review process to review and award
the best scientific, engineering, and education research. APA urges
Congress to avoid attempts to substitute political review for
scientific peer review.
3. Address Increasing Investments in Science by Global Competitors:
U.S. Must Not Create Innovation Deficit and Make Policy Through
``Expensive Guessing''
APA concurs with CNSF that uncertainties in the Federal budget
process, deep cuts to scientific research programs due to
sequestration, and legislative attacks directed at peer merit review
processes and specific grants are imperiling the U.S. capacity to
remain globally competitive while other nations pour enormous resources
into research; leading to an innovation deficit with vast economic and
national security implications; rendering our attempts to address
national challenges in the areas of health, education, public safety
and national security expensive guessing rather than policy--making
based on empirical data; adding to job loss and reduced productivity in
States and districts across the country, which otherwise would continue
to benefit from the scientific enterprise and resulting technology
transfer; and further restricting the pipeline for our future
scientific workforce.
department of justice
APA is deeply committed to reforming the criminal justice system,
supporting those with mental illness within this system, and ensuring
that the best scientific evidence is funded and used to make
programmatic and policy changes.
APA urges Congress to:
1. Reduce Incarceration, Protect Public Safety, and Provide Better
Stewardship of Tax Dollars
APA strongly supports bipartisan efforts in Congress to reform the
Federal criminal justice system. The vast majority of incarcerated
offenders return from jail or prison to their communities, and an
estimated 77 percent of former prisoners are rearrested within 5 years
of release. This represents a systemic failure which Congress and many
States are making important steps to redress. Fiscal year 2017
appropriations for DOJ represent another avenue for reform and to
reduce the burden of incarceration on public coffers and affected
families and communities.
Achieving these goals requires a shift in strategy and funding
priorities. To this end, APA applauds many themes of the DOJ fiscal
year 2017 budget request and urges the subcommittee to adopt a similar
approach in appropriations for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and Office
of Justice Programs (OJP).
DOJ projects a $210.8 million decrease in BOP operating costs this
year, due to decreases in the prison population, and APA supports DOJ's
proposals to reinvest much of this savings into enhancements to help
BOP continue to reduce population numbers. Specifically, APA urges the
subcommittee to provide BOP with an additional: $9.7 million for mental
health staff; $20 million for changes to restrictive housing intended
to provide better alternatives for individuals with mental illness;
$42.6 million for cognitive behavioral treatment in residential
treatment centers; and $91.3 million to facilitate prisoner reentry, by
enhancing pre-release programming, increasing available reentry center
beds, facilitating prisoner-family connections, and improving
educational and vocational training. These investments will make
offenders more likely to thrive and maintain employment when they
return to the community, which protects public safety, makes families
stronger, and adds to the tax base.
APA also urges the subcommittee to adequately fund a number of
priorities at OJP to support similar reforms in State prison and local
jail systems. Several States have provided leadership in reducing
unnecessary incarceration, and OJP can help ensure other States gain
the benefits of similar reforms. APA specifically requests that the
subcommittee provide: $100 million for the Second Chance Act; $30
million for Justice Reinvestment; $5.4 million for the Indigent Defense
Initiative (Answering Gideon's Call); $58 million for Criminal Justice
Statistics; and $48 million for Research, Development, and Evaluation
within the National Institute of Justice (including $3 million for
Social Science Research on Indigent Defense).
Finally, APA asks the subcommittee to provide strong funding for
juvenile justice programming, to support intervention in the lives of
young people while the chances are highest for them to develop along a
healthy, productive, and fulfilling trajectory. APA requests: $80
million for juvenile justice Part B formula grants; $10 million for
girls in the juvenile justice system; $4 million for the National Forum
on Youth Violence Prevention; $25 million for the Community-Based
Violence Prevention Initiative; $42 million for the Delinquency
Prevention Program (Title V); $5.4 million for the Improving Juvenile
Indigent Defense Program; $30 million for the Juvenile Accountability
Block Grant; $20 million for the Smart on Juvenile Justice Initiative;
and $23 million for the Defending Childhood initiative.
2. Address Mental Illness and Reduce Strain on Criminal Justice Systems
APA strongly supports diversion from deeper levels of justice
system involvement, when public safety allows, so that individuals with
mental illness can obtain the care they need. Law enforcement officers
who serve on crisis intervention teams (CIT) divert individuals pre-
arrest and connect them with public mental health resources; problem-
solving courts provide pre-trial diversion, while maintaining the
accountability of court supervision; and probation provides community
corrections alternatives to incarceration that also maintain
accountability and provide community mental health resources. Diversion
also allows criminal justice agencies to focus on those individuals for
whom correctional custody is deemed necessary, and this includes
providing the mental and behavioral healthcare to which inmates have a
constitutional right.
To support important State and local government efforts across the
Nation in addressing the high rate of mental and behavioral health
needs among those in contact with criminal justice systems, APA asks
the subcommittee to provide the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
with: $14 million for the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration
Program (formerly MIOTCRA); $42 million for the Drug Court Program; $6
million for Veterans Treatment Courts; and $7.5 million for the new
National Training Center to Improve Police-Based Responses to People
with Mental Illness. APA notes the particular importance of funding
this new national center, given current gaps between CIT training
demand and opportunities.
3. Support Improved Police-Community Relations
DOJ has supported an initial round of review and reforms (e.g., the
Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing and police body-worn
camera activities) to help address the crisis in trust between
communities of color and law enforcement agencies. APA urges the
subcommittee to provide adequate funding to BJA, Community Oriented
Policing Services, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention to support additional Federal, State, and local activities,
by providing: $30 million to the Body-Worn Camera Partnership Program;
$10 million for the Smart Policing--Body-Worn Camera Demonstration; and
$20 million for Procedural Justice--Building Community Trust. APA
recognizes the strain for all involved when mistrust exists between
minority communities and law enforcement and believes that these
investments can help replace destructive mistrust with mutually
beneficial partnerships.
______
Prepared Statement of the American Society for Microbiology
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) recommends that
Congress approve a budget of $8 billion for the National Science
Foundation (NSF) for fiscal year 2017. This level of funding would
provide 4 percent real growth in NSF research funding. The NSF supports
one quarter of all federally funded research at U.S. colleges and
universities; or more than 1,800 colleges, universities and other
institutions in all 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico. In 2017, NSF will directly support about 377,000 researchers,
postdoctoral fellows, trainees, teachers and students. NSF funding is
irreplaceable for much of the basic research that underlies U.S.
innovation.
nsf programs expand u.s. science and engineering
Over 90 percent of the fiscal year 2017 NSF budget would fund
research, education and related activities, largely as competitive
awards in the form of grants or cooperative agreements. The budget
request includes a special focus on support for early career
investigators. More than three quarters of the NSF's budget is
allocated to U.S. colleges and universities, not only directly
underwriting research projects but also training the Nation's future
scientists and engineers. Other recipients of NSF funding include;
private industry, all levels of government, nonprofits and
international organizations.
Sustained NSF investments in basic research and the people who make
the discoveries are crucial to stimulating the U.S. economy, enhancing
the lives of people and shaping a future improved by science and
technology. NSF grants have supported nearly 220 Nobel Prize winners.
In fiscal year 2017, the agency expects to evaluate more than 52,000
research proposals and make over 12,000 new awards. The proposed
funding levels in the administration's NSF budget would allow an
estimated 800 additional grants, raising funding success to a projected
23 percent rate.
nsf support advances biological sciences
The NSF funds nearly 70 percent of basic biology research at the
Nation's academic institutions. Advances in bioscience and
environmental biology clearly depend heavily upon NSF appropriations.
Broad support for biology produces knowledge essential to the Nation's
agriculture, health and environment. NSF supported research has already
spawned many innovations that push today's growing bio economy in areas
such as biofuels, bio renewable chemicals and nanotechnology.
In the fiscal year 2017 request, the Directorate for Biological
Sciences (BIO) receives $790.5 million, or a 6.2 percent increase from
fiscal year 2016. In fiscal year 2017, BIO expects to receive 6,200
proposals for competitive awards, approving 1,600 new awards. BIO
funding includes studies of molecules, cells, tissues, organs,
organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems and the global
biosphere. The directorate regularly partners in multidisciplinary
efforts with programs in chemistry, engineering, mathematics, computer
sciences and more. It is the Nation's principal supporter of basic
studies in environmental biology, biodiversity and plant biology. The
fiscal year 2017 budget will be distributed via BIO's five divisions:
Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), Biological Infrastructure
(DBI), Environmental Biology (DEB), Integrative Organismal Systems
(IOS) and Emerging Frontiers (EF). BIO also supports the Plant Genome
Research Project (PGRP) and the National Ecological Observatory Network
(NEON), as well as myriad programs for education and career development
in the biological sciences.
In fiscal year 2017, BIO will solicit research proposals that align
with the directorate's new Rules of Life emphasis that includes the
genotype to phenotype challenge; plant and microbial sciences,
including study of the microbiome; synthetic biology and the origin of
life. The directorate expects extensive integration with mathematical
and physical sciences, computer science and engineering. As another
example of BIO's broad strategy, MCB's support of synthetic biology
encourages work with other divisions and directorates to develop tools
that advance bio manufacturing, biofuels and novel biomaterials for our
bio economy. This includes additional investment related to the CRISPR/
Cas9 genome editing technology.
The ASM strongly supports a fiscal year 2017 increase for
microbiome research of $2.7 million, for a total investment of $16.4
million. NSF supported studies have already contributed to the Federal
strategy to understand and utilize microbiomes, which are the
collective microorganisms that live in, on and around plants and
animals. Microbiome researchers investigate the role of microbes in
plant and animal function, productivity, health and resilience to
environmental change, as well as microbes' role in soil and marine
ecosystems. Studies are highly diverse in scale and subject; for
example, metagenomics (the entirety of collective genomes in microbial
communities), the composition of individual communities and collective
metabolic activity within a specified microbiome.
In the past year, NSF supported research on microbiomes has
reported on how the composition of microbial communities may respond to
changing conditions, how plant defense hormones help determine root
microbiomes comprising microbes that protect against pathogens, how the
gut microbiomes of baboons living together become similar and the
suspected link between high fat and high sugar diets, intestinal
bacteria and cognitive function.
NSF supported projects frequently incorporate microorganisms as
research tools or targets, integral to discoveries in health,
agriculture, environment, sustainability, bio manufacturing and much
more. Examples from the past year point to NSF's unique role in U.S.
research:
--Scientists have modified a plant gene that normally helps fight
bacterial infection (Pseudomonas syringae) to instead fight
viral infection (turnip mosaic and tobacco etch viruses), the
first time a plant's innate defense system has been altered to
confer resistance to a new disease.
--Bacteria in biofilms communicate with one another via electrical
signaling similar to neural communications in the brain,
according to researchers who earlier described how biofilm
communities internally resolve resource shortages and metabolic
stress.
--The first atlas of airborne microbes across the continental United
States identified more than 110,000 bacterial and 55,000 fungal
species, baseline data with implications for health and disease
in the public, agriculture and the environment.
nsf partnerships promote cross cutting research
Among the many strengths of NSF's fiscal year 2017 portfolio is the
agency's ambitious vision of cross cutting discovery. NSF excels at
stimulating multidisciplinary research that draws best practices and
leading edge technologies from diverse scientific and engineering
disciplines, often leveraging systems level strategies. Several fiscal
year 2017 efforts epitomize greater emphasis on creative partnerships:
--Expanded agency wide efforts and external partnerships will
accelerate the INFEWS initiative (Innovations at the Nexus of
Food, Energy and Water Systems).
--The NSF wide BioMaPS program, with an emphasis in synthetic biology
at the intersection of biology, engineering and physical
sciences, expects new potentially valuable outcomes. Many
synthetic biology products are currently poised for
commercialization, such as biofuels, drugs and food additives.
New research promises advances in important economic sectors
like agriculture, industry and medicine.
--BIO will assume full operation of the soon to be completed NEON
network for ecological research, built on partnerships with
other NSF entities and private organizations. Using sensor
sites and cyberinfrastructures, it is the first research
platform to collect standardized data nationwide.
--Scientists with the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases
Initiative (EEID), a joint NIH, NSF, Department of Agriculture
(USDA) effort, are studying the mosquito borne transmission of
Zika and dengue viruses in Ecuador, in the context of
socioecological and environment's effects on disease spread.
--The new BIO USDA Plant Biotic Interactions (PBI) program will make
its first grant awards during fiscal year 2017, in areas that
include plant microbiomes, pathogens and defenses.
The ASM appreciates the opportunity to submit testimony and urges
Congress to fund NSF with $8 billion in fiscal year 2017. NSF funded
research is a cornerstone of U.S. innovation in science and technology
with vast benefits across the Nation and around the world.
______
Prepared Statement of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME)
As the Federal budget faces increased scrutiny due to sequester
spending caps, it is important that research and development remain
among the highest priorities for domestic discretionary spending.
Scientific and engineering research have long been the foundation of
our Nation's economic growth and prosperity and have positioned the
U.S. as a global leader in innovation. Our country's economic strength
derives from our ability to produce the world's best scientists and
engineers, nurture new ideas and innovation, and develop new
technologies and industries. Now, however, with other countries
investing more heavily in basic and applied research, it is becoming
difficult for the U.S. to keep pace. If America is to remain a global
economic leader, we must continue to invest in the scientific and
engineering enterprise that generates new technologies, industries, and
jobs. The ASME Manufacturing Public Policy (MPP) Task Force strongly
supports the President's budget request and urges Congress to fully
fund basic research and the programs outlined below so that the full
national security and economic benefits of our domestic innovations can
be realized.
OVERVIEW OF NIST'S FISCAL YEAR 2016 BUDGET REQUEST
[$ in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Year Fiscal Year
2016 2017 Increase (%) Increase ($)
Enacted Requested
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NIST.................................................. 964 1,000 5.2 36
STRS.................................................. 690 730.5 5.9 40.5
ITS................................................... 155 189 22 34
NNMI.................................................. 25 47 88 22
MEP................................................... 130 142 9.2 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The MPP Task Force strongly supports the administration's budget
request of $1 billion for NIST in fiscal year 2017. This represents a
5.2 percent or $36 million increase over fiscal year 2016 enacted
levels.
The National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI)
The MPP Task Force strongly supports dedicating $47 million to
funding new and established National Network for Manufacturing
Innovation (NNMI) Institutes. ASME has long supported the creation of a
national network of manufacturing Institutes to work towards bridging
the gap between basic research and market impact of technology. The
administration's continued efforts to fund Department of Commerce-led
NNMI Institutes through NIST reflects the vital role NIST plays in the
administration's goal of creating a fully operational innovation
pipeline.
The NNMI achieves this goal by providing a ``manufacturing research
infrastructure where U.S. industry and academia collaborate to solve
industry-relevant problems. The NNMI is a network of Institutes for
Manufacturing Innovation, each with a unique focus but a common goal to
create, showcase, and deploy new capabilities and new manufacturing
processes.'' \1\
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\1\ Manufacturing.gov.
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In addition to the $47 million in discretionary funds for NNMI, the
President's budget requests an additional $1.9 billion in mandatory
funding for NNMI over the next 10 years to achieve the administration's
goal of a national network of 45 manufacturing Institutes.
Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
The MPP Task Force has long supported MEP as a catalyst for
technological innovation and is pleased with the administration's
request of $142 million. MEP provides support to small and medium-sized
manufacturers (SMMs) across the United States and Puerto Rico to
develop sustainable practices in the U.S. These SMMs are crucial to the
U.S. economy as they support and create a significant number of jobs
focused in product commercialization, lean production, process
improvements, and supply chain optimization.
Construction of Research Facilities (CRF)
NIST laboratories remain a critical resource that is vital to the
economic health and national security of the United States, as outlined
in the President's Innovation Agenda, inspired by the original
``America COMPETES Act of 2007'' (Public Law 110-69). The NIST
engineering laboratory ``promotes the development and dissemination of
advanced technologies, guidelines, and services to the U.S.
manufacturing and construction industries through activities including
measurement science research, performance metrics, tools and
methodologies for engineering applications, and critical technical
contributions to standards and codes development.'' The up-keep and
modernization of our laboratories is at the very crux of the research
done at NIST, and without proper funding for our facilities and
equipment, important programs suffer. The MPP Task Force supports the
administration's request for $95 million in discretionary funds for
Construction of Research Facilities in fiscal year 2017.
nist's standards mission
Part of the mission of NIST is to promote the use of American
standards, conformity assessment programs and technology in countries
and industries around the world as a means of enhancing U.S.
competitiveness and opening new markets for U.S. products and services.
Standards provide technical definitions and guidelines for design and
manufacturing. They serve as a common, global language, define quality
and establish safety criteria. In the United States, standards are
developed by private-sector organizations in close collaboration with
representatives from industry, government, and academia. These
standards are used by industry and are frequently adopted by government
agencies as a means of establishing regulatory requirements. They are
vital to the economic health of many industries, and--more
importantly--they help to ensure the health and safety of the American
people and citizens in countless nations around the world.
As a standards developer, ASME is in an outstanding position to
describe the value of NIST standardization efforts and their impact on
American commerce. Over the years, the Department of Commerce and NIST
have played an indispensable role in ensuring acceptance by other
nations of U.S.-developed standards that continue to identify and
incorporate technological advances and that also reflect changing needs
for industry, regulation, and public safety. Unlike in the U.S. where
standards development is largely the province of private sector
organizations, standards development in many other countries is
undertaken with strong government support. The U.S. voluntary consensus
standards process enables innovation, reduces redundancy in public and
private sector research, and reduces government costs. The governments
of many of our key trading partners invest significant resources to
promote acceptance of competing standards (developed by organizations
in those countries) in the global marketplace. It is therefore
essential that the U.S. Government, in partnership with private sector
standards development organizations, strengthen its commitment to
ensuring adequate representation of U.S. interests in international
standards negotiations.
Enabling U.S. manufacturers to design and build to one standard or
set of standards increases our competitiveness in the world market.
Similarly, decisions made in standards bodies outside of the United
States have a profound impact on the ability of U.S. companies to
compete in foreign markets. The ability of NIST to assist U.S.
standards developers in their negotiations with international standards
organizations is important to the U.S. business community. The U.S.
must be a full participant in global standards development if our
industries are to compete effectively in a world market. We believe
that NIST plays a unique and crucial role in maintaining, and growing,
the competitive edge of U.S. industry in the emerging landscape of the
high technology manufacturing sector.
conclusion
The administration's commitment to NIST appears to be strong, as
demonstrated by its willingness to support increases for key NIST
initiatives for fiscal year 2017. The full funding of the NNMI and MEP
programs are crucial for the U.S. to remain competitive globally over
the next several decades. The Task Force remains strongly supportive of
these initiatives as well as the underlying goals of NIST as they
relate to advanced manufacturing and technological innovation.
introduction to asme and the mpp task force
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Task
Force of the Committee on Government Relations Inter-Sector Committee
on Federal R&D of the ASME Public Affairs and Outreach Sector is
pleased to have this opportunity to provide comments on the fiscal year
2017 budget request for NIST. The MPP Task Force and ASME Standards &
Certification have a long-standing relationship with NIST and thus
recognize NIST as a key government agency that contributes
significantly to the development and application of technology.
Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
ASME is a worldwide engineering society of over 140,000 members focused
on technical, educational and research issues. ASME conducts one of the
world's largest technical publishing operations, holds approximately 30
technical conferences and 200 professional development courses each
year, and sets many industry and manufacturing standards.
Mechanical engineers play a key role in the research, technology
development, and innovation that influence the economic wellbeing of
the Nation. ASME has supported the mission of NIST since it was founded
in 1901, as the National Bureau of Standards. In fact, ASME was
instrumental in establishing the Department of Commerce, NIST's parent
agency. The technical programs of NIST are unique in that they foster
government and industry cooperation through cost-sharing partnerships
that create long-term investments based on engineering and technology.
These programs are aimed at providing the technical support so vital to
our nation's future economic health.
Statement approved by the ASME Manufacturing Public Policy Task
Force (MPPTF).
ASME is a non-profit technical and educational organization with
more than 140,000 members globally. The Society's members work in all
sectors of the economy, including industry, academia, and government.
This position statement represents the views of the MPP Task Force of
the Committee on Government Relations Inter-Sector Committee on Federal
R&D of the ASME Public Affairs and Outreach Sector and is not
necessarily a position of ASME as a whole.
______
Prepared Statement of the American Society of Plant Biologists
On behalf of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB), I
submit this testimony for the official record to support the requested
level of $8 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF) for
fiscal year 2017. ASPB recognizes the difficult fiscal environment our
Nation faces, but we believe that sustained investments in scientific
research will be a critical step toward economic recovery and continued
global competitiveness for our Nation.
ASPB would like to thank the subcommittee for its consideration of
this testimony and for its strong support for the research mission of
NSF.
Our testimony will discuss:
--Plant biology research as a foundation for addressing food, fuel,
environment, and health concerns;
--The rationale for robust funding for NSF to maintain a well-
proportioned science portfolio; and
--The rationale for continued funding of NSF education and workforce
development programs that provide support for the future
scientific and technical expertise critical to America's
competitiveness.
ASPB is an organization of professional plant biology researchers,
educators, graduate students, and postdoctoral scientists with members
across the Nation and throughout the world. A strong voice for the
global plant science community, our mission--achieved through work in
the realms of research, education, and public policy--is to promote the
growth and development of plant biology, to encourage and communicate
research in plant biology, and to promote the interests and growth of
plant scientists in general.
food, fuel, environment, and health: plant biology research and
america's future
Plants are vital to our very existence. They harvest sunlight,
converting it to chemical energy for food and feed; they take up carbon
dioxide and produce oxygen; and they are the primary producers on which
most life depends. Indeed, plant biology research is making many
fundamental contributions in the areas of energy security and
environmental stewardship; the continued and sustainable development of
better foods, fabrics, and building materials; and in the understanding
of biological principles that underpin improvements in the health and
nutrition of all Americans.
In particular, plant biology is at the interface of numerous
scientific breakthroughs. For example, with high throughput
experimental approaches facilitating extraordinary syntheses of
information that are NSF-supported, plant biologists are using computer
science applications to make tremendous strides in our understanding of
complex biological systems, ranging from single cells to entire
ecosystems. Understanding how plants function ultimately will result in
better and more productive crops, new sources of fuel, and the
development of better medicines to treat diseases like cancer.
Despite the significant positive impact plants have on our Nation's
economy and in addressing some of our most urgent challenges, including
food and energy security, Federal investments in fundamental plant
biology research are modest. Still scientists have maximized and
leveraged this funding in order to understand the basic function and
mechanisms of plants, providing a foundation for vital advances in
practical applications in agriculture, health, energy, and the
environment.
To address future societal challenges that might be mitigated
through investements in plant biology research and to prioritize
community research efforts, ASPB organized a two-phase Plant Science
Research Summit with funding from NSF, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, the Department of Energy, and the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute that resulted in the development of a community agenda
document: Unleashing a Decade of Innovation in Plant Science: A Vision
for 2015-2025 (plantsummit.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/
plantsciencedecadalvision10-18-13.pdf). The report, part of an ongoing
and iterative process, puts forth a 10-year consensus agenda to fill
critical gaps in our understanding of plant biology in order to address
the grand challenges we face. As a research community, our vision is to
create plant systems that are flexible and adaptable to new and
existing challenges by increasing the predictive and synthetic
abilities of plant biology. In achieving these goals, the plant science
research community will make significant contributions to:
--exploring, conserving and utilizing our natural resources;
--protecting, maintaining and improving crop productivity; and
--creating new plant-inspired industries.
robust funding for the national science foundation
ASPB encourages the greatest possible support for the Directorate
of Biological Sciences (BIO) and proportional funding increases across
all of the scientific disciplines NSF supports. As scientific research
becomes increasingly interdisciplinary with permeable boundaries, a
diverse portfolio at NSF is needed to maintain transformational
research and innovation.
NSF funding for plant biology specifically enables the scientific
community to address cross-cutting research questions that could
ultimately solve grand challenges related to a sustainable food supply,
energy security, and improved health and nutrition. This notion is
reflected in the National Research Council's report A New Biology for
the 21st Century.
NSF BIO is a critical source of funding for scientific research,
providing the majority of the Federal support for non-medical basic
life sciences research at U.S. academic institutions and beyond. BIO
supports research ranging from the molecular and cellular levels to the
organismal, ecosystem, and even biosphere levels. These investments
continue to have significant pay offs, both in terms of the knowledge
directly generated and in deepening collaborations and fostering
innovation among communities of scientists. This increase is needed as
BIO received only a 1 percent increase in fiscal year 2016, and a 2
percent increase in fiscal year 2015, which when adjusted for
inflation, actually represents a loss in purchasing power.
The Biological Sciences Directorate's Plant Genome Research Program
(PGRP) is an excellent example of a high impact program that has laid a
strong scientific research foundation for understanding plant genomics
as it relates to energy (biofuels), health (nutrition and functional
foods), agriculture (impact of changing climates on agronomic
ecosystems), and the environment (plants' roles as primary producers in
ecosystems). ASPB asks that the PGRP be funded at the highest possible
level and have sustained funding growth to address 21st century
challenges. Furthermore, in light of the need to create
cyberinfrastructure across a wide range of scientific disciplines, ASPB
supports efforts to homogenize metadata formats and enhance data
sharing.
ASPB also supports the proposed new program, Rules of Life, within
the BIO Directorate. This program would support research on genotype to
phenotype studies, as well as plant science, microbiome, and synthetic
biology. Research supported by Rules of Life will encourage using
quantitative approaches to advance biological research, increasing the
use of innovative new methods and interdisciplinary approaches to
complex research questions. ASPB supports the proposed $13 million for
the new Rules of Life program within NSF BIO.
Without significant and increased support for BIO and the NSF as a
whole, promising fundamental research discoveries will be delayed and
vital collaborations around the edges of scientific disciplines will be
postponed, thus limiting the ability to respond to the pressing
scientific problems that exist today and the new challenges on the
horizon. Addressing these scientific priorities also helps improve the
competitive position of the United States in a global marketplace.
continued support for nsf education and workforce development programs
The National Science Foundation is a major source of funding for
the education and training of the American scientific workforce and for
understanding how educational innovations can be most effectively
implemented. NSF's education portfolio impacts students at all levels,
including K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate, as well as
the general public.
ASPB urges the subcommittee to support expanding NSF's fellowship
and career development programs--such as the Postdoctoral Research
Fellowships in Biology, the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) and the
Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) programs--thereby providing
continuity in funding opportunities for the country's most promising
early career scientists.
Furthermore, the nearly 7-year median for a life-science PhD in the
United States contrasts with other nations where students specialize
earlier, thus entering doctoral programs with more uniform and advanced
scientific foundations. To focus more attention on new types of skills,
such as private-sector experience and data-science training, NSF may
wish to consider encouraging universities to tailor undergraduate
curricula to allow committed students to enter PhD programs without
needing a significant amount of textbook-style coursework. One way to
do so would be to offer a seamless, 7-year curriculum that combines
bachelor's and doctoral education, thereby making the career path more
attractive and reducing costs to investigators, institutions, and
funding bodies. NSF may wish to fund exploration and development of
this kind of program or curriculum.
ASPB urges support for NSF to further develop programs aimed at
increasing the diversity of the scientific workforce by leveraging
professional scientific societies' commitment to provide a professional
home for scientists throughout their education and careers and to help
promote and sustain broad participation in the sciences. Discrete
focused training and infrastructure support programs for Hispanic
Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and
Tribal Colleges and Universities remain vitally important, because they
foster a scientific workforce that reflects the U.S. population.
ASPB urges support for education research that enhances our
understanding of how educational innovations can be sustainably and
most effectively implemented in a variety of settings. NSF Education
and Human Resources programs provide opportunities to expand NSF's
research and evaluation efforts to address scale-up and sustainability.
ASPB encourages continued support for education research programs
within NSF's Education and Human Resources portfolio with a focus on
understanding how previous investments in educational strategies can be
made most effective.
Grand research challenges will not be resolved in a year, an
administration, or a generation, but will take continued attention and
investment at Federal research agencies, such as the National Science
Foundation, over decades.
Thank you for your consideration of ASPB's testimony. For more
information about ASPB, please visit us at www.aspb.org.
______
Prepared Statement of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Introduction
Chairman Shelby, Ranking Member Mikulski, and members of the
subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony
for the record. My name is Anthony (Bud) Rock, and I serve as the
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Science-
Technology Centers (ASTC). My testimony today addresses the importance
of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and
environmental education, and will focus specifically on the fiscal year
2017 budgets for four specific programs at three Federal agencies over
which your subcommittee has jurisdiction: (1) the Competitive Program
for Science Museums, Planetariums, and NASA Visitor Centers Plus Other
Opportunities (CP4SMP+) at the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), which would not be funded under the President's
fiscal year 2017 request; the Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-
WET) Regional Programs and Competitive Education Grants (CEG)/
Environmental Literacy Grants (ELG) programs at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which would not be funded under
the President's fiscal year 2017 request; and the Advancing Informal
STEM Learning (AISL) program at the National Science Foundation (NSF),
which would receive $62.5 million under the President's fiscal year
2017 request (although only $55 million of that amount is being
requested from traditional discretionary spending).
Our Request
On behalf of ASTC and the nearly 400 science centers and museums we
represent here in the United States, I urge the subcommittee to
continue its strong support for critical STEM and environmental
education programs within NASA, NOAA, and NSF as the Commerce, Justice,
Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2017
moves forward. Specifically, I urge you to:
--Provide $10 million for the Competitive Program for Science
Museums, Planetariums, and NASA Visitor Centers Plus Other
Opportunities at the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
--Provide $12 million for the Bay-Watershed Education and Training
Regional Programs and $8 million for the Competitive Education
Grants/Environmental Literacy Grants programs at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
--Provide $62.5 million for the Advancing Informal STEM Learning
program at the National Science Foundation.
--Continue to thoroughly examine any proposals that would seek to
consolidate, reorganize, or eliminate Federal STEM and
environmental education programs in an effort to ensure that
stakeholder input has been sought and that proven, successful
programs are maintained.
Before providing more detail about ASTC and the science center and
museum field, I want to first offer a brief snapshot of these Federal
programs and why they are so vital to communities across the country.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA's Competitive Program for Science Museums, Planetariums, and
NASA Visitor Centers Plus Other Opportunities provides support for
education or research engagement projects, exhibits, and/or
partnerships with K-12 schools to support inquiry- or experiential-
based activities led by informal education institutions--like science
centers and museums--that feature NASA missions, science, engineering,
explorations, or technologies.
Though Congress--and this subcommittee in particular--have been
very supportive of this program since its inception in fiscal year
2008, NASA has not indicated how much (if any) fiscal year 2015 or
fiscal year 2016 funds will be available for new grants. The agency
did, however, recently invite eligible grantees to submit new proposals
for funding, which were due on December 7, 2015. With regard to fiscal
year 2017 funding, the President did not include any funding for the
program in his budget request. I encourage the subcommittee to continue
its strong support for the CP4SMP+ by providing $10 million for fiscal
year 2017.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA's Bay-Watershed Education and Training Regional Program offers
competitive grants to promote locally relevant, authentic experiential
learning focused on K-12 audiences. The program serves seven areas of
the country (California, the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, the Gulf
of Mexico, Hawai'i, New England, and the Pacific Northwest) and
supports activities inside and outside of the classroom while seeking
to increase the understanding and stewardship of watersheds and related
ocean, coastal, riverine, estuarine, and Great Lakes ecosystems. Last
September, NOAA announced that 84 new and continuing projects--
including those in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
Maryland, and Rhode Island--would benefit from a total of over $7
million in appropriated funding for the program.
NOAA's Competitive Education Grants/Environmental Literacy Grants
program, which the agency touts as ``the longest-standing and most
comprehensive national grants program focused on environmental
literacy,'' aims to increase the understanding and use of environmental
information to promote stewardship and increase informed decisionmaking
by U.S. educators, students, and the public. In its 2015 ELG funding
announcement, NOAA challenged applicants to develop proposals that
specifically addressed community resilience to extreme weather events
and environmental changes, one of the agency's prime areas of focus.
Since its inception, NOAA has made 80 ELG awards to 60 institutions
across the country who, in turn, count nearly 30 million visits each
year. Despite this broad, nationwide reach, the President's fiscal year
2017 budget request once again proposes the termination of both the B-
WET and the CEG/ELG programs, which received $7.2 million and $3
million, respectively, for fiscal year 2016. I urge the subcommittee to
remain supportive of the programs by providing $12 million in funding
for B-WET and $8 million in funding for CEG/ELG for fiscal year 2017.
National Science Foundation
The Advancing Informal STEM Learning program, offered by the
Directorate for Education and Human Resources, typically provides
resources to support design, adaptation, implementation, and research
on innovative modes of learning in the informal environment, with
important emphases on citizen science, making, and cyberlearning. Just
last year, new awards were made to the Exploratorium (San Francisco),
the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), Northwestern University,
the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, the
University of Maryland at College Park, the University of Wisconsin-
Madison, West Virginia University, and ASTC itself, to name just a few.
While the President's fiscal year 2017 budget request technically
includes level funding of $62.5 million for AISL, I must point out that
a significant portion of the total, $7.5 million, would come from
newly-proposed mandatory funding rather than via discretionary (CJS
appropriations) sources. As a result, I encourage the subcommittee to
provide $62.5 million in fiscal year 2017 funding for AISL.
STEM Education Consolidation and Reorganization
With regard to the Federal STEM education consolidation plan first
released by the administration for fiscal year 2014 and amended in
subsequent budget requests, I continue to have serious concerns about
proposals to eliminate effective programs that support informal STEM
learning. Integral Federal investments, including the aforementioned
NASA and NOAA offerings, are once again slated for elimination in
fiscal year 2017. I sincerely appreciate the subcommittee's thoughtful
consideration of the harmful effect of the proposed terminations, and
ask you to remain steadfast in your support of these programs.
About ASTC and Science Centers
The Association of Science-Technology Centers is a global
organization providing collective voice, professional support, and
programming opportunities for science centers, museums, and related
institutions, whose innovative approaches to science learning inspire
people of all ages about the wonders and the meaning of science in
their lives. Science centers are sites for informal learning, and are
places to discover, explore, and test ideas about science, technology,
engineering, mathematics, health, and the environment. They feature
interactive exhibits, hands-on science experiences for children,
professional development opportunities for teachers, and educational
programs for adults. As Members of this subcommittee know, it is
imperative that we spark an interest in STEM fields at an early age, an
elemental role of community-based science centers and museums who often
undertake the effort with modest, but vital, support from NASA, NOAA,
NSF, and other Federal agencies.
ASTC works with science centers and museums to address critical
societal issues, locally and globally, where understanding of and
engagement with science are essential. As liaisons between the science
community and the public, science centers are ideally positioned to
heighten awareness of critical issues like agriculture, energy, the
environment, infectious diseases, and space; increase understanding
of--and exposure to--important and exciting new technologies; and
promote meaningful exchange and debate between scientists and local
communities.
ASTC now counts 651 members, including 486 operating or developing
science centers and museums in 42 countries. Collectively, our
institutions garner 100 million visits worldwide each year. Here in the
United States alone, your constituents pass through science center
doors 69 million times to participate in intriguing educational science
activities and explorations of scientific phenomena.
Science centers come in all shapes and sizes, from larger
institutions in big metropolitan areas to smaller centers in somewhat
less populated ones. ASTC represents institutions as diverse as the
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center (Alaska); the Connecticut Science
Center (Hartford); the Creative Discovery Museum (Chattanooga,
Tennessee); ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain (Burlington,
Vermont); the EdVenture Children's Museum (Columbia, South Carolina);
the Mid-America Science Museum (Hot Springs, Arizona); Science Museum
Oklahoma (Oklahoma City); SEE Science Center (Manchester, New
Hampshire), and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville, Alabama).
Our centers reach a wide audience, a significant portion of which
are school groups. Here in the U.S., 94 percent of our members offer
school field trips, and we estimate that more than 13 million children
attend science centers and museums as part of those groups each year.
Field trips, however, are truly just the beginning of what science
centers and museums contribute to our country's educational
infrastructure, as: 92 percent offer classes and demonstrations; 90
percent offer school outreach programs; 76 percent offer workshops or
institutes for teachers; 74 percent offer programs for home-schoolers;
67 percent offer programs that target adult audiences; 65 percent offer
curriculum materials; 50 percent offer after-school programs; 34
percent offer youth employment programs; and 22 percent offer citizen
science projects.
Conclusion
With this in mind, and while I am fully aware of the significant
budget challenges that face this subcommittee, the full Appropriations
Committee, Congress, and the Nation, I hope you will continue to
recognize the important educational offerings science centers and
museums make available to students, families, and teachers, along with
the essential Federal support they receive from NASA, NOAA, and NSF.
Again, I respectfully request that you provide $10 million for the
Competitive Program for Science Museums, Planetariums, and NASA Visitor
Centers Plus Other Opportunities at the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration; $12 million for the Bay-Watershed Education and
Training Regional Programs and $8 million for the Competitive Education
Grants/Environmental Literacy Grants program at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration; and $62.5 million for the Advancing
Informal STEM Learning program at the National Science Foundation. In
addition, please continue to closely examine any proposals that would
seek to consolidate, reorganize, or eliminate Federal STEM and
environmental education programs in an effort to ensure that
stakeholder input has been sought and that proven, successful programs
are maintained.
Thank you once again for your strong support for America's science
centers and museums--and for the opportunity to present these views. My
staff and I would be happy to respond to any questions or provide
additional information as needed by the subcommittee.
______
Prepared Statement of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Thank you, Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Mikulski for allowing
me to submit testimony on behalf of the Nation's 215 AZA-accredited
zoos and aquariums. Specifically, I want to express my support for the
inclusion of $4 million for the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue
Assistance Grant Program, $8,000,000 for the NOAA Environmental
Literacy Grants Program (including funding for ocean education grants),
$12,000,000 for the Bay Watershed Education and Training Program, and
$8,000,000 for the Marine Debris Program in the fiscal year 2017
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Founded in 1924, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is a
nonprofit 501c(3) organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and
aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and
recreation. AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums annually see more than
183 million visitors, collectively generate more than $17 billion in
annual economic activity, and support more than 166,000 jobs across the
country. Over the last 5 years, AZA-accredited institutions supported
more than 4,000 field conservation and research projects with
$160,000,000 annually in more than 100 countries. In the last 10 years,
accredited zoos and aquariums formally trained more than 400,000
teachers, supporting science curricula with effective teaching
materials and hands-on opportunities. School field trips annually
connect more than 12,000,000 students with the natural world.
The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program
provides grants or cooperative agreements to eligible stranding network
participants for the recovery and treatment (i.e., rehabilitation) of
stranded marine mammals; data collection from living or dead stranded
marine mammals; and, facility upgrades, operation costs, and staffing
needs directly related to the recovery and treatment of stranded marine
mammals and collection of data from living or dead stranded marine
mammals. Eligible applicants are currently active, authorized
participants, including AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums, or
researchers in the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
Without the Prescott grant program, NOAA would have to rely on
private organizations as it coordinates the response to marine mammals
in distress; determines disease, injury and potential cause(s) of
death; and supports emergency response for marine mammals during oil
spills, outbreaks of diseases, and unusual mortality events. Network
partners may not have the funds or the ability to respond to some
stranding events, leaving animals at risk for prolonged exposure and
likely death. Without funding for this program the critical ability to
monitor marine mammal health trends, collect scientific data, and
perform analysis would also be diminished. Information about the causes
of marine mammal strandings is useful to the public because marine
mammals can serve as an indicator of ocean health, giving insight into
larger environmental issues that also have implications for human
health and welfare.
At the same time that AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums are working
with Federal partners to conserve ocean wildlife, they also are
providing essential learning opportunities, particularly about science,
for schoolchildren in formal and informal settings. Increasing access
to formal and informal science education opportunities has never been
more important. Studies have shown that American schoolchildren are
lagging behind their international peers in certain subjects including
science and math.
The NOAA Environmental Literacy Grants Program and Bay Watershed
Education and Training Program bring students closer to science by
providing them with the opportunity to learn firsthand about our
world's marine resources. Through these grant programs, aquariums work
closely with Federal, State, and local partners on projects with long-
lasting benefits not only for the students but also for their
communities. For example, previous projects funded by NOAA
Environmental Literacy Grants at AZA aquariums have focused on
establishing a regional network of summer camp programs grounded in
ocean science, enhancing teen conservation leadership programs, and
increasing the effectiveness of informal science educators to promote
public understanding of threats to ocean. As schools face increased
budgetary pressures, these types of education programs at aquariums
will become even more important in ensuring that American
schoolchildren receive the necessary foundation in science education
that they will need to be competitive in the 21st century global
economy.
Finally, AZA-accredited aquariums and zoos work with Federal,
State, and local partners to address the marine debris accumulating in
the ocean and in rivers, lakes, and streams across the country. Recent
studies estimate that at least 8 million metric tons of plastic are
dumped into the world's oceans each year. This pollution affects the
availability of clean water for humans, harms the species living in
these vital bodies of water, and has an impact on the economy and local
communities.
The NOAA Marine Debris Program offers several nationwide,
competitive funding opportunities for marine debris projects including
removal grants, education and outreach grants, and research grants.
Important projects recently funded by this program include an
initiative by The National Aquarium to work with local partners and
advocates in the Masonville Cove region of Baltimore through community
cleanups, leadership and education training. With the amount of marine
debris expected to significantly increase over the next decade, these
grants are critical to cleaning up the existing trash as well as
educating citizens about how to address this global problem.
AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums are essential partners at the
Federal, State, and local levels to improve education for
schoolchildren and ensure that current and future generations will be
good stewards of the world's oceans. Therefore, I urge you to include
$4 million for the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance
Grant Program, $8,000,000 for the NOAA Environmental Literacy Grants
Program (including funding for ocean education grants), $12,000,000 for
the Bay Watershed Education and Training Program, and $8,000,000 for
the Marine Debris Program in the fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice,
Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Thank you for your consideration of our comments.
[This statement was submitted by Kristin L. Vehrs, Executive
Director.]
______
Prepared Statement of Erwin Chemerinsky
I appreciate your accepting my statement in connection with your
hearing on President Obama's recently announced Executive action to
more effectively enforce existing Federal gun laws.
I am the founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, and
Raymond Pryke Professor of First Amendment Law, at UC Irvine School of
Law, with a joint appointment in Political Science. Prior to assuming
this position in 2008, I was the Alston and Bird Professor of Law and
Political Science at Duke University from 2004-2008, and before that
was a professor at the University of Southern California Law School
from 1983-2004, including as the Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public
Interest Law, Legal Ethics, and Political Science. I am the author of
eight books, including leading casebooks and treatises on
constitutional law, and over 200 law review articles. I am a graduate
of Northwestern University and Harvard Law School.
President Obama's recent Executive actions to more effectively
enforce Federal laws regulating guns are clearly constitutional. The
new policies announced by President Obama are relatively modest and are
entirely focused on enforcing existing statutes. Thus all are within
the permissible scope of Executive power without infringing the Second
Amendment.
Federal law requires that anyone engaged in the business of dealing
firearms must obtain a Federal license and subjects licensed dealers to
inspection and basic record-keeping requirements. Congress has
established a National Instant Criminal Background Check system and
mandated that licensed gun dealers conduct criminal background checks
to ensure that would-be gun purchasers are not individuals who are
prohibited from purchasing a gun because of a criminal record.
President Obama's Executive action clarifies which gun sellers are
``engaged in the business'' of dealing firearms, and therefore must
obtain Federal licenses and conduct background checks on would-be gun
purchasers. A large numbers of firearms are sold by unlicensed dealers
at gun shows and over the Internet, frequently without conducting any
background checks. The failure of these high-volume sellers to obtain
licenses and conduct background checks creates a ready source of
firearms for dangerous criminals and other prohibited persons, and
fuels the illegal gun trafficking that arms criminals and undermines
efforts to reduce gun violence.
President Obama, through his Executive action defining who is in
the business of dealing firearms, has closed this dangerous loophole.
The hobbyist who occasionally sells guns is not covered, while those
who regularly sell guns must comply with Federal law.
Also, President Obama has directed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
to prosecute individuals who illegally attempt to obtain firearms and
also to inform State law enforcement whenever a prohibited person in
their State fails a background check. It is common sense that law
enforcement has a strong interest in knowing when anyone the law deems
too dangerous to buy a gun attempts to do so. This is simply the
President taking long overdue action to better enforce Federal laws. To
make this work more effectively, the President has ordered that the FBI
improve the National Instant Criminal Background check system to make
it more efficient.
Similarly, President Obama has asked the ATF to issue a rule
requiring background checks for purchasers of certain dangerous
firearms and other items who purchase them through a trust, corporation
or other legal entity. It also will issue a rule clarifying that gun
dealers and licensees who ship firearms have the responsibility to
notify law enforcement if their guns are lost or stolen in transit.
All of these actions fall within the President's power to ensure
that Federal laws ``be faithfully executed.'' The President has the
authority, and the duty, to issue rules and regulations to ensure that
the laws are enforced as written and intended. Executive action to
ensure enforcement of the law--including issuing clarifying guidance
and directing comprehensive enforcement of Federal gun laws--is
entirely compatible with the will of Congress and the President's
constitutional authority.
Nor is there any plausible argument that the President's actions
violate the Second Amendment. All of the Federal laws being enforced by
the President's Executive action are unquestionably constitutional. The
Supreme Court has been explicit that the Second Amendment is not an
absolute right for people to have guns. For example, the Court has said
that the Government can regulate who has guns, including prohibiting
those with criminal records or a history of serious mental illness from
possessing firearms. That is exactly the purpose of the Federal laws
being enforced by President Obama's Executive action. Not one Federal
court ever has questioned the constitutionality of the Federal laws
being enforced by President Obama's Executive order.
Much more needs to be done to prevent gun violence. The President's
Executive action is necessarily narrow in scope because it is limited
to better enforcing existing Federal laws. It is stunning and
disturbing that even these efforts are opposed by gun rights extremists
as going too far and falsely condemned by political candidates as
President Obama wanting to ``take away people's guns.''
The repeated gun tragedies must be an impetus to do more to keep
guns out of the hands of those who are dangerous. No solution will
prevent all or even most gun violence. But drug laws do not keep
everyone from getting illegal drugs and even murder laws don't stop all
murders. But stricter enforcement of existing laws, which is all that
President Obama is doing, hopefully can keep some dangerous people from
getting guns and save some lives. That is constitutional and very much
worth doing.
______
Prepared Statement of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership
On behalf of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, I appreciate the
opportunity to discuss the fiscal year 2017 Federal science budget for
the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA). Ocean Leadership represents the leading
ocean science, education, and technology institutions, with the mission
to shape the future of ocean sciences. Ocean science strengthens our
national security, supports a safe and efficient marine transportation
system, underpins our economy, and furthers our understanding of
complex ocean and coastal ecosystems. We respectfully request the
subcommittee provide no less than $7.96 billion for NSF (including full
funding for geosciences); $2.03 billion for Earth Sciences at NASA; and
$6.0 billion for NOAA. These funding provisions are essential to our
future security and economic prosperity.
As Congress addresses Federal investments in the face of
constrained budgets, it is important to recognize and maintain support
for basic and applied research as a core Federal responsibility. This
Federal investment must be a priority given that our Nation's science-
and technology-based economy strongly relies on a foundation built upon
scientific advances, both within specific disciplines as well as across
disciplines. Historic Federal investment in basic research and
development has been critically important to advancing our science
superiority on the world stage as well as growing our economy, both of
which can and should be built upon in the fiscal year 2017
appropriations process. Investing in earth, ocean, and atmospheric
sciences--collectively known as the geosciences--are opportunities for
the American taxpayer to address global issues while maintaining U.S.
primacy in science and technology, as well as benefitting the U.S.
economy, national security, and public safety. Geosciences are found
across the Federal family, in: NSF's Geoscience Directorate, NOAA's
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and NASA's Earth Science
Division; with each agency partnering, leveraging, and building upon
each other's data and information. The ocean science and technology
community urges Congress to look to the future of our Nation. With
geosciences contributing $100 billion to U.S. GDP in 2012 \1\ with an
expected increase to $127 billion by 2022,\2\ it is clear that these
scientific disciplines are valuable to our economy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Wilson, C. E. (2014), The Status of the Geoscience Workforce.
American Geosciences Institute: Alexandria, Virginia, p. 110.
\2\ Wilson, C. E. (2014), The Status of the Geoscience Workforce.
American Geosciences Institute: Alexandria, Virginia, p. 110.
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national science foundation
NSF is the premier Federal agency tasked with supporting basic
scientific research, and has been a primary force in providing support
for discoveries that have driven our Nation's economy through
innovation. In fact, 70 percent of Nobel Laureates since 1950 have
received Federal funding from NSF at one time.\3\ Historically,
Congress has appropriated top line numbers for the agency, refraining
from directing the course of the agency's research agenda or setting
science or infrastructure priorities for the agency. We hope that this
policy will continue so the Foundation can continue to make decisions
based on the highest quality peer-reviewed science, rather than
politics. For example, through this method of Federal science support,
NSF's physical science, computer science, and geoscience basic research
have resulted in the development of radar systems, satellites, and
computer models used by other Federal agencies which have improved
weather and ocean forecasting; and ultimately saved countless lives and
livelihoods. Given the tremendous impact that natural hazards have on
our Nation's economy and public welfare, we believe that investing in
the geosciences is critical to advance our knowledge of the planet,
while at the same time investing in social and behavioral sciences can
improve our ability to understand and communicate key scientific
findings and risks to the public and policymakers, who must deal with a
rapidly changing planet. Additionally, with NSF providing 64 percent of
all funding for basic geoscience research at U.S. universities \4\ and
the projected 14 percent geoscience job growth,\5\ it is obvious that
this Federal agency plays a key role in both workforce development and
industry growth in the United States.
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\3\ Cordova, France, 2016. Testimony before U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Science. https://science.house.gov/sites/
republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HHRG-114-SY15-WState-
FCordova-20160322.PDF.
\4\ https://www.nsf.gov/geo/about.jsp. National Science Foundation.
\5\ 2012-2022, Status of the Geoscience Workforce Report, the
American Geosciences Institute, 2014. This handout was compiled by the
American Geosciences Institute (AGI), 2014.
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national oceanic and atmospheric administration
To meet its many missions and mandates, NOAA requires timely,
accurate, and sensitive observations of the planet. Given the pressures
of the current fiscal climate, we are confident that NOAA can more
efficiently and effectively meet its scientific requirements through
partnerships with extramural academic and private sector partners that
enhance and strengthen its scientific capability. Such collaborations
have led to innovative and cost-effective sensor technologies,
streamlined data assimilation and dissemination, improvements in our
ability to understand and forecast harmful algal blooms and ocean
chemistry, and to a greater understanding of how the ocean and coasts
are changing over time. Accessing and partnering with the best minds of
the Nation to help manage resources, observe and analyze trends, make
forecasts, and address critical concerns requires a greater commitment
to external, competitive, and peer-reviewed grant opportunities.
As the ocean absorbs much of the heat and carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, it is crucial to better understand air-sea-ice
interactions. These and other ocean and coastal observations provide
data and information critical to: forecasting typhoons, hurricanes,
flooding, heat waves, droughts, and wildfires; they help calibrate and
validate satellite observations; they provide baselines for fisheries
management, and long-term data sets on ecosystems, tides and currents,
sea level change, and ocean chemistry. Without sustained observations
feeding into our prediction capabilities on regional and seasonal
scales, we are essentially flying blind in terms of managing resources
and protecting overall public health. There are many major natural
threats facing our Nation, and significant challenges ahead in
understanding, forecasting, and mitigating them, all of which require
significant financial resources. Ocean and coastal observations require
Federal investment and the return on that investment includes accurate
forecasts of weather and extreme events; communities that are prepared
for, and can respond to, long-term changes as well as sudden events
(e.g., flooding, drought); national, international, State, and local
governments having science-based resource management; and weather-
climate sensitive industries working with greater certainty in their
business models.
national aeronautics and space administration
The ocean science and technology community urges the subcommittee
to fund NASA's Earth Science Division at $2.03 billion in order to
support ocean science and education. NASA satellites provide a view of,
and data pertaining to, the planet we live on--ocean and land,
atmosphere and deserts, ice sheets and mountains--all important
components of a complex and changing system. Beyond interesting
information and glorious imagery, NASA earth science activities
facilitate and improve the forecasting leading to a national science
enterprise with stellar weather, climate and natural hazard predictive
capabilities.
geoscience education
The interdisciplinary nature of oceanography (e.g., physics,
biology, chemistry, geology, engineering, computer and information
science) requires dedicated education and training opportunities for
the next generation of ocean scientists. We believe that the mission
agencies mentioned above should continue to have a robust role in
education and training as they are best situated to anticipate changing
trends and challenges. With 20 percent of American jobs requiring a
high level of STEM understanding \6\ (26 million) and 63 percent of
high school graduates not meeting the college readiness benchmark for
science,\7\ this is a timely investment. We can ill afford to have a
135,000 geoscience worker shortage over the next decade--as the
Workforce Research team at the American Geosciences Institute have
calculated--workers that are vital for national and international
security, energy and weather forecasting industries, as well as natural
resource managers, land-use planners and first-responders.
Additionally, diversity continues to be a challenge for the scientific
community overall; we need to develop a workforce whose composition
better resembles the broader population. We greatly appreciate the
support this committee has given to STEM education programs at NSF,
NOAA, and NASA, and encourage this support to extend into the
geoscience directorate at NSF, which aids the development of thousands
of early career geoscientists.
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\6\ The Hidden STEM Economy, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings
Institute, 2013, http://www.brookings.edu/ /media/research/files/
reports/2013/06/10%20stem%20economy%20rothwell/
thehiddenstemeconomy610.pdf.
\7\ ACT standardized test. ``The Condition of STEM 2014,'' ACT,
http://www.act.org/stemcondition/14/pdf/National-STEM-Report-2014.pdf.
This handout was compiled by the American Geosciences Institute, 2015.
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summary
Geosciences impact everyday Americans every day; and across the
Nation, across science disciplines, across the Federal family, it is
clear that robust and sustained Federal investments in geosciences are
key to addressing global and national challenges, underpinning new and
growing economies while maintaining and supporting existing ones, and
improving technologies that preserve lives and livelihoods, persons and
property. As the subcommittee drafts the fiscal year 2017 spending
bill, we hope that you reflect on the fact that the bulk of the
intellectual capacity regarding the ocean resides within the academic
research community. Peer-reviewed extramural research is the most
efficient and effective vehicle for providing our policy makers and our
commercial partners with the expertise, information, and data necessary
to address the emerging challenges facing our Nation. We also hope that
you will continue to permit science priorities and decisions to be made
by the scientific community, a proven method that has enabled America's
thriving, innovation economy for decades.
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, we greatly appreciate
the opportunity to share our recommendations, and I encourage you to
continue your long-standing bipartisan support for geoscience funding,
including ocean science and technology, in the fiscal year 2017
appropriations process and into the future.
Below is a list of the institutions that are represented by the
Consortium for Ocean Leadership:
Alabama
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Alaska
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS)
North Pacific Research Board
University of Alaska Fairbanks
California
Aquarium of the Pacific
Bodega Marine Lab
Esri
Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
L-3 MariPro, Inc.
Liquid Robotics, Inc.
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Moss Landing Marine Laboratory
Naval Postgraduate School
Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies
Stanford University
Teledyne
University of California, San Diego (Scripps)
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Southern California
Colorado
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
Connecticut
University of Connecticut
Delaware
Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System
(MARACOOS)
University of Delaware
Florida
Earth2Ocean, Inc.
Florida Institute of Oceanography
Mote Marine Laboratory
Nova Southeastern University
University of Florida
University of Miami
University of South Florida
Georgia
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography of the University of Georgia
Hawaii
University of Hawaii
Illinois
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Maine
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Maryland
National Aquarium
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Michigan
University of Michigan
Mississippi
University of Mississippi
University of Southern Mississippi
New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
New Jersey
Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI)
Rutgers University
New York
Columbia University (LDEO)
Stony Brook University
North Carolina
Duke University Marine Laboratory
East Carolina University
North Carolina State University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Oregon
Oregon State University
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania State University
Rhode Island
University of Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium
University of South Carolina
Texas
Fugro
Harte Research Institute
Sonardyne, Inc.
Texas A&M University
University of Texas at Austin
Virginia
CARIS, USA
CNA
College of William and Mary (VIMS)
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
Old Dominion University
U.S. Arctic Research Commission
Washington
Sea-Bird Scientific
University of Washington
Washington, DC
Marine Technology Society
National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA)
Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA)
Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences
______
Prepared Statement of the Consortium of Social Science Associations
On behalf of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA),
I offer this written testimony to the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies for
inclusion in the official committee record. For fiscal year 2017, COSSA
urges the subcommittee to appropriate $8 billion for the National
Science Foundation (NSF), $1.634 billion for the Census Bureau, $48
million for the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and $58 million
for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
COSSA serves as a united voice for a broad, diverse network of
organizations, institutions, communities, and stakeholders who care
about a successful and vibrant social science research enterprise. We
represent the collective interests of all fields of social and
behavioral science research, including but not limited to sociology,
anthropology, political science, psychology, economics, statistics,
language and linguistics, population studies, law, communications,
educational research, criminology and criminal justice research,
geography, history, and child development. Social science research
studies social contexts across various time and spatial scales,
including economic, cultural, demographic, and political contexts.
Behavioral research seeks to better understand learning, cognition,
emotion, temperament, motivation, and biobehavioral interactions.
Social and behavioral science research is supported across the
Federal Government, including at the National Science Foundation and
the Department of Justice. Further, Federal statistics collected by the
Census Bureau and other Federal statistical agencies provide important
data needed to conduct social science research that informs policy
decisions. Taken together, Federal social and behavioral science and
statistical data help to provide us with answers to complex, human-
centered questions such as:
--How to convince a community in a path of a tornado to heed
warnings; or
--What are the best strategies for slowing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, or
more recently, the Ebola crisis; or
--How to thwart cybercrime and protect Americans' privacy and
security in an increasingly connected world.
In addition, new findings continue to increase the efficiency of
our industries, improve the quality of K-12 education, help us
understand crime patterns and evaluate prevention strategies, help
manage our natural resources, keep our troops safe, help us to be
informed as consumers, and allow paralyzed individuals to communicate.
Among the countless innovations enabled by Federal support for basic
social science research are GPS, telecommunications spectrum auctions,
life-saving kidney exchanges, and warning systems to protect lives and
property from extreme weather events.
In short, knowledge derived from social and behavioral science
research has made our population healthier, our democracy fairer, our
nation safer, and our economy stronger. Without these sciences, policy-
making on major national issues would not be based on evidence, and
billions of dollars would be wasted.
national science foundation ($8 billion)
First, I wish to thank the subcommittee for its longstanding
support for Federal science agencies. Despite the tough, ongoing fiscal
challenges, the subcommittee has remained vigilant in its efforts to
ensure adequate funding for basic research, particularly at the
National Science Foundation. Thank you.
For fiscal year 2017, COSSA joins the broader scientific community
in support of $8 billion for NSF in fiscal year 2017, an increase of
6.7 percent. This amount would put NSF back on a growth trajectory and
would allow the agency to recover some of the purchasing power lost in
recent years due to sequestration and caps on discretionary spending.
NSF funds basic scientific discovery, workforce training, and
state-of-the-art facilities that keeps the U.S. ahead of our global
scientific competitors. NSF supports about a quarter of all federally
funded basic scientific research conducted at colleges and universities
nationwide. Most notably, NSF serves as the largest single funder of
university-based basic social and behavioral science research. While
the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE)
represents only about 3.6 percent of the entire NSF research budget, it
supports more than two-thirds (67 percent) of total Federal funding for
academic basic research in the social and behavioral sciences.
Social and behavioral science discoveries funded by NSF have
improved people's lives by:
--Improving public health.
--Improving the safety of our troops in combat areas through cultural
research and understanding.
--Helping us understand how to prepare for and respond to natural and
human-made disasters.
--Enhancing teaching and learning in education.
--Reducing violence among our youth.
--Improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.
--Generating billions of dollars for the U.S. Treasury with the
creation of the telecommunications spectrum auctions.
As you know, the administration requested an increase of only 1.3
percent in discretionary funding for NSF, while proposing that Congress
approve one-time mandatory funding in the amount of $400 million to
bring the total NSF budget of $8 billion for fiscal year 2017. We
recognize that the addition of new mandatory funding is not likely this
year; however, I hope the proposed funding maneuver will not distract
the subcommittee from the real needs of the agency. As Dr. France
Cordova, NSF Director, testified before the House earlier this month,
nearly $4 billion worth of projects that are reviewed as ``very good''
to ``excellent'' are left on the cutting room floor each year due to
inadequate funding. She added that this essentially invites
researchers, especially new and young investigators, to leave the field
and pursue other STEM careers. Simply put, there are far more exciting,
potentially transformative research ideas out there than there is
support. Further, as you may recall, the America COMPETES
Reauthorization Act of 2010 sought a budget level of $8.3 billion by
fiscal year 2013. While times have changed and sequestration remains a
reality, we need not abandon the scientific aspirations Congress set
for NSF in the original America COMPETES Act of 2007 and its
reauthorization in 2011.
Second, COSSA urges the subcommittee to maintain current practice
when appropriating funds for NSF. The scientific community strongly
contends that experts at NSF, the merit-review process, and the vast
network of scholars around the country who provide technical and
content expertise to the NSF leadership are best suited to advise the
agency on the most promising science worthy of support. Making a change
to current practice--such as by appropriating specific, arbitrary
amounts for each NSF directorate--would place scientific disciplines in
direct competition with one another for what are already scarce
resources, thereby discouraging interdisciplinary science. In addition,
it would dismantle the scientific infrastructure that has been
assembled over the last several decades by side-stepping the
multifaceted, merit-based process that has served the agency so well
since its founding. For this reason, we hope the Senate CJS
Appropriations Bill will maintain the current practice of appropriating
funds to the Research & Related Activities account, leaving NSF with
the flexibility to fund the most promising science across all fields.
census bureau ($1.5 billion), u.s. department of commerce
COSSA urges the Committee to appropriate $1.634 billion to the U.S.
Census Bureau in fiscal year 2017. Accurate, objective, representative,
timely, reliable and accessible data and statistics are necessary
ingredients to the conduct of evidence-based analyses of Federal
programs.
Fiscal year 2017 is a critical one for the Census Bureau as we near
the 2020 Decennial Census. The Census Bureau will be working to
complete production of interoperable systems for the reengineered
decennial. To do so, the Bureau requires funding to fully evaluate and
develop new methods and operations. COSSA urges Congress to appropriate
$778 million for 2020 Census planning, a reasonable request at this
critical juncture in the decennial planning cycle that will allow the
agency to complete its sweeping design reforms and prepare for the 2018
End-To-End Readiness Test.
One critically important function of the Census Bureau is the
American Community Survey, which is the Nation's only source of
comparable (across geography), consistent (across time), timely
(updated annually), high quality demographic and socio-economic data
for all communities in the United States. The ACS replaced the Census
``long form'' in 2005 at the behest of Congress. The accuracy of the
data collected by the ACS relies on the mandatory nature of the
program. If successful, efforts to make the ACS voluntary could
translate to a decline in response rates of at least 20 percent and an
increase in survey costs by about $100 million, according to agency
estimates. More importantly, reliable socio-economic data would be lost
for entire communities, especially those in rural areas. COSSA asks
Congress to appropriate $251.1 million for the American Community
Survey (ACS). Funding at this level will allow the Census Bureau to
maintain a valid sample size and continue research on new methods and
streamlined operations to reduce respondent burden, improve question
wording, and control costs. We further ask that the mandatory status of
the ACS be maintained.
national institute of justice ($48 million) and bureau of justice
statistics ($58 million), u.s. department of justice
COSSA urges the subcommittee to appropriate $48 million for the
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and $58 million for the Bureau of
Justice Statistics (BJS) within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
NIJ serves as the research arm of the Department of Justice, playing a
critical role in helping the agency to understand and implement
science-based strategies for crime prevention and control. It supports
rigorous social science research that can be disseminated to criminal
justice professionals to keep communities safe and prevent and reduce
crime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is one of 13 principal
Federal statistical agencies. BJS produces data that provides
statistical evidence needed by researchers and criminal justice policy
decision makers. Taken together with NIJ, these investments represent
the only dedicated sources of Federal research support committed to
enhancing our understanding of crime and the criminal justice system,
including around topics like victimization, law enforcement, recidivism
and reentry, drugs and crime, and tribal justice.
Social science research supported by the agencies informs
policymaking on timely crime and justice issues like:
--Human trafficking;
--Evaluation of anti-gang programs;
--Policing;
--Children exposed to violence;
--Sentencing alternatives to incarceration;
--Elder abuse; and
--Reentry and probation.
Demand by policymakers and criminal justice professionals for
rigorous, objective research on policing, mental health, sentencing
reform, and other timely topics has increased to unprecedented levels
in recent years. However, at the current funding levels, NIJ and BJS
simply do not have the capacity to meet the demand. In addition to our
request of $48 million for NIJ for fiscal year 2017, we further urge
Congress to approve the administration's request to increase the
Research, Evaluation, and Statistics set-aside from 2 to 3 percent,
providing additional flexibility to the agency to take on new, timely
research questions as they arise.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony on behalf
of the social and behavioral science research community. Please do not
hesitate to contact me should you require additional information.
[This statement was submitted by Wendy A. Naus, Executive
Director.]
Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA)
American Anthropological Association
American Association For Public Opinion Research
American Economic Association
American Educational Research Association
American Political Science Association
American Psychological Association
American Society of Criminology
American Sociological Association
American Statistical Association
Association of American Law Schools
Law and Society Association
Linguistic Society of America
Midwest Political Science Association
National Communication Association
Population Association of America
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Society for Research in Child Development
______
Prepared Statement of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate
Association
Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairwoman Mikulski and Members of the
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, thank
you for the opportunity to submit remarks on the Department of Justice
(DOJ) fiscal year 2017 budget, including our request for full funding
of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Program through the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) at the
congressionally authorized level of $12 million.
CASA/Guardian ad Litem (GAL) advocacy is a well-established model
operating in 49 States and the District of Columbia that is strongly
associated with improved long-term outcomes for child victims of
neglect and abuse, an underserved population whose needs continue to be
both deeply profound and devastating. With Congressional support at the
fully authorized level, National CASA will enhance and advance
specialized training, tools and resources to continue delivering vital
one-on-one advocacy that addresses the increasingly complex needs of
traumatized children in foster care who have been abused or neglected
by their primary caregivers--the very individuals responsible for their
safety and care.
The children served by our network are among the most vulnerable in
America. Abused and neglected children are more likely to have
educational performance and other issues that impact their prospects
for future employment and stability within the community. They are also
at significantly higher risk of juvenile delinquency, incarceration in
adulthood and homelessness as they age out of the system. Without the
intervention of a CASA/GAL advocate, the outlook for a child that
passes through the foster care system is bleak.
These tragic outcomes have a hefty impact on Federal, State, and
local spending, given that at least one-quarter of the DOJ budget is
dedicated to funding our Nation's prison system. At the same time, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the economic
and social costs of child abuse and neglect to total $124 billion
nationwide per annum. Independent research has shown that local CASA/
GAL programs offer an effective service to child victims of abuse and
neglect that improves outcomes, increases the efficiency of our court
systems, and reduces the amount of time these victims spend in the
foster care system--amounting to tens of millions of dollars in Federal
and State taxpayer savings annually.
Last year, CASA/GAL programs leveraged community-based resources to
serve 251,000 abused and neglected children in foster care, but more
than 400,000 children remain without the powerful intervention of a
CASA/GAL advocate. These children are currently ``going it alone''--
navigating their way through the complex legal system and unfamiliar
out of home placements, which could include foster homes or congregate
care. Our advocates get to know these child victims outside the
courtroom. They are involved in every aspect of the child's life--
sometimes as the only caring and consistent adult presence--making it
more likely that they will find safe, permanent homes where they can
thrive and reach their full potential. These efforts require
specialized training, standards, and resources to support a nationwide
system of programs that adhere to the highest quality of services and
care for the child victim, which National CASA Association provides to
its State and local programs.
With DOJ support, the Association sets national standards and
provides assessment, accountability and evaluation of these standards
across 949 local, State, and tribal programs. DOJ's investment enables
National CASA to deliver evidence-based practices, intensive technical
assistance, direct program guidance and quality assurance to serve
children across the country.
Additionally, given the nature of the CASA/GAL advocate's intensive
work with child victims of abuse and neglect, CASA programs employ
rigorous screening, training, and supervision nationwide, with
congressional support, to ensure consistent quality for victims who
directly benefit from having their needs and rights championed in the
courtroom and in the community. Comprehensive pre-service, in-service,
and issue-focused training curricula--including training in
disproportionality, ethnic and racial identity, and working with older
youth--ensure a cutting edge approach to victim services centered on
the child thriving well into the future as a member of the community.
Unfortunately, child victimization and maltreatment is on the rise,
exacting a heavy toll on our Nation's children and on society more
broadly. Emerging issues such as the commercial sexual exploitation of
children and our Nation's growing opioid epidemic--for which children
account for a growing number of victims--require greater specialization
for our advocates to deliver the most effective advocacy, and, as the
Victims of Child Abuse Act requires, to serve every child victim.
Federal support at the fully authorized level is critical to bridging
advocacy training and best practice tools to address these increasingly
common tragedies and bolster support around the issues of child
trafficking and substance abuse specifically.
Even as we commit to enriching the quality of CASA/GAL advocacy
under these increasingly complex circumstances, our national network is
committed to sustainably increasing growth to serve a targeted and
record 270,000 child victims of abuse and neglect, with full funding at
$12 million.
Caring, dedicated, and extensively trained CASA/GAL advocates bring
about positive changes in the lives of child victims. Full funding is
needed to expand the advocate pipeline, enhance the training,
resources, and services provided to and through CASA/GAL programs, and
strengthen outcomes for future members of our Nation's workforce. We
can change the trajectory for victims of child abuse and neglect,
together, with congressional support.
We urge the subcommittee to fund the Court Appointed Special
Advocates Program at $12 million in fiscal year 2017 to address the
overwhelming need for dedicated advocacy on behalf of child victims of
abuse and neglect. Thank you for your consideration.
______
Prepared Statement of Demand Progress
Dear Chairman Shelby, Ranking Member Mikulski, and members of the
subcommittee:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony regarding
appropriations for the Department of Justice. I am writing on behalf of
Demand Progress, a national grassroots organization with more than 2
million affiliated activists who fight for basic rights and freedoms
needed for a modern democracy. Our policy agenda encompasses civil
liberties, civil rights, money in politics, and government reform.
Today we write regarding transparency and accountability at the
Department of Justice.
Our testimony today will address the following components: the FARA
Registration Unit, the Office of Legal Counsel, and the Office of
Information Policy.
the fara registration unit
Knowing when agents of foreign governments are lobbying the Federal
Government to act or forebear action is an important aspect of the
policymaking process. Foreign lobbying has been an issue raised by
lawmakers and the President. It also has been the topic of news
coverage.\1\ However, the mechanism by which agents of foreign
government report is inadequate to the task and impedes the ability of
the Department of Justice to properly enforce the law.\2\
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\1\ See, e.g. ``The Misinformation Industry: U.S. lobbying, PR
firms give human rights abusers a friendly face--From Azerbaijan to
Saudi Arabia, countries with poor human rights records spend millions
to polish public image,'' Center for Public Integrity (December 2015),
available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/12/17/19051/us-
lobbying-pr-firms-give-human-rights-
abusers-friendly-face.
\2\ See, e.g., ``Loopholes, Filing Failures, and Lax Enforcement:
How the Foreign Agents Registration Act Falls Short,'' Project on
Government Oversight (December 2014), available at http://www.pogo.org/
our-work/reports/2014/loopholes-filing-failures-lax-enforcement-how-
the-
foreign-agents-registration-act-falls-short.html.
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During his first Presidential campaign, candidate Obama pledged to
``create a centralized Internet database of lobbying reports . . . in a
searchable, sortable, downloadable format.'' \3\ While persons who
lobby on behalf of domestic entities have their information published
in this way,\4\ reporting practices for lobbyists for foreign entities
have not been similarly modernized. The Department of Justice oversees
reporting under the Foreign Agents Registration Act \5\ under its FARA
Registration Unit.\6\ The FARA Registration Unit maintains an online
database of reports.\7\ It currently permits registrants to submit
paper documents and publishes those documents as PDFs. This publication
methods obscures the useful information contained in the reports and
hinders the Justice Department's ability to prosecute violators of the
law.\8\
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\3\ http://change.gov/agenda/ethics_agenda/.
\4\ https://www.senate.gov/legislative/Public_Disclosure/
database_download.htm.
\5\ 22 U.S.C. Sec. 611 et seq.
\6\ http://www.fara.gov/.
\7\ http://www.fara.gov/search.html.
\8\ See ``The Misinformation Industry'' above; also see generally
``Post Government Employment Restrictions and Foreign Agent
Registration,'' Government Accountability Office (July 2008), available
at www.gao.gov/new.items/d08855.pdf.
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Transparency advocates expend significant energy trying to
transform these paper files into a searchable, sortable, downloadable
database. The Sunlight Foundation, for example, built an online tool
called the ``Foreign Influence Explorer'' that digitized more than
7,000 records.\9\ The staffer who built that tool now works inside
GSA's technology consultancy, 18F, which provides technology assistance
to Federal agencies. We also have met with members of the FARA
Registration Unit in an effort to encourage and them to improve their
database. We met with some success. We also successfully recommended
that the Justice Department include in its third Open Government Plan
the following commitment:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See http://foreign.influenceexplorer.com/. See also ``A better
way to explore foreign influence,'' Sunlight Foundation (May 2014),
available at https://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/05/07/
a-better-way-to-explore-foreign-influence/.
In the process of implementing the Open Government Plan, the
FARA Registration Unit, in conjunction with the National
Security Division Information Technology Section, has begun to
assess the feasibility of generating additional features to the
current online portal, which will enable the public to search,
sort, and print information from the database more easily. Over
the next 2 years, the Department will continue to review the
FARA website and electronic filing system, while soliciting
reasonable and concrete suggestions and feedback from the
public, and will work to make feasible and appropriate
modifications to the database. Throughout this process, the
Department will specifically investigate collecting and
publishing registration information as structured data in a
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
machine-readable format.\10\ (emphasis added)
\10\ Department of Justice Open Government Plan 3.0, p. 8 (May
2014), available at https://www.justice.gov/open/doj-open-government-
plan.pdf.
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Unfortunately, this process has ground to a halt. Despite repeated
attempts, the FARA Registration Unit appears currently uninterested in
consulting with the public and disinclined to investigate ``collecting
and publishing registration information as structured data in a
machine-readable format.''
We believe the Department of Justice should require all filings be
made in an electronic format where the information can easily flow into
a machine-processable digital format. In turn, that information should
be released to the public in bulk as structured data so that the data
it contains may be searched and sorted. It would empower the use of
analytics by DOJ as well.
We request the committee include language in its committee report
requiring the FARA Registration Unit to complete its consultations with
the public and technologists and publicly report to the committee
within 3 months on a plan to publishing registration information as
structured data in a machine-readable format. We further request the
committee urge the Justice Department to implement publication in a
structured-data format within a reasonable timeframe.
the office of legal counsel
Congressional and public access to the final opinions of the Office
of Legal Counsel are essential for the proper functioning of
Government. They often act serve as a final interpretation of the law
for the executive branch; adherence to its advice will cause the
Justice Department to forebear prosecution for wrongdoing.
Unfortunately, an unknown subset of these opinions has been actively
kept secret by the executive branch under claims of executive
privilege, deliberative process, and attorney-client privilege. Their
concealment undermines the system of checks and balances wrought by the
framers. At times, the withholding served to conceal wrongdoing and
faulty legal interpretations \11\ and may include examples of executive
overreach.
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\11\ See, e.g., ``Testimony sheds new light on the torture issue,''
David Johnson and Scott Shane, the New York Times (April 2008),
available at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/washington/03intel.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In an Executive order,\12\ President Obama wrote that ``agencies
should take affirmative steps to make information available to the
public'' and should ``adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure.'' His
first nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnsen, joined
by many others who served in the Justice Department, called on OLC to
``publicly disclose its written legal opinions in a timely manner,
absent strong reasons for delay or nondisclosure.'' \13\ OLC, in its
``best practices'' memo, declares that ``the Office operates under the
presumption that it should make its significant opinions fully and
promptly available to the public,'' including considering ``disclosing
documents even if they technically fall within the scope of a FOIA
exemption.'' \14\ We have found, however, that many opinions are not
available to the public.\15\
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\12\ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/freedom-
information-act.
\13\ http://www.acslaw.org/files/Microsoft%20Word%20-
%2011_Johnsen_OLC.pdf.
\14\ http://www.justice.gov/olc/pdf/olc-legal-advice-opinions.pdf.
\15\ https://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/08/15/39-of-office-
of-legal-counsel-opinions-kept-from-the-public/.
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We believe the policy of the Justice Department should be to
require disclosure of all opinions to congress and the public by
default, except public disclosure may be limited in certain
circumstances. A determination to withhold publication should be made
at the highest levels within the DOJ and be based upon clearly
articulated rules. To the extent a document is withheld in full or in
substantial part, a detailed unclassified summary of the opinion should
be made available to the public in a timely way that conveys the
essence of the opinion. In addition, the OLC should publish a complete
list of all final opinions and contemporaneously update the list.
We request the committee include legislative language to require
the Justice Department to public report to the committee: (1) the total
number of final OLC opinions currently in effect, (2) the standard by
which the Justice Department concluded an opinion was ``final'' and
``currently in effect,'' (3) the dates of the opinions, (4) the legal
issue at stake, and (5) an unclassified summary of each opinion. In
addition, the Justice Department should be required to provide the full
text of all final opinions still in effect to the subcommittee, the
Senate Judiciary Committee, and other committees of jurisdiction.
the office of information policy
The Office of Information Policy (OIP) in the Department of Justice
has responsibility for government-wide oversight of the Freedom of
Information Act. As has been recently reported,\16\ the Justice
Department actively lobbied against FOIA legislation that would have
codified the administration's own language on instantiating a
presumption of openness. Related legislation passed the Senate,\17\
accompanied by a stern scolding of the Justice Department from
government transparency organizations.\18\ There are examples of where
the Office of Information Policy has been insufficiently zealous in
promoting the proper implementation of FOIA.\19\ In fact, concerns
about OIP in part prompted the creation of a FOIA watchdog in another
agency.
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\16\ See ``It Took a FOIA Lawsuit to Uncover How the Obama
Administration Killed FOIA Reform,'' Jason Leopold, VICE (March 2016),
available at https://news.vice.com/article/it-took-a-foia-lawsuit-to-
uncover-how-the-obama-administration-killed-foia-reform.
\17\ See ``Freedom of Information Bill Passes the Senate,'' Daniel
Schuman, Demand Progress (March 2015), available at https://medium.com/
demand-progress/freedom-of-information-bill-passes-the-senate-
6d8928963c6b#.t8wmlvan7.
\18\ See Letter to Barrack Obama (March 2016), available at https:/
/s3.amazonaws.com/new.demandprogress.org/letters/2016-03-
16_Letter_to_the_President_on_FOIA_reform.pdf (``The Justice
Department's positions are at variance with the underlying intent of
the FOIA, good public policy, common sense, and the administration's
oft-stated position on transparency.'')
\19\ See, e.g., ``FOIA is Broken: A Report,'' U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (January
2016), available at https://oversight.house.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2016/01/FINAL-FOIA-Report-January-2016.pdf.
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The Office of Information Policy has three major areas of
responsibility--processing FOIA requests for seven senior management
offices within the Justice Department; adjudicating administrative
appeals for all units within the Department of Justice; and
(government-wide) FOIA policy and compliance. These responsibilities
likely create issues with respect to prioritization of tasks and mixed
incentives.
I reviewed how OIP allocated its resources to meet these tasks and
ran into some difficulty getting clear information.\20\ However, it
appears that FOIA policy and compliance has the fewest resources to
carrying out that mission.
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\20\ See ``FOIA Oversight: The Budget Perspective,'' Daniel
Schuman, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics In Washington (June
2014), available at http://www.citizensforethics.org/blog/entry/foia-
oversight-the-budget-perspective.
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We request the committee require OIP to publicly report on the
funding it receives and how it allocates it among these three areas of
responsibilities. We request a breakdown of the number of staff and
contractors that work on issues in each functional unit. In addition,
we request that GAO be tasked with reviewing whether OIP is devoting
sufficient resources to FOIA policy and compliance, an assessment of
whether OIP is properly performing its duties with respect to FOIA
policy and compliance, and whether mixed incentives arise by housing
these three function units under the same director and possible
remedies.
______
Prepared Statement of the Entomological Society of America
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) respectfully submits
this statement for the official record in support of funding for the
National Science Foundation (NSF). ESA requests a robust fiscal year
2017 appropriation of $8 billion for NSF, including strong support for
the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO).
Research in basic biological sciences, including entomology,
provides the fundamental discoveries that advance knowledge and
facilitate the development of new technologies and strategies for
addressing societal challenges related to economic growth, national
security, and human health. Basic research on the biology of insects
has provided fundamental insights not only within entomology but also
across all areas of biology, spanning cell and molecular biology,
genomics, physiology, ecology, behavior, and evolution. In turn, these
insights have been applied toward meeting challenges in a wide range of
fields, including conservation biology, habitat management, livestock
production, and pest control. Moreover, insects have long played an
essential role as model organisms for understanding basic biological
processes across all organisms, including humans. Insects are often
ideal laboratory experimental subjects because they are generally small
in size and inexpensive to obtain, they complete development rapidly,
and they can be maintained without the special facilities required for
vertebrate animals. The familiar ``fruit fly,'' Drosophila
melanogaster, for example, has been the subject of NSF-funded research
that has profoundly transformed the understanding of human health in
countless ways; in 1995, NSF-funded studies elucidating the genetic
control of embryo development in this insect was recognized with the
Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology.
NSF is the only Federal agency that supports basic research across
all scientific and engineering disciplines, outside of the medical
sciences. Each year, the foundation supports an estimated 300,000
researchers, scientific trainees, teachers, and students, primarily
through competitive grants to approximately 2,000 colleges,
universities, and other institutions in all 50 States. NSF also plays a
critical role in training the next generation of scientists and
engineers, ensuring that the United States will remain globally
competitive in the future. For example, the NSF Graduate Research
Fellowship Program selects and supports science and engineering
graduate students demonstrating exceptional potential to succeed in
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.
Through activities within its BIO Directorate, NSF advances the
frontiers of knowledge about complex biological systems at multiple
scales, from molecules and cells to organisms and ecosystems. In
addition, the directorate contributes to the support of essential
research resources, including biological collections and field
stations. NSF BIO is also the Nation's primary funder of fundamental
research on biodiversity, ecology, and environmental biology.
One project funded by NSF that illustrates the broad reach of basic
biology research is focused on how diverse insects, including flies and
butterflies, use their specialized mouthparts for imbibing fluids.\1\
This study examines common and divergent elements allowing these
insects to ingest fluids, including wettability properties, fluid
uptake mechanisms, and the influence of the form of the fluid, as a
pool or a film, on dynamics of fluid acquisition. Results of this
project can elucidate how insects select and utilize diets ranging from
floral nectar to vertebrate blood and how fluid use leads to species
diversification in groups with tremendous impact on human life,
including pollinators and blood-feeding disease vectors. At the same
time, this work is yielding bio-inspired principles of fluid uptake and
transport that can be applied to developing flexible microfluidic
probes and other new engineering devices for use in diagnostic medicine
and other purposes.
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\1\ Adler, P. et al. Mechanisms of Fluid Feeding in Insects, from
Nanoscale to Organism, Award Abstract #1354956.
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Another group of investigators is funded by NSF to study the
reproductive biology of the red imported fire ant, an invasive species
that infests over a dozen southern States and costs this region more
than $5 billion dollars annually in health costs, crop and livestock
losses, and control efforts.\2\ These investigators are examining how
the colonies of this species, particularly those with multiple queens,
grow so rapidly, focusing on how neuronal signaling molecules respond
to the nutritional status of the queen and regulate the network of
genes involved in ovary development and egg maturation. Information
obtained through these studies is both expanding basic knowledge of
task allocation in social insects, which collectively comprise
approximately 75 percent of all insect biomass on the planet, and
provide new insights into stemming invasions and restoring the health
of land lost to fire ant infestation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Pietrantonio, P. and C. Tamborindeguy, Neuropeptide Receptors
and Identification of Genes in Signaling Networks Involved in
Reproduction and Nutrition in the Red Imported Fire Ants. Award
Abstract #1257837.
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Yet another example of how NSF's support for basic research on
insects is important for the Nation's economic, social, and
environmental well-being is the collaborative project between two
universities on the classification and evolutionary history of a group
of beetles known as the pygmy borers.\3\ These tiny beetles comprise
one of the largest groups of so-called bark beetles, which collectively
infest and kill millions of acres of trees every year by boring into
bark or other tree parts; some species compound the damage they inflict
by infecting their tree hosts with pathogenic fungi. One pygmy borer
species, called the coffee berry borer, damages the coffee berries that
produce coffee ``beans''; this tiny insect, less than 2 mm (8/100ths of
an inch) long, is capable of destroying an entire coffee harvest in
some regions. These investigators are using cutting edge methods,
including next-generation genome sequencing, along with automated
matrix-based identification techniques to reconstruct the evolutionary
history of and relationships among the pygmy borers, determine whether
widespread species in the group are actually many different cryptic
species, and to understand the effects of bacterial parasites on the
genomes of species in the group. A product of this research will be
new, powerful but cost-effective ways to differentiate among species,
which can be exceedingly difficult to identify, that will enable
quarantine officers to identify and prevent this species from expanding
its range into new areas.
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\3\ Collaborative Research: Cognato, A.; Hulcr, J.The Pygmy Borers
(Col., Scolytinae: Cryphalini): revision of genera, evolution of the
genome, and modernization of insect systematics. Award Abstract
#1256663, Award Abstract #1256968.
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Given NSF's critical role in supporting fundamental research and
education across science and engineering disciplines, ESA supports an
overall fiscal year 2017 NSF budget of $8 billion. ESA requests robust
support for the NSF BIO Directorate, which funds important research
studies and biological collections, enabling discoveries in the
entomological sciences to contribute to understanding environmental and
evolutionary biology, physiological and developmental systems, and
molecular and cellular mechanisms.
ESA, headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, is the largest
organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs
of entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. Founded in
1889, ESA has nearly 7,000 members affiliated with educational
institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government.
Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel,
administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians,
consultants, students, pest management professionals, and hobbyists.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer the Entomological Society of
America's support for NSF. For more information about the Entomological
Society of America, please see http://www.entsoc.org/.
______
Prepared Statement of the Federation of American Societies for
Experimental Biology (FASEB)
national science foundation
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
(FASEB) is composed of 30 societies with 125,000 members, making it the
largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United
States. FASEB enhances the ability of scientists and engineers to
improve health, well-being, and productivity through research and is
recognized as the policy voice of biological and biomedical
researchers. We thank the subcommittee the opportunity to offer our
support and recommendations for the National Science Foundation (NSF).
NSF is the only Federal agency supporting discovery-oriented
research in all fields of science and engineering and is the major
source of funding for mathematics, computer science, and social
sciences research. NSF's mission is ``to promote the progress of
science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to
secure the national defense . . .'' More than 200 Nobel Laureates have
received NSF support throughout their careers. The agency's fellowship
programs educate and train thousands of graduate students pursuing
advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,
ensuring a robust and competitive workforce. Funding is distributed
annually through merit-based reviews, to 200,000 scientists, engineers,
educators, and pre- and post-doctoral students across all 50 States.
NSF supports approximately 24 percent of all federally supported basic
research and awards an average of 11,500 new competitive awards per
year.
To sustain the Nation's leadership in science, the research
community relies on NSF to provide access to major research facilities,
mid-scale instrumentation, advanced computational and data resources,
and cyberinfrastructure. Large-scale NSF facilities fund equipment that
can propel entire fields of research forward, maximizing our investment
and promoting the use of shared resources. NSF is also responsible for
helping to address a new set of challenges in managing, storing, and
providing access to the explosion of data currently being produced by
researchers.
Research supported by NSF has led to significant advances in
nanotechnology, leading to the creation of new devices and materials
with remarkably useful and versatile properties. Today, many private
sector companies are pursing the development of nanoscale products for
commercial uses. NSF has also funded research that has created products
used in everyday life such as bar codes and computer-aided design (CAD)
software. In addition, research funded by NSF helped develop Doppler
radar enabling meteorologists to forecast the location and severity of
storms with greater accuracy.
Recent highlights from NSF-funded research that address important
problems related to the conditions of humans, animals, the environment
include:
--CRISPR-Cas9 and Gene Editing: Basic research into the mechanisms of
bacterial immunity has opened a new frontier in biotechnology.
The CRISPR-Cas9 system, pioneered by researchers at
institutions including the University of California, Berkeley,
allows biologists to make precise, targeted changes to
individual genes in the genomes of a myriad of organisms and
cell-types. This not only gives researchers an unprecedented
ability to study biological processes at the molecular level,
but opens up a new universe of potential therapeutics and
biotechnological applications.\1\
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\1\ http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/
disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=134286&org=BIO.
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--Studying Amphibians to Understand the Microbiome and Disease:
Researchers at the University of California-Santa Barbara have
demonstrated that a fungal pathogen responsible for massive
declines in amphibian species changes the microbiome that
normally resides on the animals' skin. Using next-generation
DNA sequencing to document shifts in skin bacteria of frog
communities during pathogen outbreaks, the researchers
discovered varying patterns of disease dynamics that may be
related to tolerance or vulnerability to the pathogen. The
results are important for developing responses to counter the
mass extinction of amphibians worldwide, and may also have
implications for studies of human health.\2\
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\2\ http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/
disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=133263&org=NSF.
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--Using Genetics to Address Colony Collapse Disorder: Important
commercial crops in the United States and throughout the world
are pollinated by honey bees. However, over the last decade,
there has been a drastic decline in bee populations,
threatening food security and billions of dollars of
agricultural production. By studying the African relatives of
domestically raised bees, researchers at Pennsylvania State
University are beginning to understand genetic and
environmental factors that might allow bees to resist the
agents that threaten them. This work may lead to new management
and breeding strategies that will save this crucial
pollinator.\3\
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\3\ http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/
disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=135470&org=BIO.
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--Understanding Variation in Tolerance to Oxygen Deprivation: Oxygen
deprivation is an important cause of disease and injury in
humans, animals, and aquatic ecosystems. Some animals, such as
painted turtles, are ideal models for understanding the limits
of oxygen deprivation because they can naturally tolerate the
condition. Comparative physiologists at Saint Louis University
are using next-generation transcriptomic approaches to identify
the genes underlying the turtle's ability to survive without
oxygen. Their aim is to uncover new targets for interventions
that could reduce or eliminate tissue injury in more vulnerable
species.\4\
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\4\ https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
showAward?AWD_ID=1253939&HistoricalAwards=false.
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--Mathematical Modeling of Blood Flow to Understand Glaucoma:
Researchers at Indiana University are developing a mathematical
model of ocular blood flow in order to study glaucoma, a
disease of the optic nerve and a leading cause of blindness. By
using new, quantitative approaches, this work has the potential
to improve the interpretation of clinical eye measurements, not
only for the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma, but also for
other vascular diseases that present systems in the eye such as
diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis.\5\
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\5\ http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
showAward?AWD_ID=1224195&HistoricalAwards=false.
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--Blocking the Transmission of Malaria: Malaria, a parasitic
infection transmitted by mosquitoes, is a scourge that affects
millions of people globally each year. Biochemists at the
University of Oklahoma have identified a protein in the
mosquito digestive system that is critical for the transmission
of the malarial parasite. With this insight, researchers hope
to harness the activity of this protein in order to develop
compounds that might block parasite uptake by mosquitoes and
prevent further spread of the disease.\6\
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\6\ http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/
disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=135733&org=BIO.
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--Real-Time Imaging of Organs and Tissues: Biomedical engineers at
Washington University in St. Louis have developed a novel
approach to biomedical imaging. This technique, which uses
lasers to create miniscule changes in temperature in the object
to be imaged, does not require the use of chemical agents, and
thus can be used to visualize living material in its natural
environment. Such new bioimaging technology will give
researchers an unprecedented ability to visualize and
understand myriad biological processes, and ultimately may give
clinicians a powerful new diagnostic tool.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/
disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=135473&org=BIO.
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facilitating new discoveries
New research will be required to solve vexing problems facing the
United States and the world. The breadth and diversity of NSF's mission
makes the Foundation uniquely suited to pioneer bold, new scientific
directions. Indeed, many of the most innovative ideas and interesting
frontiers are interdisciplinary in nature, drawing upon concepts and
expertise from several different scientific traditions. In this spirit,
the NSF has become adept at leveraging its expertise both within and
across units at the agency, and will continue to pursue new multi-
directorate initiatives, such as the Innovations at the Nexus of Food,
Water, and Energy investment.\8\
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\8\ http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2016/nsf16524/nsf16524.htm?org=NSF.
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Despite this unprecedented level of scientific opportunity, the
budget of NSF has increased only marginally over the last several
years. This, coupled with the rising cost of research, has eroded the
ability of the NSF to be a cornerstone of the America's scientific
enterprise and restricted the Foundation's ability to train the next
generation of scientists and engineers. What is required is a renewed
commitment to NSF that puts the agency on a path of sustained, steady
budget increases such that science may flourish and the Nation may
continue to benefit from the landmark discoveries and innovations
enabled by NSF funding.
Providing NSF with a budget of $7.96 billion ($500 million above
fiscal year 2016 levels) would allow the agency to fund approximately
500 additional research grants at colleges, universities, and other
research centers across the Nation. Funding at this level is also
consistent with a vision of predictable, sustained growth for NSF that
has been proposed in past reauthorizations, such as the America
Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in
Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act of 2010.
FASEB recommends a minimum of $7.96 billion for NSF in fiscal year
2017, as an important first step in ensuring a sustainable, competitive
basic research enterprise.
______
Prepared Statement of Friends of NOAA
Dear Members of Congress:
As supporters, stakeholders, employees, and partners of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Friends of NOAA
strongly supports funding the agency at $6.05 billion in fiscal year
2017.
NOAA is essential to America's economy, security, environment, and
quality of life. More than half of all Americans live along our coasts,
over 2.8 million jobs are in ocean-dependent industries, and the
insured value of coastal property now exceeds $10 trillion. Moreover,
weather and climate sensitive industries account for an overwhelming
majority of the U.S. GDP. Americans need NOAA's fully integrated range
of oceanic and atmospheric data, products, and services now more than
ever before. Investing in NOAA in a balanced manner not only
strengthens our Nation's capacity for science-based innovation but also
provides superior economic value by enabling businesses and government
to better manage risk and optimize decisionmaking.
Investments in NOAA translate into an extensive list of benefits,
from reduced natural hazard risks to increased national security. The
following items are only some of the many contributions that NOAA makes
to our Nation and its citizens.
Timely and Accurate National Weather Service Forecasts and Warnings
Weather, water, and climate events cause an average of
approximately 650 deaths and $15 billion in damage per year. They are
also responsible for around 90 percent of all presidentially-declared
disasters. Additionally, about one-third of the U.S. economy--$3
trillion--is weather and climate sensitive, which means that millions
of people, businesses, and communities rely on National Weather Service
(NWS) products every day. Sufficient funding for NWS will support the
program's ``Weather Ready Nation'' campaign and the National Water
Center, which help to build community resilience in the face of growing
vulnerability to extreme weather events by increasing advanced warning
times, improving how forecasts are communicated, and providing
emergency managers with decision support services.
More specifically, strong support for NOAA will allow the agency to
develop a new Integrated Water Prediction (IWP) initiative, resulting
in a new generation of flooding and drought forecasts. Increased
funding is also required for NOAA to maintain its NEXRAD Weather Radars
and Automated Surface Observing Systems, which are essential for
critical tornado and severe weather warnings and in avoiding critical
data gaps.
Environmental Management to Reduce Risk
NOAA provides the essential data and information that people need
to understand and prepare for climate variability and change. Long-term
environmental information is essential to reducing the natural hazard
risks and limiting liabilities for agriculture, marine and freshwater
resources, maritime trade and commerce, forest management, coastal
resilience, and wildfire control. Drought forecasts alone are worth up
to $8 billion per year to the farming, transportation, tourism, and
energy sectors, and knowledge about a changing ocean can help protect
coastal properties worth $170 billion.
Strong investments in NOAA are critical to support public and
private stakeholders in carrying out careful environmental monitoring
and analysis that can save time, money, and lives. Furthermore,
increased funding is essential for updating NOAA's computing capacity
and, in addition to improved baseline atmospheric and ocean data
collection, will also allow the agency to expand forecast outlooks to
three to 4 weeks, which do not currently exist.
Maintenance and Sustainability of Healthy Oceans and Coasts
NOAA's work in understanding our oceans and coasts is absolutely
essential to our economic, ecological and public health. A healthy
ocean has drawn approximately half of all Americans to live on the
coasts--and coastal counties alone contribute nearly $6.6 trillion
annually to the GDP. Sustained ocean research and observations support
initiatives such as managing harmful algal blooms, exploring how ocean
acidification affects our communities and ecosystems, and responding to
coastal emergencies like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, NOAA helps to
strengthen local ocean-dependent economies, aids place-based
stewardship, and sustainably manages coastal natural resources. NOAA
requires strong Federal funding to continue to ensure the existence of
clean beaches, healthy oceans, and sustainable coastal communities.
With increased support, NOAA can further our understanding of ocean
acidification and its impacts on marine resources, expand grants for
critical research on ecological, economic, and social coastal issues,
and help coastal planners integrate ecosystem-based solutions into
hazard mitigation and coastal resilience strategies.
Informed and Productive Fishery Management
Fishery stock assessments and data collection are essential for
providing managers the information they need to sustain fishing
opportunities while preventing overfishing. As a result of the agency's
fishery management, NOAA has rebuilt 37 stocks since 2000, resulting in
overfishing numbers dropping to an all-time low in 2014. Rebuilding all
overfished stocks and harvesting them at their maximum sustainable
yields will generate $31 billion in sales impacts and support 500,000
jobs.
Investment in NOAA is vital to the implementation of science-based
catch limits that maintain productive fisheries, secure fishing
opportunities, and support the economic vitality of coastal
communities. Strong funding will allow the agency to combat global and
domestic illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing, monitor endangered
marine species, and provide crucial disaster assistance to fisheries.
Innovative and Cutting-edge Geostationary and Polar Satellite Systems
All levels of government, public, industry, and military rely on
NOAA satellites for weather forecasting, storm tracking, and long-term
Earth observations that protect lives and infrastructure. 39,000 people
worldwide have been saved by NOAA's Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided
Tracking System alone. Stable funding is essential for data acquisition
efficiency, for minimizing total cost to taxpayers, and for ensuring
that launch dates are not delayed, which would leave millions of
Americans without detailed severe weather information they rely on
every day.
Strong support for the agency will allow NOAA to maintain current
launch schedules of both GOES-R and JPSS, as well as ensuring that
following satellites in the series are developed on time. Increased
funding also translates into the continuation of exploring the
potential of commercial data use in NOAA's modeling and forecasting,
completing the development of COSMIC-2A ground stations and enhancing
NOAA's capabilities in space weather forecasting and imaging as DSCOVR
reaches the end of its projected mission life in 2022.
World Class Research and Development
NOAA research has led to new technologies and scientific advances
that have increased our understanding of the planet and improved our
lives. NOAA research also engages students--the next generation's
scientists--from around the country, helping to expand the agency's
capacity and prepare for the future. Continuing this cutting edge work,
however, will require the comprehensive modernization of all of NOAA's
observation and monitoring operational systems, including its
oceanographic fleet of vessels, fleet of aircraft, suite of in-situ
ocean and coastal sensors, and remote capabilities.
Without adequate investment, for example, the NOAA fleet will
decline by 50 percent, with half of its vessels set to retire in the
next 10-12 years. In addition, strong funding for NOAA will allow the
agency to more efficiently transition the most promising research into
operations, applications, and commercialization, as well as expand
regional research to help manage climate risks and support climate
assessment efforts.
FoNOAA urges Congress to support a balanced budget for NOAA. From
satellites and weather operations to fisheries and coastal management,
every facet of NOAA serves a purpose essential to the Nation.
Therefore, we strongly encourage you to recognize the unique role that
NOAA plays in supporting our economy, national security, and
environmental resiliency by funding the agency at $6.05 billion in
fiscal year 2017.
If Friends of NOAA can be of service or provide additional
information, please contact [email protected].
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
AccuWeather, Inc.
Alliance for Earth Observations
American Association of Port Authorities
American Geophysical Union
American Geosciences Institute
American Rivers
American Weather And Climate Industry Association
American Weather And Climate Industry Association
Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Association of Zoos & Aquariums
Associaton of National Estuary Programs
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Battelle
Campaign for Environmental Literacy
Campbell Marketing Group
City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Coastal States Organization
Colorado Ocean Coalition
Columbia University
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
Department of Fisheries Biology, Humboldt State University
Federal Science Partners
Fugro Pelagos, Inc.
Georgia Conservancy
Global Science & Technology, Inc.
Guanaja Mangrove Restoration
Hubbs-Seaworld Research Institute
I.M. Systems Group, Inc.
Institute for Exploration
Integrated Systems Solutions, Inc.
International Fund for Animal Welfare
International SeaKeepers Society
IOOS Association
Joint Ocean Commission Initiative
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University Earth Institute
Marine Conservation Institute
Marine Fish Conservation Network
Mariners' Museum
Meridian Institute
Michigan Technological University
National Aquarium
National Association of Marine Laboratories
National Council of Industrial Meteorologists
National Estuarine Research Reserve Association
National Federation of Regional Associations for Coastal and Ocean
Observing
National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
National Weather Service Employees Organization
Natural Resources Defense Council
Navocean, Inc.
Ocean Conservancy
Ocean Conservation Research
Ocean Exploration Trust
Ogeechee Riverkeeper
Oregon State University
Quantum Spatial
Raytheon
Reinsurance Association of America
Restore America's Estuaries
School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Sea Grant Association
Sea Stewards
SeaWeb
Shipbuilders Council of America
The JASON Project
The Maritime Alliance
The Ocean Foundation
The Ocean Project
The University of Oklahoma
The Weather Coalition
UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory
UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
United Fisherman's Marketing Association, Inc.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Maryland
University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric
Science
University of South Florida
University of Washington
Vaisala, Inc.
WeatherBank, Incorporated
West Marine
Wisconsin Maritime Museum
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
World Wildlife Fund
______
Prepared Statement of the Genetics Society of America
Thank you for the opportunity for the Genetics Society of America
(GSA) to provide our perspective on the fiscal year 2017 appropriations
for the National Science Foundation (NSF). GSA recommends a minimum of
$7.96 billion for NSF to support fundamental research across the
Nation.
GSA is a professional scientific society with more than 5,500
members from all 50 States working to deepen our understanding of the
living world by advancing the field of genetics, from the molecular to
the population level. While NSF provides 24 percent of all Federal
research for sciences, its contributions comprise 68 percent of the
total Federal investment in non-biomedical biology--including genetics
research.\1\ Members of our community rely on support from NSF to
answer fundamental research questions. This is especially true for our
members whose line of scientific inquiry does not have a foreseeable
health application, but fits directly into NSF's mission to ``promote
the progress of science.''
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\1\ NSF Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Request to Congress. http://
www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2017.
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Fundamental research supported by the NSF has led to ground-
breaking discoveries in our field and beyond. For example, research
into the mechanisms of bacterial immunity funded by NSF led to the
development of CRISPR/Cas9, the breakthrough technology which has
accelerated the potential for gene editing.\2\ As a result, researchers
now have an unprecedented ability to study biological processes at the
molecular level in a growing array of experimental systems and a new
universe for biotechnological applications is now open for exploration.
In another example, results from genetics research on the decline of
bee colonies--which are a crucial pollinator for U.S. crops--will be
implemented to create new management and breeding strategies to ensure
that bee populations are maintained.\3\ This research investment could
prevent threats to food security and billions of dollars in losses in
agricultural production.
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\2\ http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/
disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=134286&org=BIO.
\3\ http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=131953.
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Sustainable funding for the National Science Foundation is critical
to ensure that these types of investigator-initiated projects, which
have implications for society at large, continue to be supported. If
the full funding request of $7.96 billion is appropriated, the agency
will be able to increase its success rate for investigator-initiated
grants to 23 percent, corresponding to 800 new projects, any number of
which could lead to the next great scientific innovation.
We also wish to emphasize the importance of sustainable support for
research infrastructure. Biological databases, stock centers, and other
shared research resources are essential for maintaining consistency
across different research laboratories and are vital to scientists
nationwide. For example, genomic databases speed innovation by
providing accelerated access to well-curated data that can be used to
validate new techniques. They also serve as searchable data
repositories that allow scientists to connect their research findings
and identify collaborators rapidly. Further, research databases
function as a central place for data sharing, improving research
transparency, and positively impacting research reproducibility. We
believe that sustained public support for these community resources is
essential and allows them to operate on an open access model, thus
assuring that all researchers have the tools they need for discovery.
A significant fraction of the GSA membership are trainees--
undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars--who are
concerned about the future of research funding and its implications for
their careers. In 2015, 350,000 senior researchers, postdocs, graduate,
and undergraduate students were funded directly through the NSF.\1\ The
requested increase in the agency's budget would allow 20,600 more
scientists to be positively impacted by agency funds.\1\ Such an
increase would ensure that graduate students and postdocs remain in
research careers, making strides in science and technology that will
allow the U.S. to remain a world leader in STEM advances.
Finally, we would like to emphasize our support for the NSF's
existing practice of setting priorities for research investments
through engagement with the scientific community including the National
Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, and other advisory bodies.
The Genetics Society of America supports the merit review process of
the NSF to select the most promising research and to enable the
foundation to have flexibility to use its appropriation to pursue
promising opportunities across the breadth of its mission.
We appreciate the opportunity to provide input into your
deliberations about NSF appropriations. We are happy to provide any
additional information about the impact of NSF funding on our community
and the advancement of genetics research. Please contact GSA's
Executive Director, Adam P. Fagen, PhD ([email protected]) or
GSA's Policy and Communications Manager, Chloe N. Poston, PhD
([email protected]) with any questions.
ABOUT GSA: Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA)
is a professional scientific society with more than 5,500 members
worldwide working to deepen our understanding of the living world by
advancing the field of genetics, from the molecular to the population
level. GSA promotes research and fosters communication through a number
of GSA-sponsored conferences including regular meetings that focus on
particular model organisms. GSA publishes two peer-edited scholarly
journals: GENETICS, which has published high quality original research
across the breadth of the field since 1916, and G3: Genes
Genomes Genetics, an open-access journal launched in 2011 to
disseminate high quality foundational research in genetics and
genomics. The Society also has a deep commitment to education and
fostering the next generation of scholars in the field--as well as
helping to enhance public understanding of genetics and model organism
research. For more information about GSA, please visit www.genetics-
gsa.org. Also follow GSA on Facebook at facebook.com/GeneticsGSA and on
Twitter @GeneticsGSA.
______
Prepared Statement of the Geological Society of America
summary
The Geological Society of America (GSA) supports strong and
sustained investments in geoscience research and education at the
National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). We encourage Congress to appropriate $8.0
billion and fully support geoscience research at NSF. We support the
increase proposed for Earth science research at NASA in the request but
are concerned about proposed cuts to planetary science in the request.
Investment in NSF and NASA is necessary for America's future economic
and science and technology leadership, both through discoveries that
are made and the talent developed through their programs. Earth and
space science at these two agencies play a vital role in understanding
and documenting mineral and energy resources that underpin economic
growth; researching and monitoring potential natural hazards that
threaten U.S. and international security; and determining and assessing
water quality and availability.
The Geological Society of America, founded in 1888, is a scientific
society with over 26,000 members from academia, government, and
industry in all 50 States and more than 100 countries. Through its
meetings, publications, and programs, GSA enhances the professional
growth of its members and promotes the geosciences in the service of
humankind.
national science foundation
The Geological Society of America (GSA) urges Congress to provide
the National Science Foundation (NSF) $8.0 billion in fiscal year 2017.
Sustained increases beyond research inflation are necessary to regain
America's economic and science and technology leadership. Facing a
budget that does not keep pace with inflated costs of research over the
past few years, NSF has reduced the number of awards funded each year.
This decline is particularly burdensome for early career scientists.
Limiting funding opportunities for early career researchers today
places our position as a science and technology leader of tomorrow in
jeopardy.
Geoscience research is a critical component of the overall science
and technology enterprise and should be funded without restriction.
NSF's Directorate for Geosciences is the largest Federal supporter of
basic geoscience research at universities. NSF's programs in geoscience
research and graduate and undergraduate student support contribute
significantly to the education and training of the geoscience
workforce. A recent report by the American Geosciences Institute,
Status of Recent Geoscience Graduates 2015, illustrates the diversity
of careers supported by geoscience research. For example, the report
found that 67 percent of master's graduates found jobs in the oil and
gas industry, while environmental services, which includes fields such
as environmental consulting and remediation of land assets such as
water and soil, hired the highest percentage of bachelor's graduates.
Other industries hiring geoscientists include manufacturing, trade,
construction, information technology services, and agriculture.
Increased investments in NSF's geoscience portfolio are necessary
to address such issues as natural hazards, energy, water resources, and
education; geoscience is a key contributor to groundbreaking research
across disciplines at NSF. Specific needs include:
--The recent National Research Council report Sea Change: 2015-2025
Decadal Survey of Ocean Sciences highlights research questions
to guide NSF investment. Tasked ``to identify areas of
strategic investment with the highest potential payoff,'' the
report identifies questions that will guide our understanding
of risks to our planet including: What are the rates,
mechanisms, impacts, and geographic variability of sea level
change? How different will marine food webs be at mid-century?
In the next 100 years? How can risk be better characterized and
the ability to forecast geohazards like megaearthquakes,
tsunamis, undersea landslides, and volcanic eruptions be
improved?
--Natural hazards are a major cause of fatalities and economic
losses. Landslides alone, which occur in every State, cause
more than $3 billion in damage each year. NSF research improves
our understanding of these geologic hazards, which allows for
effective planning and mitigation. We urge Congress to support
NSF investments in fundamental Earth science research and
facilities that underpin innovations in natural hazards
monitoring and warning systems through Risk and Resilience
initiative such as ``Prediction of and Resilience Against
Extreme Events.''
--Recent studies have shown that rare earth elements are essential to
the production, sustainment, and operation of U.S. military
equipment. Reliable access to the necessary material is a
bedrock requirement for the Department of Defense. In addition,
many emerging energy technologies--such as wind turbines and
solar cells--depend upon rare earth elements and critical
minerals that currently lack diversified sources of supply. The
Division of Earth Sciences supports research on the structure,
composition, and evolution of the Earth and the processes that
govern the formation and behavior of the Earth's materials.
This research contributes to a better understanding of the
natural distribution of mineral and energy resources for future
exploration.
--The devastating droughts in the western United States highlight our
dependence on water. NSF's research addresses major gaps in our
understanding of water availability, quality, and dynamics, and
the impact of both a changing and variable climate, and human
activity, on the water system. The initiative ``Innovations at
the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems'' highlights the
important linkages and research needs between these systems.
--The Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences provides critical
infrastructure and research for understanding our planet, such
as weather and precipitation variability on multiple time
scales and atmospheric and space weather hazards.
national aeronautics and space administration
GSA supports increased investment in Earth science and planetary
exploration research at National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA). We support the increases proposed for Earth science research in
the fiscal year 2017 request. The National Academies' Earth Science
Decadal Survey begins with an explanation of the importance of this
research:
``Understanding the complex, changing planet on which we live,
how it supports life, and how human activities affect its
ability to do so in the future is one of the greatest
intellectual challenges facing humanity. It is also one of the
most important challenges for society as it seeks to achieve
prosperity, health, and sustainability.''
The data and observations from Earth observing missions and
research are a tremendously important resource for natural resource
exploration and land use planning, as well as assessing water resources
natural disaster impacts, and global agriculture production. GSA
supports interagency efforts to ensure the future viability of Landsat
satellites, including Landsat 9 and 10, as well as funding to increase
the capabilities and uses of multi-spacecraft constellations of small
scientific satellites.
Two missions--Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) and
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT)--will provide valuable
information to decision makers on water. PACE will help monitor oil
spills and detect algal blooms, which have a significant negative
impact on human health, ocean ecology, and fisheries. The global survey
of Earth's surface water by SWOT could provide key data for flood and
drought management; improve risk assessments by the insurance industry;
harness energy; and optimize both military and commercial marine
operations.
GSA is concerned, however, about proposed cuts to planetary science
in the fiscal year 2017 request; we appreciate past congressional
support for this area and urge you to continue to increase this
important area to support priority areas identified in the Planetary
Science Decadal Survey.
Planetary research is directly linked to Earth science research and
cuts in either program will hinder the other. To support missions to
better understand the history and workings of the entire solar system,
planetary scientists engage in both terrestrial field studies and Earth
observation to examine geologic features and processes that are common
on other planets, such as impact structures, volcanic constructs,
tectonic structures, and glacial and fluvial deposits and landforms. In
addition, geochemical planetary research studies include investigations
of extraterrestrial materials now on Earth, including lunar samples,
meteorites, cosmic dust particles, and, most recently, particles
returned from comets and asteroids.
Exploration of other planets in the solar system requires major
national and international initiatives, significant funding levels, and
long timelines for mission planning and collaborative research. For
scientists, the funding cycle is much shorter than typical mission
cycles, and in particular, graduate student and career-development
timelines are much shorter than mission timeframes. Therefore, the
growth and continued development of a robust workforce capable of
conducting complex space missions and analyzing the scientific data
returned from such missions does not depend on individual missions as
much as it depends upon a consistent, sustained program that educates
and develops planetary scientists.
support needed to educate future innovations and innovators
Earth science research and education are fundamental to training
the next generation of Earth science professionals. We are very
concerned that cuts in Earth science funding will cause students and
young professionals to leave the field, potentially leading to a lost
generation of professionals in areas that are already facing worker
shortages.
A 2013 report by the National Research Council, Emerging Workforce
Trends in the Energy and Mining Industries: A Call to Action, found,
``In mining (nonfuel and coal) a personnel crisis for professionals and
workers is pending and it already exists for faculty.'' Another recent
study, Status of the Geoscience Workforce Report 2014, found an
expected deficit of approximately 135,000 geoscientists by 2022.
Increased NSF and NASA investments in Earth science education are
necessary to meet these workforce needs and develop an informed,
science-literate electorate. Earth scientists will be essential to
meeting the environmental and resource challenges of the twenty-first
century. NSF's Education and Human Resources Directorate researches and
improves the way we teach science and provides research and fellowship
opportunities for students to encourage them to continue in the
sciences. Similarly, NASA's educational programs have inspired and led
many into science careers. GSA fully supports these efforts, as well as
new and existing programs to make the geoscience workforce more
diverse.
Please contact GSA Director for Geoscience Policy Kasey White at
[email protected] for additional information or to learn more about
the Geological Society of America--including GSA Position Statements on
water resources, planetary research, energy and mineral resources,
natural hazards, climate change, and public investment in Earth science
research.
______
Prepared Statement of Stephen P. Halbrook,\1\ Attorney at Law
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\1\ Author of Firearms Law Deskbook and The Founders' Second
Amendment. Rerepresented a majority of members of Congress as amici
curiae in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008). See
further www.stephenhalbrook.com.
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March 1, 2016.
Prepared for the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, and
Related Agencies, U.S. Senate, Committee on Appropriations
Re: White House Executive Action on Firearms
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives
Hearing on the Department of Justice's Role in Implementing New
Executive Actions Related to Gun Control
The administration has announced that persons who wish to engage in
the business of dealing in firearms at gun shows should obtain licenses
and conduct background checks. The President is apparently unaware that
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives has a long-
standing policy of refusing to issue licenses to persons who wish to
engage in the business of selling firearms only at gun shows. This
policy is not justified by any law or regulation and should be changed.
The Fact Sheet: New Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and
Make Our Communities (Jan. 4, 2016) states as its very first point:
``1. Keep guns out of the wrong hands through background checks. The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is making
clear that it doesn't matter where you conduct your business--from a
store, at gun shows, or over the Internet: If you're in the business of
selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background
checks.'' \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/04/fact-
sheet-new-executive-actions-
reduce-gun-violence-and-make-our.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yet ATF has a long-term policy of refusing to issue licenses to
persons who wish to engage in the business of selling firearms only at
gun shows. The ATF Form 7, Application for Federal Firearms License,
states: ``18a. Do You Intend To Sell Firearms Only at Gun Shows? (If
yes, do not submit application).'' \3\ Thus, to the extent that persons
wish to engage in the firearm business only at gun shows, which would
entail conducting background checks, the inability to obtain licenses
is ATF's own doing.
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\3\ https://www.atf.gov/file/61506/download.
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Yet both the administration and ATF have been completely silent on
this discrepancy. Why the sudden discovery that persons who engage in
the business only at gun shows are entitled to a license? Will the
license application be amended to delete the above disqualification?
Among the qualifications in the Gun Control Act for issuance of a
Federal firearms license is that ``the applicant has in a State (i)
premises from which he conducts business subject to license under this
chapter or from which he intends to conduct such business within a
reasonable period of time. . . .'' 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(d)(1)(E). ATF has
previously interpreted this to mean that a dealer must sell firearms at
the licensed premises, which is a qualification for selling firearms at
gun shows. But a dealer who sells only at guns shows would still
conduct business subject to license when buying and receiving firearms
at the licensed premises, in order to resell them at gun shows.
ATF's premises-bound reading was rejected in United States v.
Ogles, 440 F.3d 1095 (9th Cir. 2006) (en banc). A licensee sold a
firearm at a gun show in a State other than the State in which the
licensed premise was located (ATF maintains that a licensee can sell at
a gun show only within the same State). While it is unlawful for any
person ``except . . . a licensed dealer'' to engage in the business of
dealing in firearms, the indictment alleged that the defendant
``engaged in the business of dealing firearms without a license, that
is outside the State in which the licensee's place of business was
located.'' Id. at 1098. The court stated: ``Curiously, the indictment
included a locality requirement, which the text of the statute does
not.'' Id.
Ogles added that ``a gun dealer's license under 18 U.S.C.
Sec. 922(a)(1)(A) is not location-specific. . . .'' Id. at 1099. One
judge commented: ``Belatedly, but without any evident embarrassment,
the Government stated unequivocally that it had reevaluated its
position and acknowledged that Ogles could not `be convicted as both a
licensed and unlicensed person with regard to the same transaction and
at the same time.' '' Id. at 1105 (Reinhardt, J. concurring in part &
dissenting in part).
While there is no case law on ATF's refusal to issue licenses to
persons who wish to sell firearms only at gun shows, the above
demonstrates the fallacy of ATF's view that in order to engage in the
business of selling firearms at gun shows, one must also do so at the
licensed premises. Nothing in the Gun Control Act makes any such
requirement.
In sum, the administration demands that persons who wish to engage
in the business of selling firearms only at gun shows obtain a license
and conduct background checks. ATF refuses to issue licenses to such
persons. ATF's policy should change.
______
Prepared Statement of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
On behalf of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), we
are pleased to provide this written testimony to the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, and
Related Agencies for the official record. HFES urges the subcommittee
to provide $8 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), in the
fiscal year 2017 appropriations process.
HFES and its members recognize and appreciate the challenging
fiscal environment in which we as a Nation currently find ourselves;
however, we believe strongly that investment in scientific research
serves as an important driver for innovation and the economy and for
maintaining American global competitiveness. We thank the subcommittee
for its longtime recognition of the value of scientific and engineering
research and its contribution to innovation in the United States.
the value of human factors and ergonomics science
HFES is a multidisciplinary professional association with over
4,500 individual members worldwide, including psychologists and other
scientists, engineers, and designers, all with a common interest in
designing safe and effective systems and equipment that maximize and
adapt to human capabilities.
For over 50 years, the U.S. Federal Government has funded
scientists and engineers to explore and better understand the
relationship between humans, technology, and the environment.
Originally stemming from urgent needs to improve the performance of
humans using complex systems such as aircraft during World War II, the
field of human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) works to develop safe,
effective, and practical human use of technology. HF/E does this by
developing scientific approaches for understanding this complex
interface, also known as ``human-systems integration.'' Today, HF/E is
applied to fields as diverse as transportation, architecture,
environmental design, consumer products, electronics and computers,
energy systems, medical devices, manufacturing, office automation,
organizational design and management, aging, farming, health, sports
and recreation, oil field operations, mining, forensics, and education.
With increasing reliance by Federal agencies and the private sector
on technology-aided decisionmaking, HF/E is vital to effectively
achieving our national objectives. While a large proportion of HF/E
research exists at the intersection of science and practice--that is,
HF/E is often viewed more at the ``applied'' end of the science
continuum--the field also contributes to advancing ``fundamental''
scientific understanding of the interface between human decisionmaking,
engineering, design, technology, and the world around us through
research funded by NSF. The reach of HF/E is profound, touching nearly
all aspects of human life from the healthcare sector, to the ways we
travel, to the hand-held devices we use every day.
human factors and ergonomics at the national science foundation
HFES and its members believe strongly that Federal investment in
NSF will have a direct and positive impact on the U.S. economy,
national security, and the health and well-being of Americans. It is
for these reasons that HFES supports robust funding for the Foundation
to encourage further advancements in the fields of technology,
education, defense, and healthcare, among others. In the past, NSF
funding for HF/E basic research has strengthened interdisciplinary
partnerships allowing for a multilateral approach to technology
research and development, including the human and user perspectives.
The benefits of this research are not confined to one field but rather
span across a range of disciplines to increase understanding of the way
humans interact with technology, as well as with each other.
In particular, NSF funds HF/E research to:
--Better understand and improve the effectiveness of how individuals,
groups, organizations, and society make decisions.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Decision, Risk & Management Sciences (DRMS) Program (http://
www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5423).
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--Improve understanding of the relationship between science and
engineering, technology, and society, in order to advance the
adoption and use of technology.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Program (http://
www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5324&org=SES&from=home).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Gain a better understanding of how humans and computers interact to
ensure the development of new devices or environments that
empower the user.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Human Centered Computing (HCC) Program (http://www.nsf.gov/
funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503302&org=IIS&from=home).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Inform decisionmaking in engineering design, control, and
optimization to improve individual engineering components and
entire systems.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Systems Engineering and Design Cluster (http://www.nsf.gov/
funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13473&org=CMMI&from=home).
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conclusion
Given NSF's critical role in supporting fundamental research and
education across science and engineering disciplines, HFES supports an
overall fiscal year 2017 NSF budget of $8 billion. This investment
funds important research studies, enabling an evidence-base,
methodology, and measurements for improving organizational function,
performance, and design across sectors and disciplines.
On behalf of HFES, we would like to thank you for the opportunity
to provide this testimony. Please do not hesitate to contact us should
you have any questions about HFES or HF/E research. HFES truly
appreciates the subcommittee's long history of support for scientific
research and innovation.
[This statement was submitted by William S. Marras, President, and
Lynn Strother, Executive Director.]
______
Prepared Statement of the Independent Review Team
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and to address the
serious funding needs that have limited and continue to hinder the
operations of tribal judicial systems in Indian Country. We are
representing the Independent Tribal Court Review Team. We thank this
subcommittee for the additional $10.0 million funding in fiscal year
2010, the last significant increase. These funds were a blessing to
tribes. Even minimal increases are always put to good use. It is the
strong recommendation of the Independent Tribal Courts Review Team that
the Federal tribal courts budget be substantially increased in fiscal
year 2017 to support the needs of tribal judicial systems.
budget priorities, requests and recommendations
1. +$2.6 Million--Support fiscal year 2017 proposed increased for
tribal courts
2. +$58.4 Million authorized under the Indian Tribal Justice Act
of 1993, Public Law 103-176, 25 USC 3601 and re-authorized in year 2000
Public Law 106-559 (no funds have been appropriated to date)
3. Support the requests and recommendations of the National
Congress of American Indians
The increase will support:
1. Hiring and training of court personnel
2. Compliance with the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010
3. Compliance with and implement the VAWA Act of 2013
4. Salary increases for existing judges and court personnel
5. State-of-the-art technology for tribal courts
6. Security and security systems to protect court records and
privacy of case information
7. Tribal court code development
8. Financial code development
The Independent Tribal Courts Review Team supports the proposed
$2.6 million increase for Tribal courts in the fiscal year 2017
President's Budget.--Tribal courts need an immediate, sustained and
increased level of funding. The lack of funding has delayed
implementation of the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) and the Violence
Against Women Act (VAWA) to a critical level and the resources that
have been appropriated are required to provide attorneys to represent
non-Indian defendants which further strain the capacity of the tribal
judicial system. Tribal systems remain underfunded, understaffed and
ill-equipped to function effectively and in a manner comparable to non-
Indian government judicial systems. Tribal courts are at a critical
stage in terms of need. The Tiwahe Initiative, as a means to be
responsive to tribal concerns, demonstrates that the administration and
Congress are listening to the tribes, but there needs to be a greater
effort to fund the authority that was enacted in 1993.
Section 402 of TLOA reauthorized the Tribal Justice Act, and Indian
Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 2001. These Acts
authorize funding for tribal court judges, court personnel, public
defenders, court facilities, and the development of records management
systems and other needs of tribal court systems. The Tribal Justice
Act, originally enacted December 1993, authorized the appropriation of
$58.4 million in tribal court base funding. Yet, not a single dollar
under the Tribal Justice Act has been appropriated in the 22 years
since it was enacted. Of particular note is the provision of the Tribal
Justice Act that states that Federal funds may be used specifically for
``training programs and continuing education for tribal judicial
personnel.'' Appropriations should finally be made to fulfill the
promise of these Acts.\1\ We recommend that the Interdepartmental
Tribal Justice, Safety and Wellness Session, of which the Department of
the Interior (DOI) is a member, resume outreach to support the efforts
of TLOA, VAWA and the Tiwahe Initiative.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Defining the Indian Civil Rights Act's ``Sufficiently Trained''
Tribal Court Judge, Jill Elizabeth Tompkins, American Indian Law
Journal [Vol, 4:53].
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tiwahe Initiative was launched in 2015 to address several
lagging family welfare and poverty issues in Indian Country including a
strategy to reduce incarceration in Indian Country. The alternative to
incarceration is intended to address underlying causes of repeat
offenses, such as substance abuse and the lack of adequate social
service support, by utilizing alternative courts to increase treatment
opportunities, probation programs, and interagency and
intergovernmental partnerships with tribal, State and Federal
stakeholders. In response to the unusual high rates of alcohol and/drug
related repeat offenders that are dominating the resources of the
justice system, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) created the
Diversion and Re-Entry Division (DRD) within the Tribal Justice Support
Directorate. In fiscal year 2016 tribal courts received a 4.9 percent
increase, and the budget request for 2017 is $2.6 million over the
enacted 2016 level. There is an even greater need to ensure that court
personnel are trained, equipped and prepared to address these new
challenges. We support the fiscal year 2017 proposed $21.0 million
increase for Tiwahe to expand social services, Indian Child Welfare,
housing, tribal courts and job placement and training.
Background:
The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides funding to tribal governments
to supplement their justice systems including courts. Tribal courts
play a ``vital role'' in Tribal Self-Determination and Self-Governance
as cited in long-standing Federal policy and Acts of Congress. Funding
levels from BIA to support tribal justice systems have not met the
Federal obligations.
There is a great deal of variation in the types of tribal courts
and how they apply laws. Some tribal courts resemble Western-style
courts in that written laws and court procedures are applied. Others
use traditional Native means of resolving disputes, such as
peacemaking, elders' councils, and sentencing circles. Some tribes have
both types of courts. The BIA also manages a small number of CFR (Code
of Federal Regulations) courts.
Since 1999, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in the Department of
Justice (DOJ) has administered the Tribal Courts Assistance Program,
designed to provide funds for tribes to plan, operate, and enhance
tribal judicial systems. They have made attempts to evaluate tribal
courts but discovered their means of doing so was insensitive to
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people and unrealistic in the
absence of elements that were key to Indian Country, such as: (1) the
importance of tribal culture and traditions; (2) the inability to apply
State and local criminal justice initiatives to tribal settings; (3)
the lack of cooperation from non-tribal entities; and, (4) the lack of
available data on tribal justice.
The Independent Tribal Court Review Team has had more hands on
success in reviewing tribal court systems. For 7 years, we traveled
throughout Indian Country assessing how tribal courts are operating.
During this time, we have completed 84 Court Reviews. We also completed
28 Corrective Actions. There is no one with more hands-on experience
and knowledge regarding the current status of tribal courts than our
Review Team.
Justification for Request:
1. Hiring and Training of Court Personnel.--Tribal courts make do
with underpaid staff, under-experienced staff and minimal training. (We
have determined that hiring tribal members limits the inclination of
staff to move away; a poor excuse to underpay staff.)
2. Compliance with the Tribal Law & Order Act of 2010.--To provide
judges, prosecutors, public defenders, who are attorneys, who are bared
to do ``enhanced sentencing'' in tribal courts.
3. Compliance with the 2013 VAWA Act.--To provide tribal courts
with the ability to provide non-Indians with all the rights under the
U.S. Constitution in domestic violence actions in tribal courts (12
person juries, provide licenses attorneys for non-Indians, provide
licensed attorneys in court personnel in domestic violence cases as in
TLOA, etc.)
4. Salary Increases for Existing Judges and Court Personnel.--
Salaries should be comparable to local and State court personnel to
keep pace with the non-tribal judicial systems and be competitive to
maintain existing personnel.
5. Tribal Courts Need State-of-the-Art Technology.--(Software,
computers, phone systems, tape recording machines.) Many Tribes cannot
afford to purchase or upgrade existing court equipment unless they get
a grant. This is accompanied by training expenses and licensing fees
which do not last after the grant ends.
6. Security and Security Systems to Protect Court Records and
Privacy of Case Information.--Most tribal courts do not even have a
full time Bailiff, much less a state-of-the-art security system that
uses locked doors and camera surveillance. This is a tragedy waiting to
happen.
7. Tribal Court Code Development.--Tribes cannot afford legal
consultation. A small number of tribes hire on-site staff attorneys.
These staff attorneys generally become enmeshed in economic development
so code development does not take priority. Tribes make do with under-
developed codes. The Adam Walsh Act created a hardship for tribes who
were forced to develop codes, without funding, or have the State assume
jurisdiction. (States have never properly overseen law enforcement in a
tribal jurisdiction.)
8. Financial Code Development.--We have rarely seen tribes with
developed financial policies. The process of paying a bond, for
example, varies greatly from tribe to tribe. The usual process of who
collects it, where it is collected and how much it is, is never
consistent among tribes.
There are many positive aspects about tribal courts. It is clear
that tribal courts and justice systems are vital and important to the
communities where they are located. Tribes value and want to be proud
of their court systems. Tribes with even modest resources tend to
allocate funding to courts before other costs. After decades of
existence, many tribal courts, despite minimal funding, have achieved a
level of experience and sophistication approaching, and in some cases
surpassing, local non-Indian courts.
Tribal courts, through the Indian Child Welfare Act, have mostly
stopped the wholesale removal of Indian children from their families.
Indian and non-Indian courts have developed formal and informal
agreements regarding jurisdiction. Tribal governments have recognized
the benefit of having law-trained Judges, without doing away with
judges who have cultural/traditional experience. Tribal court systems
have appellate courts, jury trials, well-cared-for courthouses (even
the poorer tribes), and tribal bar listings and fees. Perhaps most
importantly, tribes recognize the benefit of an independent judiciary
and have taken steps to insulate courts and judges from political
pressure. No longer in Indian Country are judges automatically fired
for decisions against the legislature.
Tribal courts have other serious needs. Tribal appellate court
judges are mostly attorneys who dedicate their services for modest fees
that barely cover costs for copying and transcription fees. Tribal
courts do offer jury trials. In many courts, one sustained jury trial
will deplete the available budget. The only place to minimize expenses
is to fire staff. Many tribal courts have defense advocates. These
advocates are generally not law trained and do a good job protecting an
individual's rights (including assuring speedy trial limitations are
not violated.) However, this is a large item in court budgets and if
the defense advocate, or prosecutor, should leave, the replacement
process is slow.
On behalf of the Independent Tribal Court Review Team, Elbridge
Coochise, Ralph Gonzales, Charles Robertson, Philip Lujan and Myrna
Rivera, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today.
______
Prepared Statement of the Innocence Project
On behalf of the Innocence Project, thank you for allowing me to
submit written testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies as it considers budget
requests for fiscal year 2017, and thank you for the subcommittee's
support of innocence and forensic science research programs in fiscal
year 2016. I write to request fiscal year 2017 funding for the
following programs, please:
--$5 million for the Wrongful Conviction Review Program at the
Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (the
Wrongful Conviction Review Program is a part of the Capital
Litigation Improvement Program)
--$5 million for the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing
Program (the ``Bloodsworth Program'') at the DOJ, National
Institute of Justice (NIJ);
--$14 million for the Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Improvement
Grant Program (the ``Coverdell Program'') at the NIJ;
--$5 million for the Department of Justice to support the National
Commission on Forensic Science; related forensic science
standards setting activities at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST); and implementation research at
the NIJ;
--$15 million for NIST to support forensic science research and
measurement science.
National Registry of Exonerations data show that the number of
exonerations has significantly increased since Federal innocence
programs, the Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing and Wrongful
Convictions Review programs, began to receive funding in 2008 and 2009,
respectively. (See http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/
Exoneration-by-Year.aspx). This dramatic increase in the number of
exonerations is in part a result of the Federal decision to invest in
this critical component of the criminal justice system. In the 20 years
prior to the initiation of innocence program funding (from 1989 to
2008), the rate of exonerations was much lower. In the last 3 years,
the numbers of exoneration cases has been at its highest level, with
2015 being the best year--149 exonerations last year alone. These
statistics show the power and need to invest in Federal innocence and
forensic science programs.
Additionally, freeing innocent individuals and preventing wrongful
convictions through reform greatly benefits public safety. Every time
DNA identifies a wrongful conviction, it enables the identification of
the real perpetrator of those crimes. True perpetrators have been
identified in approximately half of the over 300 DNA exoneration cases.
Unfortunately, many of these real perpetrators went on to commit
additional crimes while an innocent person was convicted and
incarcerated in their place.
To date, 337 individuals in the United States have been exonerated
through DNA testing, including 20 who served time on death row. These
innocents served an average of 14 years in prison before exoneration
and release. However, the value of Federal innocence and forensic
science programs is not to just these exonerated individuals. It is
important to fund these critical programs because reforms and
procedures that help to prevent wrongful convictions enhance the
accuracy of criminal investigations, strengthen criminal prosecutions,
and result in a stronger, fairer system of justice that provides true
justice to victims of crime.
wrongful conviction review program
We know that wrongful convictions occur in cases where DNA evidence
is not sufficient or even available to prove innocence. The National
Registry of Exonerations currently lists a total of almost 1,800
exonerations since 1989--over 300 of which were based primarily on DNA.
The Wrongful Conviction Review Program provides critical support to
ensure that experts are available to navigate the complex landscape of
post-conviction litigation, as well as oversee the thousands of
volunteer hours local innocence organizations leverage to help
investigate these complex cases and support the significant legal work
they require. Between January 2015 and January 2016, the Wrongful
Conviction Review Program contributed to the exoneration of 16 innocent
individuals.
The Wrongful Conviction Review Program provides funding to local
innocence organizations so that they may provide this type of expert,
high quality, and efficient representation for innocent individuals.
The program's goals are both to alleviate burdens placed on the
criminal justice system through costly and prolonged post-conviction
litigation and to identify, whenever possible, the real perpetrator of
the crime.
To help continue this important work, we urge you to provide $5
million for the Wrongful Conviction Review Program in fiscal year 2017.
(Please note that the Wrongful Conviction Review Program is a part of
the Capital Litigation Improvement Program.)
the bloodsworth program
The Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program supports
States and localities that want to pursue post-conviction DNA testing
in appropriate cases. The program does not directly fund the work of
local innocence organizations, but instead focuses on State and local
grantees, including law enforcement agencies, crime laboratories, and
others--often in collaboration with each other, as well as with local
innocence organizations. For example, a Bloodsworth grant to Arizona
allowed the Arizona Attorney General's Office to partner with the
Arizona Justice Project to create the Post-Conviction DNA Testing
Project. This effort canvassed the Arizona inmate population, reviewed
cases, worked to locate evidence and filed joint requests with the
court to have evidence released for DNA testing. In addition to
identifying the innocent, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard noted
that the ``grant enable[d] [his] office to support local prosecutors
and ensure that those who have committed violent crimes are identified
and behind bars.'' \1\ Such joint efforts have been pursued in many
other States.
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\1\ Arizona receives Federal DNA grant, http://
community.law.asu.edu/news/19167/Arizona-
receives-Federal-DNA-grant.htm (last visited Mar. 13, 2012).
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The Bloodsworth program is a powerful investment for States seeking
to free innocent individuals and to identify the true perpetrators of
crime. The program has resulted in the exonerations of 28 wrongfully
convicted persons in 10 States. The true perpetrator was identified in
11 of those cases. For example, Virginian Thomas Haynesworth, who was
wrongfully incarcerated for 27 years, was freed thanks to Bloodsworth-
funded DNA testing that also revealed the real perpetrator. The real
perpetrator in that case went on to terrorize the community by
attacking 12 women, with most of the attacks and rapes occurring while
Mr. Haynesworth was wrongfully incarcerated. Given the importance of
this program to both innocent individuals and public safety, we urge
you to provide $5 million to continue the work of the Bloodsworth Post-
Conviction DNA Testing Program in fiscal year 2017.
the coverdell program
Recognizing the need for independent government investigations in
the wake of allegations of forensic negligence or misconduct, Congress
created the forensic oversight provisions of the Coverdell Program, a
crucial step toward ensuring the integrity of and improving public
confidence in forensic evidence. Specifically, in the Justice for All
Act, Congress required that
[t]o request a grant under this subchapter, a State or unit of
local government shall submit to the Attorney General . . . a
certification that a government entity exists and an
appropriate process is in place to conduct independent external
investigations into allegations of serious negligence or
misconduct substantially affecting the integrity of the
forensic results committed by employees or contractors of any
forensic laboratory system, medical examiner's office,
coroner's office, law enforcement storage facility, or medical
facility in the State that will receive a portion of the grant
amount.\2\
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\2\ 42 U.S.C. Sec. 3797k(4) (emphasis added).
The Coverdell Program provides State and local crime laboratories
and medical examiner offices with much needed Federal funding to carry
out their work both efficiently and effectively. As forensic science
budgets find themselves on the chopping block in many States and
localities, and as Federal bodies recommend the implementation of new
policies, standards, and guidelines, the Coverdell funds are critical
to ensure that crime labs can function both efficiently and
effectively. As the program supports both the capacity of crime labs to
process forensic evidence and the essential function of ensuring the
integrity of forensic investigations in the wake of serious allegations
of negligence or misconduct, we urge you to provide $14 million for the
Coverdell Program in fiscal year 2017.
forensic science improvement
To continue the critical work to improve forensic science, and help
prevent wrongful convictions, we urge you to provide the following
amounts for forensic science improvements, including:
--$5 million for the Department of Justice, including:
--$1 million for the DOJ-NIST National Commission on Forensic
Science to continue its work.
--$1 million for the National Institute of Justice to conduct
implementation and applied research in this area.
--$3 million directed to NIST to support technical standards
development in forensic science through the Organization of
Scientific Area Committees.
--$15 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) at the Department of Commerce to support forensic
science research and measurement science.
As the Federal entity that is both perfectly positioned and
institutionally constituted to conduct measurement science and
foundational research in support of forensic science, NIST's work will
improve the validity and reliability of forensic evidence, a need cited
by the National Academy of Sciences 2009 report, Strengthening Forensic
Science in the United States: A Path Forward.\3\ NIST's reputation for
innovation will result in technological solutions to advance forensic
science applications and achieve a tremendous cost savings by reducing
court costs posed by litigating scientific evidence.
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\3\ National Research Council. Strengthening Forensic Science in
the United States: A Path Forward. Washington, DC: The National
Academies Press, 2009. doi:10.17226/12589, p. 22-23.
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NIST forensic science standards setting groups are seen by many as
the most significant Federal forensic science initiative in recent
years. State and local forensic scientists, who conduct the vast
majority of forensic science casework, are in strong support and are
significantly involved in this effort. Also, the National Commission on
Forensic Science, a partnership between the Department of Justice and
the Department of Commerce through NIST, is an important policy
guidance group, which includes State and local systems experts as well
as leading scientific experts. At a time when public safety and
national security are some of our Nation's top priorities, it is
imperative that Congress invest in scientific tools that support these
endeavors. The Coverdell Program and forensic science activities and
research at NIJ and NIST will help to greatly improve forensic
disciplines and propel forensic science toward greater accuracy and
reliability.
Thank you for your leadership in helping to ensure the integrity,
accuracy, and reliability of our Nation's criminal justice system. We
urge you to support all of the aforementioned programs, including the
Wrongful Conviction Review; Bloodsworth; Coverdell; and forensic
science programs. If you have any questions or need additional
information, please do not hesitate to contact me at
[email protected].
[This statement was submitted by Rebecca Brown, Policy Director.]
______
Prepared Statement of the Institute of Makers of Explosives
Interest of the IME
The Institute of Makers of Explosives (IME) is a nonprofit
association founded over a century ago to provide accurate information
and comprehensive recommendations concerning the safety and security of
commercial explosive materials. Our mission is to promote safety and
protection of employees, users, the public and the environment, and to
encourage the adoption of uniform rules and regulations in the
manufacture, transportation, storage, handling, use and disposal of the
explosive materials used in blasting and other essential operations.
IME represents U.S. manufacturers, distributors and motor carriers of
commercial explosive materials and oxidizers as well as other companies
that provide related services. The majority of IME members are ``small
businesses'' as determined by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Millions of metric tons of high explosives, blasting agents, and
oxidizers are consumed annually in the United States. These materials
are essential to the U.S. economy. Energy production, construction,
mining, quarrying, demolition, and other specialized applications begin
with the use of commercial explosives. IME member companies produce 99
percent of these commodities. These products are used in every State
and are distributed worldwide. The ability to manufacture, distribute,
and use these products safely and securely is critical to this
industry.
Commercial explosives are highly regulated by a myriad of Federal
and State agencies. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF) plays a predominant role in assuring that explosives
are manufactured, identified, tracked, and stored in a safe and secure
manner and received only by authorized persons. It is in the
standpoint, as a highly regulated industry that shares ATF's focus on
safety and security, that we offer the following perspectives on the
fiscal year 2017 budget submission.
ATF's Explosives Regulatory Program
IME understands the difficult decisions that ATF and the Federal
Government face when allocating scarce resources. We also understand
the other important work and responsibilities that ATF is assigned.
Nevertheless, the members of IME, their employees and customers rely on
a properly funded regulatory program. The success of ATF's explosives
programs in preventing the misappropriation of commercial explosives
should not be seen as an opportunity to reallocate funding, but that a
base level of funding is necessary for ATF to retain a cadre of trained
personnel to perform these vital services. The commerce of explosives
is so closely regulated that failure to provide adequate personnel and
resources can be detrimental to our industry, our customers, our
employees, and the industrial sector of the U.S. economy.
On January 13, 2016, IME sent a letter to the House and Senate
Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations,
requesting that no funds be reprogramed from fiscal year 2016
appropriations used by ATF to administer the Bureau's explosives
programs in order to implement the President's recent Executive order
to reduce gun violence. We were pleased to see no reprogramming took
place, and instead the administration is seeking programmatic increases
to fund the initiative.
ATF is the primary Federal law enforcement agency that regulates
the explosives industry, licensing and permitting businesses and
individuals to engage in the business of manufacturing, importing, or
dealing in explosives, or receiving or transporting explosives
materials.\1\ By law, ATF must inspect an estimated 10,000 explosives
licensees and permittees at least once every 3 years. ATF's workload
also involves ensuring background checks of employee possessors of
explosives and responsible persons. The Bureau estimates that the
requirement to inspect 100 percent of the licensees and permittees
within their 3-year license/permit cycle consumes between 25 and 41
percent of available inspector resources in any given year. In the
budget submission, ATF acknowledges the staffing difficulties it faces
in the next few years as hundreds of experienced personnel with highly
specialized skill sets are expected to retire. IME urges Congress to
review ATF's staffing needs and ensure the Bureau has sufficient
explosive expertise that is critical to the success of the explosives-
related programs.
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\1\ Fiscal Year 2017 ATF Budget Submission, page 6.
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In past years, IME has recommended that ATF harmonize its vetting
and clearance procedures with those used by other Federal programs.
Doing so would allow ATF's vetting program to be reciprocally
recognized by these programs and save time and resources of the agency
and the individuals being vetted. In 2015, the Department of Homeland
Security moved to accept ATF's vetting program. However, concerns
remain about the equivalency of the ATF program with other Federal
vetting programs because the Bureau's program lacks recurrent vetting
and fails to prohibit individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist. We
strongly encourage efforts to harmonize ATF's vetting standards and
procedures with those used by other agencies.
ATF-Industry Partnership
National Center for Explosives Training and Research
IME would like to commend ATF for its work at the National Center
for Explosives Training and Research (NCETR), including training,
testing and research, which is critically important for the safety and
security of explosive materials. IME and its member companies employ
recognized subject matter experts in the safe and secure development,
manufacture, handling and use of commercial explosives. IME welcomes
continued opportunities to partner with NCETR on research and testing
initiatives related to commercial explosives and encourages the
subcommittee to ensure that NCETR receives sufficient funding and
resources to continue its critical work.
United States Bomb Data Center
The U.S. Bomb Data Center (USBDC) is responsible for collecting and
storing explosives-related incident data, to include information on
thousands of explosives incidents investigated by ATF and other
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. While this data
helps government entities perform trend analysis and compare incidents
for similarities and crime methodologies, USBDC data also helps the
industry in efforts to identify any potential weaknesses or reaffirm
the effectiveness of safety and security practices, and to update
industry standards accordingly. In 2013, USBDC reinstated the issuance
of the Explosives Incident Report (EIR) for calendar years 2010-2013,
including valuable information on fillers of improvised explosives
devices and on thefts, losses, and recoveries categorized by the type
and amount of explosives involved. IME has recently advised that 2014
data is forthcoming, and IME commends ATF on its commitment to release
the EIR data to industry at least once per year.
IMESAFR
IME has spent years developing a credible alternative to strict
interpretation of quantity distance tables used to determine safe
setback distances from explosives. The result is a scientifically based
computer model for assessing the risk from a variety of commercial
explosives activities called IMESAFR.\2\ ATF and other regulatory
agencies are recognizing the value of IMESAFR. In April 2015, we were
pleased to see ATF approve the first variance from the American Table
of Distances (ATD) based on risk assessment using IMESAFR. NCETR has
partnered with IME on efforts to further validate IMESAFR data and
ensure transparency of the scientific process by participating in
testing and supporting an IMESAFR Science Panel. We welcome and
strongly encourage ATF's continued support and leadership related to
IMESAFR. The benefits of risk-based modeling should continue to be
recognized by ATF, and resources should be provided to develop policies
that allow the use of such models to meet regulatory mandates.
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\2\ IMESAFR was built on the Department of Defense Explosives
Safety Board's software model, SAFER. The DDESB currently uses SAFER
and table-of-distances methods to approve or disapprove Department of
Defense explosives activities. Not only can IMESAFR determine the
amount of risk presented, but it can also determine what factors drive
the overall risk and what actions would lower risk, if necessary. The
probability of events for the activities were based on the last 20
years of experience in the U.S. and Canada and can be adjusted to
account for different explosive sensitivities, additional security
threats, and other factors that increase or decrease the base value.
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International Engagement
One of ATF's strategic goals for 2010-2016 is, ``Explosives, Bombs,
and Bombings: Advance domestic and international explosives expertise
to prevent, detect, and investigate acts of violent crime and
terrorism, and to enhance public safety.'' As the ATF works through the
process of updating and revising its strategic plan for 2017 and
beyond, IME encourages ATF to remain publicly committed to working at
the international level to participate in international regulatory
forums that advocate for the safety and security of explosives and that
promote consistency in standards and policies. The United States must
be a leader in explosive safety and security, and IME applauds ATF for
re-engaging with the international regulatory explosives community.
Marking Harmonization Efforts
Explosive manufactures and importers are required to mark products
with codes to aide law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and foreign
countries in tracing lost or stolen materials. Additionally, others in
the global supply chain also cooperate in these tracing efforts.
However, more and more government entities are imposing their own
unique system of identification marks without recognizing each other's
marks. These redundant and competing marks create non-tariff barriers
to trade and hampers successful tracing and investigation. IME has
petitioned the United Nations (U.N.) Sub-Committee of Experts on the
Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG) to include in its model regulations
a single, globally harmonized explosives marking protocol. ATF has
issued a letter in support of IME's U.N. proposal to the U.S. head of
delegation, the Department of Transportation, and assigned a
representative to participate with the U.S. delegation. While the U.N.
did not approve IME recommendations in 2015, we are again working to
see these standards adopted in 2016. We thank ATF for the support and
ask for continued support as we move forward with this important issue.
Industry Standards
IME holds in high regard the statutory obligation that ATF take
into account industry's standards of safety when issuing rules and
requirements. We continue to fulfill this obligation through our
development of industry best practices for safety and security,
membership in relevant standard-setting organizations, and active
participation in forums for training. We have offered to ATF
recommendations that we believe will enhance safety and security
through our participation in the rulemaking process, in the Bureau's
important research efforts, and in other standard-setting activities.
On this issue, IME notes that ATF affirms its ``use [of] risk-based
assessments to focus limited inspection resources on entities that have
been identified as at risk for non-compliance.\3\'' IME firmly believes
that using risk-based measures will help ATF focus its resources where
it can maximize the value of its efforts.
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\3\ Fiscal Year 2017 ATF Budget Submission, page 15.
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Conclusion
ATF plays a critical role in helping the explosives industry
achieve and maintain a strong safety and security record. Even though
explosives may be dangerous materials when in the wrong hands, the
manufacture and distribution of explosives is accomplished with a
remarkable degree of safety and security. The use of explosives is
essential to sustain the economy, and the explosives industry and the
general public are dependent on ATF. ATF must have adequate resources
to fulfill its mission and keep the American public safe. It is up to
Congress to ensure that ATF has the resources it needs. IME strongly
recommends full funding for ATF's explosive programs.
______
Prepared Statement of Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe
On behalf of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, I am pleased to submit
this written testimony on our funding priorities and requests for the
fiscal year 2017 Department of Justice and Department of Commerce
Budgets.
TRIBAL SPECIFIC--DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
1. Tribal Courts--$20,000 (Office of Justice Programs)
2. DOJ Transparency Regarding Available Programs and the
Effectiveness of CTAS
REGIONAL REQUESTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS--DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
1. Provide $110 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery
Fund (NOAA/NMFS)
2. Provide $14.7 million for the Pacific Salmon treaty, including
the additional $3 million for the 2008 Chinook Salmon Agreement (NOAA/
NMFS)
3. Provide $20.3 million for the Mitchell Act Hatchery Program
(NOAA/NMFS)
NATIONAL REQUESTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS--DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
1. Hold Indian Country Programs Harmless from Budgetary
Reductions, Rescissions and Sequestration
2. Provide Funding to the Civil Rights Commission to Update the
Quiet Crisis Report of 2003
3. Fully Fund the Tribal Law and Order Act
4. Fully Fund Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Extend the Bureau
of Prisons Pilot Project for Violent Offenders
5. Eliminate Competitive Grant Funding
6. Create a 10 Percent Tribal Set-Aside for Victims of Crime Act
Funding
7. Support the requests and recommendations of the National
Congress of American Indians
TRIBAL SPECIFIC
Tribal Courts--Flexible 7 Percent Tribal Set-Aside for All
Discretionary Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
Programs
The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe has repeated advocated for a 7
percent tribal set-aside from all discretionary Office of Justice
Programs (OJP) programs to address public safety and tribal criminal
justice needs in Indian country. This 7 percent set-aside would provide
a more flexible grant structure to tribes, which was envisioned to
complement the DOJ's Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS).
We now know that this streamlined application model will never achieve
its intended success unless and until it is accompanied by a
streamlined funding mechanism. Stable funding for tribal courts is a
prerequisite to ensure a safe, healthy and thriving tribal community.
Although Congress and the administration have taken steps in recent
years to try and address some of these concerns through the passage of
the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) of 2010 and the Reauthorization of
the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2013, significant funding is
needed in order to implement these new authorities to address the
crisis level need in Indian country and elevate the safety and wellness
of our tribal citizens and communities. Tribal court systems are
evolving to meet the increasing demands of tribal communities and
ensure that tribal citizens are provided with adequate legal
representation and protection. Under TLOA and VAWA tribal courts are
required to expand judicial services and meet certain costly
thresholds, including, providing public defenders, recording criminal
proceedings, and retaining legally trained and licensed tribal judges.
Without adequate funding for tribal court systems, decisions to arrest,
prosecute and detain will be based on financial restraints rather than
in the best interest of public safety.
DOJ Transparency Regarding Available Programs and
Effectiveness of CTAS
In fiscal year 2010, DOJ launched the Coordinated Tribal Assistance
Solicitation (CTAS). As noted above the CTAS program is not supported
by a funding mechanism that will support success of and has created
other challenges and gridlocks for tribes. While CTAS grants can be
used for a variety of justice programs and services in nine different
areas the application process is highly competitive, tedious and
complex and there are many restrictions imposed on how the funds may be
utilized. It has taken numerous staff members a number of weeks to fill
out and apply for the CTAS program with no guarantee that funding will
be awarded. The process must be simplified and streamlined. There is
also a lack of transparency, coordination and communication with
respect to the programs and services that are available for tribes to
access through CTAS or other Indian-centric programs at DOJ. We would
like an accurate accounting of all of the programs, services and
funding that is available for tribes; how the funds are being
distributed; the percentage of the dollars that have been received by
the tribes; steps DOJ has taken to coordinate with other agencies and
tribal governments to implement tribal priorities and practices that
bolster tribal justice systems and an analysis on the effectiveness and
deficiencies of CTAS.
REGIONAL REQUESTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS--NOAA
1. $110 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (NOAA/
NMFS).--The fiscal year 2016 appropriations provided a total of $65.0
million. These funds have decreased from the peak of $110.0 million in
fiscal year 2002. The tribes' overall goal in the PCSRF program is to
restore wild salmon populations while the key objective is to protect
and restore important habitat in Puget Sound and along the Washington
coast. These funds support policy and technical capacities within
tribal resources management to plan, implement, and monitor recovery
activities.
2. $14.7 million for the Pacific Salmon Treaty--The U.S. Section
estimates that this funding is needed to implement national commitments
created by the Treaty (NOAA/NMFS).--The Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC)
establishes fishery regimes, develops management recommendations,
assesses each country's performance and compliance with the treaty, and
is the forum for all entities to work towards reaching an agreement on
mutual fisheries issues.
3. $20.3 million for the Mitchell Act Hatchery Program (NOAA/
NMFS).--Funding is provided for the operation and maintenance of
hatcheries that release between 50 and 60 million juvenile salmon and
steelhead in Oregon and Washington. This program has historically
provided fish production for tribal treaty and non-tribal commercial
and recreational fisheries in the Columbia River, and also contributes
to ocean fisheries from Northern California to Southeast Alaska.
NATIONAL REQUESTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
1. Hold Indian Country Programs Harmless from Budgetary Reductions,
Rescissions and Sequestration.--Decades of unfulfilled Federal
obligations has devastated tribal communities who continue to face
persistent shortfalls and overwhelming unmet needs. Until tribes attain
exclusive taxing jurisdiction within their tribal lands, Federal
support remains critical to ensure the delivery of essential
governmental services to our tribal citizens. The Federal trust
obligation must be honored and vital programs and services for tribes
must be sustained and held harmless in any budgetary deal enacted to
reduce the national deficit.
2. Civil Rights Commission--``Quiet Crisis Report 2003''.--We urge
you to provide funding for the United States Commission on Civil Rights
to update the ``A Quiet Crisis Report''. The 2003 Report assessed the
adequacy of Federal funding and provided data on the unmet need in
Indian country. The study highlighted the fact that Federal funding was
insufficient to address the basic and urgent needs of American Indian/
Alaska Native people funding gaps for Indian programs. This report is
an important tool that tribes can use to demonstrate budget needs.
3. Fully Fund the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA).--The Tribal Law
and Order Act was an important step in empowering tribes to better
address the unique public safety challenges and reduce the prevalence
of violent crime in Indian country. However, effective implementation
of TLOA is contingent upon adequate Federal funding. Funding is needed
to implement the comprehensive and improved measures that were enacted
to address the public safety crisis in tribal communities. The entire
tribal justice system is dependent on this funding to carry out law
enforcement, court, and detention functions, and to provide
rehabilitation and preventive services.
4. Extend the Bureau of Prisons Pilot Project for Violent
Offenders.--In 2010, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) launched a pilot
project to house certain tribal offenders sentenced in tribal courts in
Federal prisons. The program allows any federally recognized tribe to
request that BOP incarcerate up to 100 tribal violent offenders at a
time under the authorities of TLOA. A 2014 report was submitted to
Congress that provided details on the status and recommendations of the
program and the BOP affirmed its support for the program and included a
recommendation to make the current pilot program permanent. We implore
Congress to heed this recommendation and reauthorize and make permanent
the BOP pilot project.
5. Eliminate Competitive Grant Funding.--Grant funding is intended
to be temporary, yet, many Federal agencies, including DOJ use grants
as the primary funding mechanism for tribal justice programs. Tribal
courts and justice systems are vital to the communities that they are
operating in but they cannot be effective and efficient if they are
forced to operate on grant funding. Many tribes cannot afford to
provide additional financial assistance to their justice systems and
often find themselves in a precarious and difficult position because
when the funding runs out the system is forced to shut down. Many
successful and innovative tribal justice programs have disappeared
because the grant cycle has ended. Grant funding undermines core Self-
Governance tenants and hinders the tribes ability to redesign programs
and services that better address the needs of their communities. It
creates uncertainty in planning, includes extensive regulation and
overly burdensome reporting requirements, restricts the use of indirect
costs, and, forces tribes to compete against each other under DOJ's
priorities and guidelines. We urge congress to end the practice of
using grants and competitive processes to fund justice systems in
Indian country and establish a permanent recurring base funding system
for tribally determined justice priorities.
6. Fully Fund Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).--Violence against
Native women has reached epidemic proportions. The root cause of these
high rates of violence was a justice system that forced tribal
governments to rely on distant Federal, and in some cases, State
officials to investigate and prosecute incidences of domestic violence
committed by non-Natives against Native women. The statistics on
violence against Native women show that outside law enforcement has
proven ineffective in addressing these crimes of violence. Between 2005
and 2007, U.S. Attorneys declined to prosecute nearly 52 percent of
violent crimes that occurred in Indian country; and 67 percent of cases
declined were sexual abuse related cases. It is unconscionable to force
tribes to submit to a system of justice that declines to prosecute over
half the criminal cases brought before it and leaves our Native women
without judicial recourse. On some reservations, Native women are
murdered at a rate that is 10 times the national average. In 2016, $2.5
million was appropriated for tribes to implement the new VAWA
provisions.
7. Create a 10 Percent Tribal Set-Aside for Victims of Crime Act
Funding.--Crime victimization rates on tribal lands have been estimated
as much as 250 percent higher than the national rate and the rate of
murder of American Indian/Alaska Native women on some reservations are
1000 percent higher than the national average. Tribal governments, like
State governments, are responsible for addressing the needs of victims
in their communities. Congress created the Crime Victims Fund in 1984
with the idea that money collected from those who commit crimes should
be used to assist those that have been victimized. Each year, the fund
is financed by the collection of funds, penalties and bond forfeitures
from defendants convicted of Federal crimes. It is important to note
that the fund receives no tax payer dollars. DOJ disburses funds to
States and other entities. Despite the devastating rates of
victimization in tribal communities, Indian tribes have largely been
left out of the fund. In recent years, distributions from the fund have
been about $700 million. Collections, however, were as high as $2.8
billion in 2013 and the balance of funds in the account is
approximately $13 billion dollars. Congress in 2015 and 2016 increased
the distributions to $2.3 billion. Indian tribes are only able to
access these dollars through State pass through grants or very limited
short term competitive DOJ grants. Many States do not provide funds to
tribes for victim services and the vast majority of tribes are unable
to access these funds at all. Congress could remedy this situation by
enacting a 10 percent set aside of VOCA funds for tribes.
I would like to extend my thanks to the subcommittee for an
opportunity to submit testimony on the fiscal year 2017 Appropriations
for DOJ and DOC.
[This statement was submitted by Hon. W. Ron Allen, Tribal
Chairman/CEO.]
______
Prepared Statement of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative
Chairman Shelby, Ranking Member Mikulski, and other distinguished
members of the subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related
Agencies, we thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony
regarding the fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related
Agencies appropriations bill. The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative is
a collaborative, bipartisan effort to implement the important work of
the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission. Our
2013 report, Charting the Course: Securing the Future of America's
Oceans, contains recommendations to improve the management of our ocean
resources that are echoed in this testimony. Furthermore, our testimony
is informed by a series of regional ocean roundtables that we convened
in the Arctic and on the East and West Coasts with regional, State, and
local leaders to better understand the needs of their coastal regions.
We are currently in the process of convening a roundtable for the Gulf
of Mexico.
The Joint Initiative is highly appreciative of the progress your
subcommittee has made in providing incremental, but substantive
additional resources to critical ocean and coastal accounts. We are
acutely aware of the challenges you face addressing the funding needs
of all the programs within the jurisdiction of your subcommittee. The
Joint Initiative believes a continued commitment to protecting base
funding and core programs at NOAA, NSF, and NASA that help manage,
protect, and better understand our Nation's oceans and coasts and the
Arctic is an investment in the future of our country that will provide
significant economic, social, ecological, and national security
benefits. Maintaining and increasing investment in the following
programs should be prioritized in fiscal year 2017 appropriations:
national oceans and coastal security fund
The Joint Initiative strongly supports increasing NOAA's overall
budget to $6 billion and, in doing so, maintaining the recent trend
toward balancing NOAA's portfolio to emphasize ocean and coastal
priorities. For example NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) would be
increased in NOAA's budget by nearly $18 million to $528 million.
Specifically, The Joint Initiative strongly encourages funding the
National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund (NOCS) at the requested $10
million.
The Joint Initiative has a long history of leadership in the call
for a dedicated oceans fund since the concept was initially proposed by
both the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission
more than a decade ago. Allocating adequate and sustained funding has
been a missing but essential link to any policy to achieve healthy
oceans and coasts. The NOCS would support work by State and local
governments, universities, non-profit organizations, and other oceans
and coastal stakeholders to restore habitats, manage fisheries, plan
for sustainable coastal development, enhance oceans monitoring and
research, and acquire coastal properties for preservation.
coastal resilience
The Joint Initiative asks you to consider funding the Regional
Coastal Resilience Grant program consistent with NOAA's fiscal year
2017 budget request at $20 million, a $10 million increase from the
fiscal year 2016 appropriation. An important element of this program is
its ability to provide competitive funding to support multi-State
efforts to coordinate data sharing and improve decisionmaking across
jurisdictions, implement innovative solutions to shared priorities, and
effectively engage ocean and coastal stakeholders. Furthermore,
resilient coastal communities are not only able to minimize loss and
negative impacts to life, property, and the coastal ecosystem, they are
also able to quickly return residents to productive activities and
restore essential services. This is imperative to facilitating full and
timely economic, social, and environmental recovery.
ocean acidification
The Joint Initiative believes the inclusion of $22 million in the
NOAA budget for the Integrated Ocean Acidification program is essential
to help us begin to address the chemistry, variability, and impact of
acidification on the marine environment. Ocean acidification is a
global challenge needing global answers. It is evident along every
shoreline in the United States, and its variability over time, with
depth and horizontal space are not sufficiently measured or understood.
While shellfish and coral reefs receive most of the attention related
to ocean acidification, fisheries, aquaculture, and coastal ecosystems
and economies and jobs around the Nation will be greatly affected.
Funding the Integrated Ocean Acidification program at NOAA at increased
levels will allow us to measure and assess the spatial and temporal
extent of the emerging threat of ocean acidification, and better
understand the complex dynamics causing it.
arctic
The Joint Initiative recommends that Congress make a significant
investment through the fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill toward
implementation of the National Strategy for the Arctic Region.
Increased funding for Federal agencies operating in the Arctic, such as
NOAA and NSF, is essential to our international leadership in the
region and will enable cross-cutting efficiencies with the Coast Guard,
the Navy, and the Department of the Interior.
The Joint Initiative convened an Arctic Ocean Leadership Roundtable
with U.S. Arctic leaders and key stakeholders from multiple sectors to
generate ideas for how local, State, and regional work can inform and
influence national policy with regard to Arctic ocean and coastal
issues. Many of the ideas generated can be implemented with increased
investment in the Arctic. This includes improving coordination and
data-sharing on oil spill planning, preparedness, and response, vessel
tracking, and search-and-rescue, as well as investment in new
icebreakers, aircraft, and shore-based infrastructure. Additionally,
funding Arctic-related programs at NOAA enables a range of important
services essential to understanding the Arctic including ocean
observation, weather and sea ice predictions, mapping and charting, and
sound management of marine resources.
sustained ocean observations
We are strongly supportive of enhanced capabilities for NOAA's
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Integrated Ocean
Observing System, and similar programs at NSF. Specifically we ask you
to consider funding OAR at $500 million to support the continued and
enhanced operations of this vital program. This funding is central to
NOAA's ability to accurately forecast weather, enable communities to
plan for and respond to climate events such as flooding and drought,
and protect and manage the Nation's coastal and ocean resources.
Funding NOAA's Sustained Ocean Observations and Monitoring program
under this account at $42 million will provide information essential
for accurate forecasting of hurricanes, tsunamis, calibrating
satellites observations and monitoring fisheries. Sustained ocean
observations will help maintain the continuity of long-term data sets
that are essential for ensuring that communities are able to respond
and adapt to a rapidly changing world, both today and into the future.
sustainable fisheries
Over the last year, we have seen tremendous progress toward
sustainable fisheries domestically and internationally. Through the
commitment and tireless efforts of our fishermen, fishery management
councils, scientists, and managers, the U.S. is poised to achieve this
historic milestone in natural resource management. Not only that, but
NOAA and other Federal agencies have announced new initiatives to
combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing on a global scale.
The end of chronic overfishing means healthier ocean ecosystems and a
brighter future for fishermen and coastal communities. The Joint
Initiative supports domestic and international efforts to fully
implement the recommendations in the Presidential Task Force on
Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and
Seafood Fraud and applauds Congress on the passage of the implanting
legislation for the Port State Measures Agreement. The Joint Initiative
asks the subcommittee to consider funding NOAA's National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) at the requested level of $900 million and
support other administration initiatives to combat IUU fishing.
ocean exploration
The Joint Initiative appreciates the subcommittee's long standing
support of ocean exploration at NOAA and requests that you provide $32
million for the Ocean Exploration program, consistent with funding in
fiscal year 2016, to at least maintain the pace, scope, and efficiency
of exploration. This would be $12 million above the NOAA budget request
for fiscal year 2017. A bipartisan effort since inception, the Ocean
Exploration program was strongly endorsed by Congress when created in
2002. The program has greatly contributed to our knowledge of the
ocean, producing Arctic surveys which enabled the U.S. to argue for an
extension of our own Exclusive Economic Zone; baseline characterization
of the Deepwater Horizon site in the Gulf before and after the oil
spill; discovery of new gas hydrates stretching from Cape Cod to Cape
Hatteras, with implications for coastal hazards and ocean
acidification; and new fishery habitat maps off the Northeast.
science, research, and education
The Joint Initiative calls attention to the need for consistent and
dedicated funding for ocean science, research, and education. We ask
you to increase funding for ocean science infrastructure, research, and
grant programs at NOAA, NSF, and NASA that are working to improve our
understanding of critical physical and biological ocean processes.
These programs provide local, State, and national decision makers with
the information they need to make informed decisions.
An essential element of ocean science is the supporting
infrastructure. This includes a variety of platforms including ships,
mooring, buoys, gliders, floats and autonomous underwater vehicles, as
well as computational and data management hardware. This core
infrastructure is the backbone of sustained ocean and coastal
observations, and in combination with the remote sensing capabilities,
is essential to establishing and maintaining the long-term in-situ
databases that are essential to understanding changes in physical,
biological and biogeochemical processes and systems. The ocean science
community is dependent upon the infrastructure provided by NOAA, NSF
and the Navy, and it is imperative that Congress provide operational
and maintenance support necessary to keep this infrastructure
functioning, and to support its regular modernization. Support for this
infrastructure is spread across many agencies and programs, and we ask
the subcommittee to recognize and adequately support these programs and
activities.
In particular, we encourage you to provide $7.964 billion for the
NSF, including $1.398 billion for the Geosciences Directorate and its
Division of Ocean Science. NSF's investment in the geosciences has
spurred innovations, addressed important national and global
challenges, spurred new economic sectors, supported research that
produces most of the technical geosciences jobs in American industry,
and led to the development and implementation of advanced technologies
that save lives, protect property, and support our economy. For
example, investments supporting basic research in mathematics, physical
sciences, computer sciences, and geosciences, have led to the
development of sophisticated models, satellites, radar, and
instrumentation that has greatly improved hurricane forecasting, now
allowing for nearly a week of preparations by cities, businesses,
institutions, and unquestionably saving lives. Now more than ever,
America must grow a future technical geoscience workforce while the
price of oil is so low, because we will need that educated workforce
when oil prices recover.
We also urge $2.03 billion in funding for the NASA's Earth Science
Division, up from $1.9 billion in fiscal year 2016 to support
critically important ocean and coastal science and education. NASA
improves our national capabilities to predict climate, weather, and
natural hazards and better manage national resources.
concluding remarks
The Joint Initiative greatly appreciates your commitment to
stretching scarce resources to address the challenges of the world's
greatest maritime nation. We will continue to track progress in
advancing key ocean and coastal programs and accounts in fiscal year
2017 and beyond. Recommendations from ``Charting the Course'' and other
reports from the Joint Initiative identify specific areas of
achievement and deficiency. Implementation of the recommendations will
secure the future of our Nation's ocean ecosystems, and the critical
resources they provide, and ensure that they will be abundant and able
to support America's ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes economies and the
jobs and communities on which our Nation depends. In that spirit, we
urge you to resist riders which complicate the Nation's ability to
coordinate State, regional and national policies to address urgent
coastal and ocean issues.
Thank you for considering our requests as the subcommittee begins
its fiscal year 2017 appropriations process. The Joint Initiative
appreciates your attention to this matter and stands ready to assist
you in advancing positive and lasting changes in the way we manage our
Nation's oceans and coasts.
Joint Initiative Co-Chairs and Leadership Council Members
The Honorable William Ruckelshaus The Honorable Norman Mineta
Frances Beinecke Don Boesch Lillian Borrone
The Honorable Norm Dicks
Quenton Dokken Vice Admiral Paul Gaffney Robert
Gagosian Sherri Goodman
Scott Gudes The Honorable Conrad Lautenbacher
Margaret Leinen
Christopher Lischewski The Honorable Jane Lubchenco
Julie Packard
The Honorable Leon Panetta John Pappalardo
The Honorable Pietro Parravano Diane Regas Randy
Repass
Andrew Rosenberg The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman
______
Prepared Statement of Law Professors on the Constitution and Executive
Action to Reduce Gun Violence
In speaking to the Nation in the wake of the mass shooting at
Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, President Obama implored
Congress to act but also pledged that his administration would take
whatever actions it could to reduce gun violence in America.\1\
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\1\ The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Statement by
the President on the Shootings at Umpqua Community College, Roseburg,
Oregon (Oct. 1, 2015); The White House, Office of the Press Secretary,
Remarks by the President in Press Conference (Oct. 2, 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We, the undersigned professors with expertise in constitutional
law, write to urge the President to follow through on his pledge. There
are numerous actions the administration can take which are fully
consistent with the constitutional limitations on the President's
power, which preserve the Second Amendment rights of Americans, while
reducing gun violence and saving lives.
Twice in the last decade, the Supreme Court has stressed that the
Second Amendment right is ``not unlimited'' and that it is ``not a
right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever
and for whatever purpose.'' \2\ And twice in the last decade, the Court
has made clear that a wide range of gun regulations are presumptively
constitutional and do not infringe the Second Amendment. Indeed, the
Court has endorsed the constitutionality of laws restricting access to
firearms, regulating the carrying and storage of guns, and imposing
conditions on gun sales that can keep guns out of dangerous hands.
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\2\ District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 626 (2008); see
also McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742, 786 (2010) (quoting
Heller).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Court's recognition that these types of laws are compatible
with the Second Amendment reflects the historical understanding of the
constitutional right: since the Colonial and Founding Eras, robust
government regulation of the ownership and use of firearms has
coexisted alongside, and been understood as consistent with, the Second
Amendment.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See generally Saul Cornell, A Well-Regulated Militia: The
Founding Fathers and the Origins Of Gun Control (2006); Adam Winkler,
Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right To Bear Arms in America (2011);
Robert J. Spitzer, Guns Across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and
Rights (2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
That tradition continues today. Alongside numerous firearm laws
adopted by State legislatures and municipal governments across the
country, Congress has enacted a broad range of gun laws designed to
promote public safety. Through a series of Federal statutes adopted
over the course of the last century, Congress has prohibited dangerous
people--including felons, convicted domestic abusers, and the
dangerously mentally ill--from purchasing or possessing firearms.\4\
Congress has required that anyone engaged in the business of dealing
firearms must obtain a Federal license, and has subjected licensed
dealers to inspection and basic record-keeping requirements.\5\ And
Congress has established a National Instant Criminal Background Check
system and mandated that licensed gun dealers conduct criminal
background checks to ensure that would-be gun purchasers are not
prohibited from purchasing a gun.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See 18 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 922(d), (g).
\5\ See id. Sec. 922(a); 27 C.F.R. Sec. 478.1 et seq.
\6\ See 18 U.S.C. Sec. 922.
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Within our constitutional government of divided powers, it falls on
the President to ensure that these congressional mandates ``be
faithfully executed.'' \7\ As such, the President must ensure full
compliance with the Federal gun laws that reflect the clear will of
Congress. To do so, it is appropriate for the administration to issue
such rules and regulations as are necessary to ensure that the laws are
enforced as written and intended. Executive action to ensure robust
enforcement of the law--including issuing clarifying guidance and
directing comprehensive enforcement of Federal gun laws--is entirely
compatible with the will of Congress and the President's constitutional
authority.\8\
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\7\ U.S. Const. art. II, Sec. 3.
\8\ See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579, 636-38
(1952) (Jackson, J., concurring) (noting that the President's authority
is at its lowest when ``incompatible with the express or implied will
of Congress,'' but at its peak when the President acts consistent with
the express or implied will of Congress).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accordingly, we join the many individuals and organizations that
have urged the President to take every action within the power of his
administration to reduce gun violence and save lives. A recent report
by the gun-violence-prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety
outlined more than a dozen actions within the President's power,\9\ and
we urge the administration to act promptly to explore how to implement
these and any other measures within its authority.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Beyond Gridlock: How White House Action on Gun Violence Can
Save Lives, Everytown for Gun Safety (2015), http://
everytownresearch.org/reports/beyond-gridlock/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We do not purport to offer here a comprehensive list of all actions
that the administration might take to reduce gun violence. But we do
highlight several important actions within the administration's power
that would ensure the Federal gun laws are applied consistent with
congressional intent. Among these steps are:
--Clarifying which gun sellers are ``engaged in the business'' of
dealing firearms, and therefore must obtain Federal licenses
and conduct background checks on would-be gun purchasers. Just
as services like eBay and Craigslist allow Americans to offer a
broad range of goods for sale online, numerous Internet
services facilitate the sale of large numbers of firearms by
unlicensed dealers, frequently without conducting any
background checks. The failure of these high-volume sellers to
obtain licenses and conduct background checks creates a ready
source of firearms for dangerous criminals and other prohibited
persons, and fuels the illegal gun trafficking that arms
criminals and undermines efforts to reduce gun violence. The
administration should act to close this dangerous loophole.
--Directing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to identify
which prohibited persons are most likely to commit crimes after
failing a background check when attempting to buy a gun; to
prosecute these individuals for illegally attempting to obtain
firearms; and to inform State law enforcement whenever a
prohibited person in their State fails a background check. It
is common sense that law enforcement has a strong interest in
knowing when anyone the law deems too dangerous to buy a gun
attempts to do so. The administration should act to ensure
prompt and appropriate follow-up by law enforcement when
prohibited persons attempt to buy guns.
--Issuing guidance to ensure that the Federal statute prohibiting gun
possession by persons convicted of ``misdemeanor crimes of
domestic violence'' is interpreted broadly to prohibit gun
possession by convicted abusers, regardless of their marital
status. In 2009, and again just last year, the Supreme Court
made clear that Congress intended the Federal domestic violence
misdemeanor statute to be applied broadly to protect victims of
abuse from gun violence.\10\ To effectuate this congressional
directive, the administration should clarify that the term
``similarly situated to a spouse'' in the domestic violence
misdemeanor law should be interpreted consistent with the
Violence Against Women Act.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ See United States v. Hayes, 482 F.3d 749 (2009); United States
v. Castleman, 572 U.S. __ (2014).
\11\ See 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2266 (2006).
These are just three steps the administration could take today to
help reduce gun violence, and we urge it to explore the numerous other
ways in which executive action can save lives, even in the absence of
new action by Congress. We urge President Obama to direct his
administration to consider these and other steps that may be useful in
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
reducing the deadly toll of American gun violence.
Signed,
Elise Boddie
Associate Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School--Newark
Rebecca L. Brown
The Rader Family Trustee Chair in Law, USC Gould School of Law
Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, UC Irvine School of Law
Lee Epstein
Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor, Washington
University in St. Louis
Daniel A. Farber
Sho Sato Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
Barry Friedman
Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
Jamal Greene
Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Kent Greenfield
Professor of Law and Dean's Research Scholar, Boston College Law School
Ariela Gross
John B. and Alice R. Sharp Professor of Law and History, USC Gould
School of Law
Mark R. Killenbeck
Wylie H. Davis Distinguished Professor, University of Arkansas School
of Law
Carlton F.W. Larson
Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law
Sanford V. Levinson
W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr., Centennial Chair,
University of Texas
William G. Merkel
Associate Professor of Law, Charleston School of Law
Gillian Metzger
Stanley H. Fuld Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Center for
Constitutional Governance, Columbia Law School
Alan B. Morrison
Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest & Public Service Law,
George Washington Law School
Gene Nichol
Boyd Tinsley Distinguished Professor, UNC School of Law
Allen Rostron
Associate Dean for Students and the William R. Jacques Constitutional
Law Scholar and Professor of Law, UMKC School of Law
Lawrence Rosenthal
Professor of Law, Chapman University School of Law
Theodore W. Ruger
Dean and Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania
Law School
Kate Shaw
Assistant Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Neil S. Siegel
David W. Ichel Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science,
Duke Law School
Geoffrey R. Stone
Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law, The University
of Chicago
Keith Werhan
Ashton Phelps Chair in Constitutional Law, Tulane Law School
Adam Winkler
Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law.
University affiliation provided for identification purposes only.
______
Prepared Statement of the Monterey Bay Aquarium
March 24, 2016.
To: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Re: NOAA Marine Debris and Education Programs
Hon. Richard Shelby, Chairman
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
Hon. Barbara Mikulski, Vice Chairwoman
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
Dear Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairwoman Mikulski: On behalf of the
Monterey Bay Aquarium, I am writing to express our strong support for
the Marine Debris Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA). We respectfully request that you make it a
funding priority to include $8,000,000 for the NOAA Marine Debris
Program in the Fiscal Year 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related
Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill.
Our ocean is at increasing risk from growing levels of plastic
pollution. Studies estimate that an average of 8 million metric tons of
plastic enter the global ocean each year. Unless we curb the flow,
scientists estimate that there could be 1 ton of plastic for every 3
tons of fish in the ocean by 2025, posing a risk to water quality,
wildlife and human health. Ocean plastic pollution is an issue that is
especially relevant to our millions of visitors--and to Californians in
general, many of whom have taken action to clean up local beaches and
reduce the use of plastic bags in grocery stores.
For these reasons, we support strengthening the NOAA Marine Debris
Program, which offers competitive grants for aquariums and others to
work with Federal, State, and local partners on marine debris education
and reduction projects. Monterey Bay Aquarium has received $52,306 from
this program for our Ocean Plastic Pollution Summit for Teachers. Over
100 pre-K to 12th grade teachers from throughout California have
participated in the Summit and follow-up activities, learning how to
use the issue of ocean plastic pollution to engage their students in
marine conservation and science.
We also want to join the Association for Zoos and Aquariums in
urging your support for three additional NOAA programs. Specifically,
we request that you include $8,000,000 for the Environmental Literacy
Grants Program, $12,000,000 for the Bay, Watershed, Education and
Training Program, and $4,000,000 for the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal
Rescue Assistance Grant Program in the fiscal year 2017 CJS bill.
Thank you for your ongoing leadership in enhancing ocean health
nationwide.
Sincerely,
Aimee David,
Ocean Conservation Policy Director.
______
Prepared Statement of the National Association of Drug Court
Professionals
To Chairman Shelby, Ranking Member Mikulski, and distinguished
members of the subcommittee, I am honored to have the opportunity to
submit my testimony and respectfully request my statement be entered
into the record.
As we as a Nation look for models of criminal justice reform, we
need to look no further than Drug Courts and Veterans Treatment Courts.
They are evidence-based criminal justice reform in action that have
successfully reduced crime, saved billions of tax dollars, and
transformed the lives of over 1.25 million citizens for decades.
I ask for you to support criminal justice reform in action by
ensuring $50 million for the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program and
$10 million for Veterans Treatment Courts at the Department of Justice,
Office of Justice Programs in fiscal year 2017.
In my home State of Alabama, we have seen firsthand the impact Drug
Courts can have on substance abuse and crime. Thus, earlier this month,
28 Drug Court Judges throughout the State signed a letter to Senator
Shelby urging for funding for these life-saving programs. I have
included a copy of the letter in my testimony.
For far too long, we attempted to incarcerate our way out of an
epidemic of substance abuse and crime instead of addressing the core
issue of addiction. Our first Drug Court in Alabama launched in 1993,
and since then, another 116 have opened their doors. As a Chief
Justice, I felt I had an obligation to ensure that justice in my State
was meted out as effectively, efficiently and with the greatest results
on public safety as possible. This is the reason I pushed so ardently
for the establishment of Drug Courts. And I am not alone. The
Conference of Chief Justices, an organization of which I am proud to
have been a member, represents the highest State judicial officers in
the Nation. The Conference has called Drug Courts ``the most effective
strategy for reducing drug abuse and criminal recidivism among criminal
offenders.'' As former Chairman of the Conference of Chief Justices,
Conference of State Court Administrators Criminal Justice and
Evidenced-Based Sentencing Committee, I can assure you that the Chief
Justices and State Court Administrators are adamant in their support of
data-driven solutions to drug-induced crime. The answer is Drug Courts.
And the U.S. Government Accountability Office agrees. In 2011, it
released its fourth report on Drug Courts, concluding once again that
Drug Courts reduce recidivism and cut crime. The report confirmed that
Drug Courts reduce crime by up to 58 percent.
There is no questioning the explosive impact that substance abuse
has had on our criminal justice system. As a Nation, we annually spend
a staggering $60 billion on corrections, an investment that has done
little to stem the tide of crime or substance abuse. Half of the
Nation's prison population is clinically addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Upon their release, nearly all will relapse into substance abuse, and
as many as 80 percent will commit a new crime (typically drug-related).
In this revolving door pattern, it is easy to see why spending on
corrections remains exorbitant. Given the abysmal outcomes of
incarceration on addictive behavior, there's absolutely no
justification for State governments to continue to waste tax dollars
feeding a situation where generational recidivism is becoming the norm,
and parents, children and grandparents may find themselves locked up
together. This is simply an appalling fiscal policy. But there is a
solution.
From serving our veterans addicted to prescription drugs to aiding
countless methamphetamine addicts; from helping juveniles addicted to
designer drugs to parents facing the loss of their children to
addiction; from rural towns to our largest cities; from an alternative
to incarceration to re-entry into the community, Drug Courts save vast
resources and tax dollars by reducing drug abuse, crime and recidivism
at a level unmatched by any other program in our Nation's history.
However, we have a long way to go. The Department of Justice has
reported that 1.2 million offenders would be eligible for Drug Court if
one were made available to them. To be smart on crime, we must expand
the existing Drug Court system to ensure every eligible offender
receives a chance at these life-saving programs.
Now more than ever, we must focus on proven programs that guarantee
financial returns and measurable success. There is simply no better
investment this Congress can make than in Drug Courts. Drug Courts have
been proven through rigorous scientific research to decrease crime,
save taxpayer dollars, rehabilitate offenders, and restore families and
communities. No other criminal justice or behavioral healthcare program
has a comparable record of success or such strong bipartisan support in
Congress. One would be hard-pressed to identify another Federal program
that has been as avidly endorsed and sustained by States and counties.
Supported by policy analysts on both ends of the political spectrum,
Drug Courts offer a roadmap for a practical, evidence-based and
fiscally conservative drug policy that works.
I strongly urge an investment of $50 million for the Drug Court
Discretionary Grant Program and $10 million for Veterans Treatment
Courts at DOJ. Adequate funding for Drug Courts and Veterans Treatment
Courts will ultimately save countless lives and tax dollars in not only
Alabama, but every State in this great Nation.
[This statement was submitted by former Chief Justice of Alabama
Sue Bell Cobb.]
______
Prepared Statement of the National Association of Marine Laboratories
The National Association of Marine Laboratories (NAML) is a
nonprofit organization representing the ocean, coastal and Great Lakes
interests of member laboratories that employ thousands of scientists,
engineers and professionals nationwide. NAML labs conduct high quality
research which is used to improve decisionmaking on important issues
related to our coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes. In setting NAML's
priorities, NAML recognizes the importance of the Federal investment in
the geosciences and related disciplines as contributory factors to the
Nation's economic and national security, and public safety.
Specifically, NAML supports:
--Enhancing research, education and public engagement at marine labs
for the continued development of the Nation's workforce,
expansion of opportunities for active learning and
collaborative research, and improved public engagement;
--Increasing support for competitive, merit-based ocean, coastal, and
Great Lakes research and education from relevant Federal
agencies to address research priorities and agency mission
priorities; and
--Promoting a network of advanced connectivity among Federal and non-
Federal laboratories that strengthens the Nation's research and
education enterprise--including advanced cyber infrastructure,
integration of environmental observing systems, and the co-
location of Federal scientists and infrastructure at NAML
facilities.
Six economic sectors of the U.S. economy depend on the oceans,
coasts, and Great Lakes, which provide an important and resilient part
of the national economy: including marine construction; living
resources; offshore mineral extraction; ship and boat building; tourism
and recreation; and marine transportation. According to NOAA, in 2012,
the ocean economy accounted for 147,000 business establishments, 2.9
million employees, $113 billion in wages, and $343 billion in gross
domestic product. In 2012, the ocean economy's contribution to gross
domestic product grew by 10.5 percent--more than four times as fast as
the U.S. economy as a whole (which grew by 2.5 percent). During the
same year, employment in the ocean economy increased 3.8 percent
(adding 108,000 jobs). This was twice the national average employment
growth of 1.8 percent.
Programs such as NOAA's Sea Grant program, NSF's geoscience and
biological sciences research programs including the Field Stations and
Marine Laboratories program, NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve
System, ocean observing and education programs at NSF and NOAA, and
other agencies' national estuaries and other water-related programs all
contribute to either the continued economic development of our coastal
economies and/or the improved management of coastal and marine natural
resources.
research and education: commitment to innovation
Innovation in the form of new goods, services, or processes builds
new knowledge and technology, contributes to national competitiveness,
improves living standards, and furthers social welfare. Research and
development is a major driver of innovation. R&D expenditures indicate
the priority given to advancing science and technology relative to
other national goals.
According to the latest data, the U.S. science and engineering
(S&E) enterprise still leads the world. The United States invests the
most in research and development (R&D), produces the most advanced
degrees in science and engineering and high-impact scientific
publications, and remains the largest provider of information,
financial, and business services. However, Southeast, South, and East
Asia continue to rapidly ascend in many aspects of S&E. The region now
accounts for 40 percent of global R&D, with China as the stand-out as
it continues to strengthen its global S&E capacity. The National
Science Board's (NSB) Science and Engineering Indicators 2016
(Indicators) report highlights that China, South Korea and India are
investing heavily in R&D and in developing a well-educated workforce
skilled in science and engineering. Indicators 2016 makes it clear that
while the United States continues to lead in a variety of metrics, it
exists in an increasingly multi-polar world for S&E that revolves
around the creation and use of knowledge and technology.
At the same time that China and other Asian nations have continued
to increase their R&D investments, the United States' commitment to
Federal Government-funded R&D has declined. Federal obligations for the
total of R&D and R&D plant were $129 billion in fiscal year 2008, $145
billion in fiscal year 2009, and $147 billion in fiscal year 2010. But
the years thereafter have been mostly marked by funding declines:
fiscal years 2011 and 2012 were down $6--$7 billion from the fiscal
year 2010 peak and then declined further to $127 billion in fiscal year
2013. In fiscal year 2014, the total increased to $131 billion.
Nonetheless, the drop from the fiscal year 2010 level to that in fiscal
year 2014 is a current dollar decline of 11 percent--and when inflation
is factored in, it is steeper still, at 17 percent. Since the Great
Recession, substantial, real R&D growth annually--ahead of the pace of
U.S. GDP--has not returned. Inflation-adjusted growth in total U.S. R&D
averaged only 0.8 percent annually over the 2008-2013 period, behind
the 1.2 percent annual average for U.S. GDP.
The Nation is faced with a widening gap between the actual level of
Federal funding for research and education and what the investment
needs to be if the United States is to remain the world's innovation
leader. The Nation needs to increase its investments in research and
education to develop the ideas, the people, and the innovations that
power the Nation's economy, create jobs, improve health, and strengthen
our national security, ensuring the United States maintains its role as
a global leader.
national science foundation
NSF's annual budget represents 25 percent of the total Federal
budget for basic research conducted at U.S. colleges and universities,
and this share increases to 60 percent when medical research is
excluded. In many fields NSF is the primary source of Federal academic
support. For example, NSF provides 61 percent of all Federal support
for basic research at academic institutions in the environmental
sciences and 66 percent in biology (excluding the biomedical sciences).
NSF provides the broadest base of support, including funding for
research in physical, biological, and chemical oceanography and marine
geology and geophysics, and the development, implementation, and
operational support for ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes research
infrastructure.
NAML strongly supports robust funding for NSF particularly in the
geo and biological sciences. Since fiscal year 2011, despite an
increase of nearly 10 percent to the NSF research and related account,
funding for the geosciences has remained nearly flat. This has
exacerbated the budgetary pressures on core research programs and the
support for infrastructure throughout the directorate and as
specifically addressed in the Decadal Study on Ocean Sciences (DSOS).
The fiscal year 2017 NSF budget request contains a proposed 6 percent
increase for both the geosciences and the biological sciences, with a
6.5 percent increase for NSF's entire research budget. NAML strongly
supports this requested investment in research and education through
NSF. Research emphases at NSF should reflect the priority science
questions contained in DSOS. NSF's support for ocean research
infrastructure should be realigned with these research priorities. NAML
is particularly supportive of the creation of new research networks
that connect NAML laboratories and terrestrial field stations in ways
that would enhance other ecosystem networks (e.g., LTERs) supported by
NSF. NAML embraces this and other recommendations, which stem, in part,
from Enhancing the Value and Sustainability of Field Stations and
Marine Laboratories in the 21st Century.
NAML notes the increasing share of NSF's division of ocean
science's funding to support facilities and infrastructure, is
approaching 50 percent of the total division's budget. This is up
substantially from the historical 40 percent share. Advanced
infrastructure, while expensive, is essential for the field to move
forward. However, the support for infrastructure must be balanced with
the need to support individual investigators--particularly young
investigators--with the resources needed for high quality research
activities. The DSOS considers marine laboratories and field stations
critical for the research priorities related to coastal and estuarine
oceans, biodiversity and marine ecosystems, and marine food webs. NAML
endorses the recommendations of DSOS including:
--To sustain a robust ocean science community, holistic fiscal
planning is necessary to maintain a balance of investments
between core research programs and infrastructure. To maintain
a resolute focus on sustaining core research programs during
flat or declining budgets, NSF should strive to control
operating costs of its major infrastructure programs over the
next 5 years.
--NSF should reconsider whether the current regional class research
vessels (RCRV) design is aligned with scientific needs and is
cost effective in terms of long-term O&M pressures, and after
doing so, should act accordingly.
--NSF should expand its partnership capabilities with other Federal
agencies and international partners, particularly with regard
to shared community research priorities (e.g., climate change,
ocean acidification, hypoxia, HABs, etc.).
national oceanic and atmospheric administration
One of NOAA's key priorities is providing information and services
to make communities more resilient to coastal hazards. America's
coastal communities and shorelines are facing escalating risks from
changes in storm intensity, precipitation, flooding, rising sea levels,
and ocean ecosystems, as well as from earthquakes and tsunamis that can
result in dramatic human and economic losses. Increasing population
density along the coast will further intensify pressures on
ecologically and economically important areas, and put more people at
risk. Rising sea level can further escalate the costs and risks of
inundation events. A study by the National Institute of Building
Sciences on Federal hazard mitigation grants estimated that $1 spent on
hazard mitigation potentially leads to avoidance of $4 in disaster
relief costs and lost Federal tax revenue. Smartly investing in
resilience strategies and programs will reduce the economic impacts of
these hazards and improve national economic security. Similarly, the
Great Lakes region boasts a massive geographic footprint, and is a
major driver of the North American economy. With economic output of
$4.7 trillion in 2011, the region accounts for 28 percent of combined
Canadian and U.S. economic activity. Continued investments will be
required to modernize the Nation's critical infrastructure in the very
near future. This represents an opportunity to incorporate green
infrastructure materials and strategies into communication,
transportation, water supply and other critical systems.
Continued support for NOAA's coastal programs will be necessary to
ensure that these systems are resilient to extreme weather, natural
disasters and other hazards. Comprehensive resilience planning will
help protect coastal communities and resources from the effects of
hazards and land-based pollution to vulnerable ecosystems by addressing
competing uses, improving water quality and fostering integrated
management for sustainable uses. Geospatial services will support
communities, navigation and economic efficiency with accurate, useful
characterizations, charts and maps, and assessment and decision support
tools. NOAA programs and services will help build capacity among
coastal decision makers to adaptively manage coastal communities and
ecosystems with the best natural and social science available.
Resilient coastal communities and economies cannot be achieved without
strong partnerships. NOAA should increase its outreach to and usage of
NAML laboratories by increasing support of existing programs before
embarking on the establishment of new, potentially duplicative,
programs.
NAML strongly supports recommendations that call for priority
support for NOAA extramural programs. Extramural funding enables NOAA
to leverage its R&D and operational investments with the resources of
the Nation's leading university scientists resulting in greater and
faster scientific advances at lower costs. A predictable and reliable
partnership with the extramural research community is critical to
NOAA's long-term success. The NOAA budget request for fiscal year 2017
includes requested increases for the Office of Coastal Management
(OCM), the Coastal Science and Assessment, including the Competitive
Research program that supports harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, and the
coastal resilience management grants program which NAML is pleased to
support. NAML is concerned, however, with proposed reductions in
oceans, coastal, and Great Lakes research--including the National Sea
Grant College Program, the Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Cooperative
Institutes and Ocean Exploration and Research.
As available resources become scarcer and major program
reorganizations may be considered, NOAA should expand its efforts to
co-locate agency research staff and infrastructure at non-Federal
marine laboratories. Such actions will not only result in significant
cost savings, but also will achieve a greater return for its investment
and increase scientific collaborations and productivity. NAML also
continues to express concern with NOAA proposals contained in
appropriation language requests that would enable NOAA to compete with
non-Federal and private entities for private sector support (See
proposed Sec 109 on p. 219 of the Appendix to the Budget of the U.S.
Government for Fiscal Year 2017). NOAA should adhere to its public-
private partnership policy, which recognizes the distinct, yet
cooperative, roles of the public and private sectors as it relates to
environmental information.
education, diversity and an ocean literate america
The United States continues to be at risk with respect to student
achievement in science, technology, engineering and math among
industrialized nations, as well as, emerging industrializing nations.
As reported in Indicators: the Program for International Student
Assessment data show that the U.S. average mathematics and science
literacy scores are below the average scores for all developed
countries, and the United States has substantially fewer high scores
and more low scores than other developed countries. U.S. students'
average mathematics score of 481 in 2012 was lower than the average
score for all developed countries, 501. The average science literacy
score for U.S. students in 2012 was 497, lower than the average science
score of 511 for all developed countries.
NAML continues to believe it is critically important that we
improve ocean literacy and workforce development among all sectors of
our nation. Place-based networks such as NAML offer unique
opportunities to provide hands-on training in diverse field settings
with advanced sampling and sensing technologies The importance of
marine laboratories in support of coastal States' environmental
literacy plans is essential in developing a literate public. Investment
is needed today in coastal, ocean and Great Lakes education programs at
NAML laboratories that support formal and informal learning at all age
levels, in all disciplines and for all Americans. NAML supports the
administration's proposed $7 billion investment in STEM education
across the Federal Government--with its expansion of access to rigorous
STEM courses, improving STEM teaching and support for active learning,
and expansion of opportunities for all students in STEM education. NAML
laboratories believe the mission agencies have a role in helping to
educate and train the workforce they will need in the future to carry
out their missions. Therefore, NAML strongly objects the proposed
budget reductions to NOAA's education programs. NAML also continues to
strongly support partnerships with Federal agencies to address the
ocean education needs of the Nation.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this information for the
fiscal year 2017 appropriations process.
______
Prepared Statement of the National Children's Alliance
Chairman Shelby, Vice-Chair Mikulski and members of the
subcommittee:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony regarding the
funding priorities of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.
National Children's Alliance is the member-accrediting body for
almost 800 Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) throughout the United
States. We empower local communities to respond to child abuse by
providing grants for the start-up and development of CACs, which
coordinate a multidisciplinary team for the investigation, prosecution,
and treatment of child abuse. Funded through the Victims of Child Abuse
Act, these critical centers served more than 311,000 child victims of
abuse throughout the United States in 2015; a majority of whom were
victims of sexual abuse. In addition, CACs provided more than 1.8
million individuals with child abuse prevention education. As you begin
drafting your subcommittee's fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill, we
respectfully urge you to again fully fund the Victims of Child Abuse
Act program at its current authorized level of $20 million in the
Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, Juvenile Justice
Account.
child sexual abuse
Children of every gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and
family structure are at risk for sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse is a
crime perpetuated by silence and secrecy. Isolation, whether within a
family or by community, adds significant risk for sexual abuse.
Children who live in rural areas, for example, are almost 2 times more
likely to be identified as victims of child sexual abuse.\1\
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\1\ Sedlack, et al 2010.
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Understanding the scope of the problem also requires understanding
that child sexual abuse exists on a continuum of deviant and harmful
behavior by the perpetrator that begins on one end with secretive and
furtive victimization, slides into amateur or professional photo-
documentation of that abuse primarily for the sexual gratification of
the offender, may move toward commercialization or public sharing of
those images with other offenders, and on the far end of that continuum
may include prostituting or trafficking the child. And, of course, a
child may experience one, all, or some combination of these forms of
child sexual abuse.
responding to child abuse and the role of children's advocacy centers
Children's Advocacy Centers play a key role in the investigation
and prosecution of child abuse cases, and in the healing of victims.
CACs are child-friendly facilities in which a multidisciplinary team
comprised of law enforcement, child protective services, prosecutors,
victim advocates, medical practitioners, and mental health
professionals convenes and coordinates its efforts to investigate and
prosecute child abuse cases while protecting children and providing
needed treatment to victims. Across the United States, there are almost
800 Children's Advocacy Centers, which together served more than
311,000 child victims of abuse in 2015 alone.
The majority of these Children's Advocacy Centers were founded
after the passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act in 1990; which was
an important part of Congress' efforts to improve the investigation,
prosecution, and treatment of child abuse. Monies appropriated by
Congress, each year since 1992, have improved the response within
existing Centers, while aiding the development of new Children's
Advocacy Centers in areas previously underserved. This much appreciated
Federal investment has been used to leverage State funding, private
foundations, and local community donors.
This investment has yielded significant returns. The model of
comprehensive care for child abuse victims has significant evidence of
its efficacy. Independent research has found that child abuse cases
coordinated through a Children's Advocacy Center have:
--a shortened length of time to disposition; \2\
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\2\ Walsh, W.A., Lippert, T., Cross, T. P., Maurice, D. M. &
Davison, K. S. (2008). How long to prosecute child sexual abuse for
community using a children`s advocacy center and two comparison
communities? Child Maltreatment, 13(1), 3-13.
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--increased rates of prosecution; \3\
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\3\ Smith, D. W., Witte, T. H., & Fricker-Elhai, A. E. (2006).
Service outcomes in physical and sexual abuse cases: A comparison of
child advocacy center-based and standard services. Child Maltreatment,
11(4), 354-60.
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--more satisfaction on the part of child victims and their non-
offending caregivers; \4\
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\4\ Lalayants, M., & Epstein, I. (2005). Evaluating
multidisciplinary child abuse and neglect teams: a research agenda.
Child Welfare, 84(4), 433-58.
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--higher levels of service provision for medical evaluations; and
--increased referrals for mental health treatment than non-CAC
cases.\5\
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\5\ Smith et al 2006.
In short, the multidisciplinary team approach has shown that it is
possible to reduce trauma to child victims of abuse while improving the
legal outcome of cases and holding offenders accountable. And, at a
time when financial resources are limited at every level of government,
Children's Advocacy Centers have been demonstrated to save on average
over $1,000 per child abuse case compared to non-CAC communities.\6\
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\6\ Formby, J., Shadoin, A. L., Shao, L, Magnuson, S. N., &
Overman, L. B. (2006). Cost-benefit Analysis of community responses to
child maltreatment: A comparison of communities with and without Child
Advocacy Centers. (Research Report No. 06-3). Huntsville, Alabama:
National Children's Advocacy Center.
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the victims of child abuse act
Sadly, this effective and efficient response is not available to
every child sexual abuse victim in the United States. Currently, abused
children in 2,104 counties in the United States have access to the
services of a Children's Advocacy Center. This also means that abused
children in more than 1,000 counties have no access to this
comprehensive care. Indeed, those areas that are underserved are the
most rural, most geographically isolated, and the most resource-poor
parts of our country. But, these children are not simply Alabama's
children, or Maryland's children, or Mississippi's children: they are
America's children. Indeed, the Victims of Child Abuse Act was
conceived by Congress on a bipartisan basis to create and sustain a
support system for every law enforcement officer and prosecutor
combating child abuse across the Nation, while also ensuring a network
of care for the victims. And in 2014, Congress reaffirmed its
overwhelming support of federally funding the Victims of Child Abuse
Act by unanimously reauthorizing the statue.
Children's Advocacy Centers are also uniquely equipped to be the
first point of contact for victims of child trafficking. Recent
research indicates that ``one of the major ways that officers
[reported] compromising previous potential human trafficking
investigations was through poor interviewing of victims.'' \7\ In that
same report, researchers noted that ``human trafficking victims who
suffer from trauma may require multiple interviews before they can
accurately discuss the victimization they experience.'' \8\ For more
than 25 years, Children's Advocacy Centers have proven their forensic
interviewing techniques, and trauma-focused intervention services, help
victims through the process. And, more recently, many of our CACs have
begun developing programs specifically aimed at providing services for
trafficking victims, funded in part with Victims of Child Abuse Act
monies.
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\7\ Farrell A., McDevitt J., Pfeffer R., Fahy S., Owens C., Dank
M., Adams W. (2012). Identifying Challenges to Improve the
Investigation and Prosecution of State and Local Human Trafficking
Cases. Northeastern University's Institute on Race and Justice and the
Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center, pp 96-97.
\8\ Ibid.
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Beyond intervention services for victims and their families,
Children's Advocacy Centers also provide training to their
multidisciplinary team members. Last year, National Children's
Alliance, and their Children's Advocacy Center members and partners,
provided training to more than 67,000 child abuse professionals.
Investigating, prosecuting, and treating child abuse is complex and
specialized work that requires highly trained professionals and access
to continuing education for those professionals. Because 98 percent of
child abuse investigations and prosecutions occur at the State/local
level, training resources using Federal funds should likewise be driven
down to this level, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act funding supports
this vital training.
While this network has been deeply threatened over the past several
years when funding for the Victims of Child Abuse Act was either
eliminated or cut in half within the President's Department of Justice
budgets, Congress's continued support to ignore the request and restore
these critical funds ensures victim services for those in need.
We understand that the past few budget years, and current budget
climate, have forced increasingly difficult choices on Congress and the
administration and are deeply grateful the Victims of Child Abuse Act
continues to receive full funding. This modest Federal funding
investment leverages Children's Advocacy Centers as a vital resource to
law enforcement and prosecutors, ensuring that our communities are
safer and offenders are held accountable.
services for child sexual abuse victims
While child abuse investigations are important to the safety of
victims and the accountability of offenders, we must also help victims
learn to cope with the trauma. Child sexual abuse has well-documented
life-long effects. Victims of child sexual abuse are more likely than
their non-abused counterparts to become pregnant as teens, to drop out
of high school, to abuse substances, to engage in self-destructive and
risk-taking behavior, and to experience anxiety and depression. As
adults, these individuals have increased morbidity and mortality,
suffering from a host of physical and mental ailments at higher rates
than their non-abused peers.\9\ Moreover, their own children are more
likely to suffer sexual abuse during the course of their lifetimes than
other children. This is truly the saddest possible cycle of abuse.\10\
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\9\ Dube S.R., Anda R.F., Whitfield C.L., Brown D.W., Felitti V.J.,
Dong M., Giles W.H. (2005). Long-term consequences of childhood sexual
abuse by gender of victim. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28
(5), pp. 430-438.
\10\ Penelope K. Trickett, Jennie G. Noll and Frank W. Putnam
(2011). The impact of sexual abuse on female development: Lessons from
a multigenerational, longitudinal research study. Development and
Psychopathology, 23, pp 453-476 doi:10.1017/S0954579411000174.
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This host of maladies is the result of the trauma caused by abuse.
Child abuse victims experience rates of trauma symptoms (hyperarousal,
fear, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression) at rates verging on
those experienced by war veterans. Fortunately, much has been learned
over the past 15 years about successfully treating trauma in children.
Every child who has been the victim of abuse deserves to be assessed to
see if they would benefit from mental health treatment, and if so, to
have it provided to them promptly.
Abused children served within Children's Advocacy Centers have
access to such trauma-focused, evidence-supported mental health
treatment. For the more than 311,000 children served within Children's
Advocacy Centers last year, there is no doubt that the care they
received was improved, and suffering they experienced was reduced for
having had access to such treatment.
in summary
Child sexual abuse is a far too common experience for America's
children. And child sexual abuse is preventable. More than 2 decades of
research reflects the effectiveness of child sexual abuse prevention
and body safety information for children. One of the most effective
prevention and response systems is available through Children's
Advocacy Centers. There are close to 800 such centers throughout the
United States that have been proven to be cost-effective and efficient
in coordinating the investigation, prosecution, and protection of
children while ensuring that child victims of abuse receive effective
treatment. While the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases
is important in holding offenders accountable, this alone is not
sufficient to help victims heal. Victims require trauma-focused,
evidence-supported mental health treatment in order to heal.
We urge your strong support for again funding the Victims of Child
Abuse Act at $20 million for fiscal year 2017 to provide valuable
assistance to law enforcement, keep communities safer, and strengthen
justice and healing for victims. Thank you.
______
Prepared Statement of the National Estuarine Research Reserve
Association
Chairman and members of the subcommittee, my name is Cory Riley and
I am the Manager of the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
in New Hampshire, administered by the new Hampshire Fish and Game
Department. I submit this testimony in my capacity as President of the
National Estuarine Research Reserve Association (NERRA). NERRA is a
not-for-profit scientific and educational organization dedicated to the
protection, understanding, and science-based management of our Nation's
estuaries and coasts.
Thank you on behalf of these special places and all of the
communities they support. We appreciate the investment Congress has
made in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System over the past 42
years. Because of your support, this system has grown into a network 28
protected places where more than 36,000 people use research reserves to
address critical challenges like how to balance conservation with
economic growth, plan for changing sea levels and extreme storms,
protect nursery habitat that supports fishing, and prepare our children
to be wise stewards of these precious resources in the future.
A national program with local relevance
Twenty-eight National Estuarine Research Reserves have been
designated in 22 States and Puerto Rico, protecting over 1.3 million
acres of land and water in perpetuity. This unique State-Federal
partnership brings the scientific expertise and financial investment of
NOAA into coastal communities across the country. Investments in the
research reserves support locally implemented science-based coastal
resource management, research, and education programs. As a network,
the sites study important estuarine trends, and conduct science-based
education and outreach to meet national priorities as mandated by
Congress in the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) of 1972.
The NERRS program has grown as States have increasingly recognized
the value of the program. The addition of new reserves has provided
more science, training, and education resources that can be applied
nationally. However, the cost associated with operating the NERR
program nationally has increased given the recent addition of two
reserves (Texas and Wisconsin) with a third (Hawaii) entering the
system in fiscal year 2017, and a fourth (Connecticut) engaged in the
designation process now. NERRA would like to expand the network while
continuing high quality programs at each reserve and maintaining the
national infrastructure needed to monitor each site. To do this, the
system will need more funding.
NERRA encourages investing $900,000 above the administration request
For fiscal year 2017, NERRA strongly recommends the following
reserve system programs and funding levels within the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
NERRS Operations $23.9 million
NERRS Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction $1.7 million
(PAC)
The administration's fiscal year 2017 request for the NERRS is $23
million; leaving a $900 thousand dollar gap between the administration
request and NERRA's request. After reviewing the detailed NOAA budget
request sent to the Congress, we believe that the States are
inadequately supported to implement this national program and
compromised in their ability to fulfill the vision of Congress in its
creation of the NERRS program. NERRA is deeply concerned with the
administration's funding levels that we believe are inconsistent with
key tenants of NOAA's own strategic plan--specifically, enhancing
community and economic resiliency and strengthening science in support
of coastal resource management.
The Administration's fiscal year 2017 requested funding level will
diminish the NERRS's capacity to:
1. Maintain and improve coastal intelligence: Reserves provide
environmental observing and water quality data and products based on
the most comprehensive national, long-term data set on estuarine
conditions. System-wide monitoring and data networks provide immediate
and long-term information to understand harmful algal blooms, assess
water quality, identify habitat impacts from changing sea levels, aid
in weather forecasting, and improve response to storm surge. Hundreds
of entities use the NERRS water quality and weather data, including;
State water quality control programs, county health departments,
shellfish growers and fishing industry professionals, the National
Weather Service, and insurance companies.
2. Serve as an early warning center for changes to our coast:
Reserves are working to understand changes in water levels, acidity,
salinity and elevation on our coasts. In addition, reserves are
sentinels for changes to tidal marshes, mangroves and sea grass beds.
These habitats provide a wide range of highly valued ecosystem services
such as nursery habitat for commercial and recreational important fish,
erosion and flood control, and water quality improvements.
Understanding how the coastal conditions are changing in relation to
stressors such as storm surge, changes in precipitation, sea level
rise, and development patterns is critical to understanding the ability
of natural coastal habitats to provide food, flood storage, and
pollution mitigation.
NERRS provide needed services at a low cost
Coastal dependent communities, businesses and industries rely on
research reserve generated information about coastal conditions; local
boards and elected officials rely on the reserves to provide relevant
information and data related to hazards and sea level rise; and
educators rely on reserves to teach students and teachers how to
collect, analyze and translate environmental data. Funding of $23.9
million for the NERRS is the minimal amount needed to provide each
reserve with the necessary funding to insure that cuts to the States as
well as to existing core programs and services do not occur.
Investments in the NERRS are dollar-smart because funding for the
program is matched by the States and leveraged significantly, resulting
in an average of more than five other local and State partners
contributing to the work at each reserve. In addition, the program
significantly benefits from volunteers that are engaged in habitat
restoration, citizen science and education which offset operation costs
at reserves by donating thousands of hours. Annually, volunteers
contribute more than 100,000 hours to the NERRS with an estimated value
of over $2.2 million.
NERRA encourages investment in NERRS PAC funds and BWET grants
The NERRS Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction (PAC) funding
is designated for land conservation, through acquisition of priority
lands, and essential facilities construction and upgrades. This
competitive funding program is matched by State funds and is critical
to maintaining the places that host NERR research, education and
outreach. These funds have resulted in not only the preservation of
critical coastal lands as described above, but also in the increase of
construction jobs. For example NERRS creates more than 60 jobs for each
$1 million of Federal construction (PAC) money spent. In addition,
NERRS leveraged investments of more than $115 million to purchase over
30,000 acres of coastal property over the last 12 years.
Within the budget request for NOAA, the administration is again
proposing the elimination of funding for the Bay-Watershed Education
and Training (B-WET) regional programs--a reduction of $7.2 million in
funding. The rationale provided for program reductions is misleading in
stating that NOAA education experiences will continue to be provided by
programs including the NERRS. Where States are eligible for B-WET
funding, reserves are able to increase their educational capacity by as
much as 50 percent. The B-WET regional program funding is money that is
spent in addition to the annual NERRS money invested in the education
programs, allowing each program to reach more students and teachers in
coastal communities. The NERRS educate more than 83,000 children
annually. NERRA strongly opposes the cut of B-WET regional programs and
any of the other NOAA STEM educational programs.
conclusion
NERRA greatly appreciates the past support the subcommittee has
provided. This support is critical to sustain and increase the economic
viability of coastal and estuary-based industries.
With NERRA's fiscal year 2017 request of $23.9 million for the
NERRS Operations and $1.7 million for NERRS PAC, the program will be
able to maintain delivery of credible scientific research and
translation to the 28 reserves around the country. We urge the
subcommittee to support this request, and to restore funding for the B-
WET regional programs.
Thank you for the opportunity to present these remarks. On behalf
of NERRA, I would be happy to answer questions or provide additional
information to the subcommittee.
______
Prepared Statement of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
Fiscal Year 2017 Appropriations Request
The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF) works with Congress
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to
connect fellow citizens to the underwater places that define the
American ocean--the National Marine Sanctuary System.
NMSF applauds the subcommittee's continued support for America's
national marine sanctuaries. But, we remain concerned that NOAA's
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) has not received
sufficient appropriations for several budget cycles. Recognizing the
strong and growing public support within communities and the economic
growth and job creation benefits provided by sanctuaries, NMSF
respectfully requests the subcommittee remedy this situation by
appropriating:
--$55 million to Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas, within
NOAA's Operations, Research, and Facilities account; and
--$5.5 million to Marine Sanctuaries Construction, within NOAA's
Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction account.
Joining NMSF in this request is a national network of community-
based, non-profit organizations that support sites within the sanctuary
system. On behalf of their members, the California Marine Sanctuary
Foundation (California), Cordell Marine Sanctuary Foundation
(California), Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association (California),
Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (Michigan), Gray's
Reef National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (Georgia), Hawai`i National
Marine Sanctuary Foundation (Hawaii), and Sanctuary Friends Foundation
of the Florida Keys (Florida) support funding the National Marine
Sanctuary System at these levels.
A Growing Grassroots Movement: Strengthening the National Marine
Sanctuary System
The National Marine Sanctuary System consists of 14 sites
encompassing over 170,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters
from Washington State to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to
American Samoa. Sanctuaries protect vibrant ocean ecosystems, conserve
essential habitat for endangered and commercially important marine
species, and safeguard historical and cultural resources.
The American people have seen the benefits that sanctuaries provide
for local communities and our Nation, and they are voicing their
support. Communities are coming together to discuss how to protect our
ocean, coasts and Great Lakes by strengthening existing sites and
nominating and designating new sanctuaries for the first time in 15
years. The expansions of Thunder Bay, Greater Farallones, and Cordell
Bank national marine sanctuaries were grounded and driven by broad-
based, diverse community support and Congressional leadership.
Likewise, recent nominations and designations for new sites are
championed by local leaders bringing together their communities.
Just as the Nation is on the verge of celebrating and conserving
its maritime resources and heritage, ONMS should receive additional
funding to be responsive to the growing grassroots movement for
national marine sanctuaries in communities nationwide.
Sanctuaries are Highly-Participatory, Multi-Use, Balanced Ocean
Conservation Tools
Communities nationwide benefit from the highly participatory,
multi-use, balanced approach offered by national marine sanctuaries.
Generations of Americans have grown up, worked jobs, and supported
their families on the waters of our national marine sanctuaries. Among
all the statutes enacted by Congress to govern ocean resources, the
National Marine Sanctuaries Act stands alone in terms of the
comprehensiveness, transparency and balanced approach provided for all
stakeholders.
An independent legal analysis concluded that ``the National Marine
Sanctuaries Act is the best existing mechanism available for preserving
ocean ecosystems,'' due to sanctuaries' commitment to public
participation, community engagement, and use of a place- and ecosystem-
based approach.\1\ Unlike other ocean resource laws, the National
Marine Sanctuaries Act protects nationally significant places and their
natural, historical, and cultural riches. Experience shows that this
approach is vital to maintaining the healthy seascapes that underpin
our productive economies, supporting thousands of businesses while
maintaining public access for recreation, science, exploration, and
education.
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\1\ Perkins Coie LLP. (2013) ``Area-Based Management of Marine
Resources: A Comparative Analysis of the National Marine Sanctuaries
Act and Other Federal and State Legal Authorities.'' Available: http://
www.nmsfocean.org/files/ABMReport.pdf.
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National Marine Sanctuaries are Economic Engines for Coastal
Communities
Sanctuaries foster economic growth, support jobs and businesses,
generate billions of dollars in local revenue, preserve underwater and
maritime treasures, and provide valuable public access for ocean
recreation, research, exploration, and education. Because of strong
ties to the local communities, businesses, and organizations,
sanctuaries are able to heavily leverage private funds and
contributions for taxpayer benefits, ensuring that the benefits of
funding national marine sanctuaries far outweigh the Federal outlays
that support them.
Last year, the 14 sites in the sanctuary system helped drive more
than $8 billion annually to their communities.\2\ Additionally,
sanctuaries afford their visitors many recreation opportunities, and
the money these activities generate has a substantial economic impact
on the surrounding local and regional communities:
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\2\ National Marine Sanctuaries Socioeconomic Fact Sheet Available:
http://sanctuaries.
noaa.gov/science/socioeconomic/pdfs/onms-socioeconomics-summary.pdf.
--Miami-Dade and Broward County's economies are dependent on the
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Economic contributions
of visitors to the sanctuary generated $1.897 billion in sales
and $2.62 billion in income for the residents.\3\
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\3\ Vernon Leeworthy and Rod Ehler (2010) Economic Contribution of
Recreating Visitors to the Florida Keys/Key West 2007-2008 Available:
http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/socioeconomic/floridakeys/pdfs/
economic08.pdf.
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--Over $126 million in whale watching revenue and 600 jobs at 31
businesses resulting from less than $2 million invested in the
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off of
Massachusetts.\4\
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\4\ O'Connor, Simon et al (2009). Whale Watching Worldwide: tourism
numbers, expenditures and expanding economic benefits, a special report
from the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Prepared by Economists
at Large. Available: http://www.ifaw.org/Publications/
Program_Publications/Whales/asset_upload_file841_55365.pdf.
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--2,100 jobs and a $291 million budget from marine science and
education at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, more
than 100 times the $3 million investment by taxpayers.\5\
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\5\ Monterey Bay Crescent Ocean Research Consortium. (2012) ``Major
Marine Sciences Facilities in the Monterey Bay Crescent-2012.''
Available: http://web.me.com/paduan/mbcorc/
Membership_Info_files/MontereyBayLabs2012-2.pdf.
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--Over half (58 percent) of visitors to Alpena, Michigan came to
visit Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which is the
region's most popular attraction, boasting nearly 100,000
visitors per year.\6\
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\6\ Source: Molnar, Lawrence. 2013. ``Economic Impact Analysis for
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Thunder Bay
National Marine Sanctuary, Final Report.'' Ann Arbor, Michigan:
Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy,
University of Michigan (July). Available: http://irlee.umich.edu/
Publications/Docs/ThunderBay
NMS_FinalReport.pdf.
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--$11.8 million in new revenue and 334 new jobs would be created by
the proposed Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary with a
projected 5 percent increase in tourism for San Louis Obispo
County and a regional impact of $18 million and 547 new
jobs.\7\
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\7\ Jason Scorse and Judith Kildow (2014) The Potential Economic
Impacts of the Proposed Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary
Available: https://chnms.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/chumash-sanctuary-
ecomonic-report-100814.pdf.
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--$127 million is spent on non-consumptive recreation, which accounts
for 95 percent and 86.7 percent in the Northern portion of
Monterey Bay and Greater Farallones National Marine
Sanctuaries, respectively. This non-consumptive recreation
industry supports 1,700 jobs.\8\
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\8\ U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA, NOS, ONMS (2015) Economic
Impact of Recreational Fisheries on Local County Economies in
California's National Marine Sanctuaries 2010, 2011 and 2012 Available:
http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/socioeconomic/pdfs/california_rec_
sanctuaries.pdf.
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--$101.6 million was spent on recreation in the Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary. This spending generated, with
multiplier impacts, $128.2 million in output, $78 million in
value-added (gross regional product), and $46.1 million in
income, which supported 1,192 jobs.\9\
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\9\ Personal Communication.
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National Marine Sanctuaries Start and Stay in Local Communities
Sanctuaries are created by and for the people. Public participation
is a hallmark of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and
underscores its dedication to civic engagement and leadership. From
nomination to designation and day-to-day management decisions,
sanctuaries start and stay in local communities. Because of this model,
citizens and communities nationwide are expressing a growth of
enthusiasm for national marine sanctuaries.
Communities have a controlling influence on sanctuary priorities to
ensure unique, local circumstances are addressed. Sanctuary rules and
regulations are developed on a site-by-site basis, and, from the
outset, sanctuaries are designed to accommodate multiple uses of the
ocean.
--Over 440 community representatives serve on Sanctuary Advisory
Councils with members from the fishing, tourism, and maritime
commerce industries; tribes, State and local government; and
scientists, educators, and conservationists to provide advice
to sanctuary superintendents on sanctuary operations.
--Over 149,000 hours--equivalent to 74 Full Time Federal Employees
and valued at $3.46 million--are contributed by local sanctuary
volunteers each year in areas of research, monitoring,
enforcement, education and outreach, and management advisory.
National Marine Sanctuaries' Programmatic Outlook Under Reduced Fiscal
Year 2017 Funding Levels
Funding decreases have resulted in layoffs and cutbacks to mission
critical sanctuary programs. A lack of funds may result in cuts to
public access and recreation opportunities, reduced operations at
visitor centers, cancellation of partnerships, a lack of contingency
funding needed in case of emergencies like oil spills, and additional
inoperable vessels. Of particular concern are proposals to reduce
funding for necessary and ongoing renovation and construction projects.
The potential impact of reducing sanctuary appropriations goes far
beyond the individual sanctuaries themselves: limiting visitor center
hours, eliminating research programs, and diminishing enforcement
capacities prevents ONMS from fulfilling its statutory mandates, while
also reducing the economic activity and job creation from which healthy
communities benefit. Funding sanctuaries below NMSF's recommended
levels could force the program to:
--Reduce public access and recreation opportunities for all
Americans: Funding cuts risk the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary's 767 mooring buoys, which provide public access and
recreational opportunities within the sanctuary while
protecting coral reefs and shipwrecks from anchor damage.
--Cut visitor center hours: Sanctuary visitor centers act as a public
face of NOAA to over 350,000 visitors per year, including
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center
(California), Mokupapapa Discovery Center (Hawaii), Great Lakes
Maritime Heritage Center (Michigan), and Florida Keys
EcoDiscovery Center (Florida).
--Cancel education and outreach programs that leverage private funds:
Reduced funding jeopardizes education and outreach activities
on the water, at sanctuaries and visitor centers, and in
classrooms.
--Vessels Stuck at the Docks and Facing Safety Concerns: Continued
under-investment in the sanctuary fleet maintenance and
procurement of new vessels to replace an aging fleet has left a
backlog of repairs and needs that could eventually result in
the need to leave sanctuary vessels tied up at the docks or
could pose a safety concern for sanctuary staff and partners
alike.
______
Prepared Statement of the National Network to End Domestic Violence
Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairwoman Mikulski, and distinguished
members of the appropriations subcommittee, thank you for this
opportunity to provide testimony on the importance of investing in
Violence Against Women Act programs and the Victims of Crime Act. I
sincerely thank the subcommittee for its ongoing support for these
lifesaving programs.
I am the president and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic
Violence (NNEDV), the Nation's leading voice for victims of domestic
violence and their advocates. We represent the 56 State and territorial
domestic violence coalitions, their over 2,000 member domestic violence
and sexual assault programs, and the millions of victims they serve.
Our direct connection with victims and those who serve them gives us a
unique understanding of their needs and the vital importance of these
continued investments.
The purpose of this testimony is to request an investment of the
full authorized amount of $568.5 million in the Violence Against Women
Act (VAWA) and the release of $2.6 billion from the Victims of Crime
Act Fund administered by the U.S. Department of Justice in the fiscal
year 2017 budget.
Incidence, Prevalence, Severity and Consequences of Domestic and
Sexual Violence.--The crimes of domestic and sexual violence are
pervasive, insidious and life-threatening. In 2011, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the first-ever National
Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, which found that domestic
violence, sexual violence, and stalking are widespread. Domestic
violence affects more than 12 million people each year, and nearly
three in ten women and one in four men have experienced rape, physical
violence, or stalking in his or her lifetime. The terrifying conclusion
of domestic violence is often murder, and every day in the United
States an average of 3 women are killed by a current or former intimate
partner.\1\ The cycle is perpetuated as approximately 15.5 million
children are exposed to domestic violence every year.\2\ One study
found that men exposed to physical abuse, sexual abuse and adult
domestic violence as children were almost four times more likely to
have perpetrated domestic violence as adults.
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\1\ Bureau of Justice Statistics (2013). Intimate Partner Violence:
Attributes of Victimization, 1993-2011 (Special Report NCJ243300).
\2\ McDonald, R., et al. (2006). ``Estimating the Number of
American Children Living in Partner-Violence Families.'' Journal of
Family Psychology, 30(1), 137-142.
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In addition to the terrible cost of domestic and sexual violence to
individual victims and their families, these crimes cost taxpayers and
communities. According to the Centers for Disease Control, based on
1999 figures, the cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8
billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct healthcare
services.\3\ Translating this into 2016 dollars, based on the Bureau of
Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, the annual cost to the Nation is
over $9 billion per year. In addition, domestic violence costs U.S.
employers an estimated $3 to $13 billion annually.\4\
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\3\ National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Costs of
Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. Atlanta
(GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2003.
\4\ Bureau of National Affairs Special Rep. No. 32, Violence and
Stress: The Work/Family Connection 2 (1990); Joan Zorza, Women
Battering: High Costs and the State of the Law, Clearinghouse Rev.,
Vol. 28, No. 4, 383, 385.
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Despite this grim reality, we know that when a coordinated response
is developed and immediate, essential services are available, victims
can escape from life-threatening violence and begin to rebuild their
lives. To address unmet needs and build upon their successes, VAWA
programs and the Victims of Crime Act fund release should receive
significant increases in the fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice,
Science Appropriations bill.
The Need for Increased Funding to Maintain Programs and Bridge the
Gap.--At a congressional briefing in March 2016, NNEDV released
Domestic Violence Counts (the Census), a 24-hour national snapshot of
domestic violence services. The report revealed that in just one day,
71,828 victims of domestic violence received services; over 12,197
requests for services went unmet due to lack of funding and resources.
That same year, domestic violence programs reported that they had laid
off nearly 1,235 staff positions. Of the staff that were laid off 79
percent were direct service positions, such as case managers,
advocates, shelter staff, and child advocates. Programs also reduced or
eliminated 1,936 services in the past year ranging from prevention
services, therapy, to child welfare advocacy. I urge you to look at the
full results at nnedv.org/census2015. For those individuals who are not
able to find safety, the consequences can be dire, including
homelessness or continued exposure to life-threatening violence. In
order to meet the immediate needs of victims in danger and to continue
to prevent and end domestic violence, VAWA funding must be increased
and additional funds must be released from VOCA.
victims of crime act (voca) funding
VOCA uses non-taxpayer money from the Crime Victims Fund for
several programs that serve victims of crime, including State formula
victim assistance grants. These funds, which are generated by fines
paid by Federal criminals, support services to 4 million victims of all
types of crimes annually, through 4,400 direct service agencies such as
domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and child abuse
treatment programs. Additional VOCA funds are critically needed to
respond to the crisis caused by the dangerous lack of available
services for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
With an obvious need for increased funding, and a balance of more
than $11 billion dollars in the Fund, we were pleased that the
subcommittee released $3.04 billion in VOCA funds in fiscal year 2016.
Now is the time to maintain a long-term, logical and consistent basis
for determining the annual VOCA cap in order to release additional
money for the purpose Congress intended and for which it has been
collected. The balance in the Crime Victims Fund is more than enough to
significantly increase VOCA funding without jeopardizing the Fund's
future sustainability.
We urge you to request that the subcommittee set the annual VOCA
funding release level at no less than the average amount deposited into
the Fund over the three previous fiscal years, which is approximately
$2.6 billion for fiscal year 2016. We urge you to release $2.6 billion
from the VOCA fund in fiscal year 2017 to address the urgent needs of
victims of crime.
Fiscal year 2016 appropriations transferred VOCA funds to VAWA and
the President's fiscal year 2017 proposal recommends the same transfer.
We oppose VOCA funds being transferred to other CJS accounts, as this
reduces vital funding for direct victim services.
Additionally, we urge you to establish a Federal funding stream
from VOCA for tribes. Individuals on tribal lands experience
disproportionately high rates of domestic and sexual violence and
desperately need funding for victim services.
Finally, we request report language that would expand the purpose
areas of the Office of Victims of Crime's discretionary funding
(10603(c)) to include innovative and needed victim services such as
hotlines and helplines, nationwide or multi-State crime victim
services, and services for U.S. citizens who are victims of crimes
committed outside of the United States. Previously, Congress has
appropriated $12 million for this purpose and the President request $25
million in fiscal year 2017.
violence against women act (vawa)
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)--$568.50 million funding
request.--Since its passage in 1994, VAWA has been the cornerstone of
our Nation's response to domestic violence. VAWA has contributed to
substantial progress toward ending domestic violence. Despite this
progress, an unconscionable need remains for victim services. The
progress and promise of VAWA, and related programs aimed at addressing
domestic and sexual violence, can only be only be fulfilled if the
programs receive continued investment through the appropriations
process. We have highlighted the following programs as key priorities
and we urge you to support full funding for these and all VAWA programs
as you work on the fiscal year 2017 CJS bill.
VAWA STOP Program--$222 million funding request.--VAWA's STOP Grant
Program is at the core of effective coordinated community responses to
domestic violence and sexual assault. These coordinated responses help
hundreds of thousands of victims find safety and get the services they
need to start over, while holding perpetrators accountable. As the
foundational VAWA program, the STOP program awards funds to every State
and territory through a formula-based system. States use this STOP
funding for law enforcement, prosecution, and courts training and
response. Many States establish special units in law enforcement
agencies and prosecutors' offices to address domestic and sexual
violence. Victims benefit from services including advocacy, crisis
intervention, local crisis hotlines, counseling and support, and victim
witness notification. A 2014 report to Congress revealed that the STOP
grant program helped 431,244 victims of domestic violence, sexual
assault, dating violence and stalking; funded over 2,200 staff; and
provided professional training for over 200,000 individuals. Increased
investment in STOP will allow communities to expand their lifesaving
homicide reduction efforts, continue to improve their law enforcement
and prosecution responses, and serve more victims. We urge you to
request $222 million to support these essential, comprehensive
services. We also request report language that would exempt the STOP
program from being subject to the Prison Rape Education Act (PREA)
penalty, which would cut 5 percent of this program's funding in States
that are not in compliance with PREA.
Legal Assistance for Victims (LAV)--$57 million funding request.--
Research indicates that the practical nature of legal services gives
victims long-term alternatives to their abusive relationships. However,
the retainers or hourly fees for private legal representation are
beyond the means of most victims of domestic violence, dating violence,
sexual assault and stalking. Legal services are second only to medical
services as the most-requested need of victims. Sadly, of all women who
reported needing legal services, 64 percent received no assistance from
an attorney.\5\ The LAV program is the only federally funded program
designed to meet the legal needs of victims. Targeted increases to the
LAV program are a sound investment in long-term solutions to violence.
We urge you to provide $57 million for this program to support legal
help for victims.
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\5\ National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Intimate Partner Violence in the United
States--2010 (2014) at 56.
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Rural Grant program--$50 million funding request.--The Rural Grant
Program supports services for victims of domestic violence and sexual
assault living in rural and isolated areas. Rural victims face unique
barriers, including lack of access to child care, legal services, and
public transportation, under-resourced law enforcement, and a shortage
of safe shelter and services. Funding for this program has either been
cut or remained stagnant for the last several years despite the great
need and a number of States becoming newly eligible through the most
recent VAWA reauthorization. We urge you to provide $50 million for
this program.
Transitional Housing program--$35 million funding request.--This
vital VAWA program helps communities in every State offer victims a
safe place to begin to rebuild their lives. In just one day in 2015,
40,302 adults and children were housed in domestic violence
transitional housing programs. On the same day, however, 7,728 requests
(63 percent of the unmet requests) for emergency shelter or
transitional housing were denied due to a lack of resources. The
extreme dearth of affordable housing produces a situation where many
victims of domestic violence must return to their abusers because they
cannot find long-term housing, while others are forced into
homelessness. Increased investment in the Transitional Housing program
will allow more States and localities to ensure that victims do not
have to make these unfathomable choices. We urge you to provide $35
million for this program.
Grants to Encourage Arrest (GTEAP)--$73 million funding request.--
GTEAP helps communities develop and sustain a seamless and
comprehensive criminal justice response to domestic violence, enhancing
victims' safety and holding perpetrators accountable. GTEAP encourages
State, local, and tribal governments and State, local, and tribal
courts to treat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking as serious violations of criminal law requiring the
coordinated involvement of the entire criminal justice system. The
homicide reduction initiative set aside ($4 million) is designed to
address the risk of homicide of abuse victims, especially those in
escalating domestic violence situations. Additionally, a set aside for
firearms lethality initiative will allow communities to address the
deadly combination of firearms and domestic violence. Increased
investment in GTEAP to $73 million will allow communities to continue
this lifesaving work.
Sexual Assault Services Program--$40 million funding request.--The
Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP) is the only Federal funding
source dedicated to providing direct services to adult and minor
victims of sexual violence and is distributed through a State formula
grant. Services include hotlines, crisis intervention, advocacy, and
accompaniment through medical and legal systems. Increased funding will
help eliminate waiting lists and respond to the unmet needs of victims.
We urge you to provide $40 million for this vital program.
Remaining VAWA programs--full funding.--All VAWA programs work
together to improve the system-wide response domestic and sexual
violence and to meet the unique and pressing needs of victims. VAWA
programs should be funded at their full authorization levels, as
indicated in the funding chart below.
conclusion
These programs work together to prevent and end domestic and sexual
violence. While our country has made continued investments in the
criminal justice response to these heinous crimes, we need an equal
investment in the human service, public health and prevention responses
in order to holistically address and end the violence. These vital,
cost-effective programs help break the cycle, reduce related social
ills, and will save our Nation money now and in the future.
[This statement was submitted by Kim Gandy, President and CEO.]
______
Prepared Statement of the National Science Foundation
Dear Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to present testimony in support of strong and balanced
funding for the National Science Foundation. This testimony is
submitted on behalf of the organizations listed in the left margin on
this and subsequent pages. They all support funding the National
Science Foundation at $8 billion in fiscal year 2017--including full
funding for the geosciences portfolio of research and related national
and user facilities within the NSF request.
We believe investing in NSF will support the kind of basic research
and development investment that will prevent an innovation deficit and
help ensure the United States maintains the world's most innovative,
dynamic and vibrant economy. Robust Federal investment in basic
research and development has long proven key to accelerating our
economy's productivity growth and much in the fiscal year 2017 budget
would help build on that progress. Increasing research investments in
the earth, ocean, atmospheric and climate sciences--areas with
incredible need and potential--are examples where this budget proposal
seeks to address global problems with U.S.-led research that can also
yield real economic benefits, national security, and public safety for
our Nation.
geosciences research and national security
On September 15, 2015, a distinguished group of former military and
national security leaders said the following:
``. . . we urge you to protect funding for NASA Earth science
and NSF Geoscience programs. These programs are essential parts
of a broader whole of government and whole of society effort to
provide essential data about and better scientific
understanding of global, regional, and local Earth processes.
That essential data about better scientific understanding of
the underlying science are critical to many strategic planning,
strategy, and investment decisions in both the private and
public sectors, very much including national security. From
better understanding weather, wind patterns and intensity,
changing global land cover, snow, ice and glacier melting, and
seismic activity, to capturing new insights about ocean-
atmosphere dynamics and changing ocean circulation, these . . .
programs represent one of the pillars of our Nation's
environmental information supply chain. This critical but
fragile chain begins with science and data and evolves into
decision support products and tools that inform and protect our
citizens, property, businesses, and interests around the world.
[These programs] directly link to food, water, energy, and
economic security, all of which are inherently tied to our
national security.''
The national security implications are far reaching as they may
exacerbate existing stressors, contributing to poverty, environmental
degradation and political instability providing enabling environments
for terrorist activity abroad. For example, the impacts of climate
change on key economic sectors, such as agriculture and water, can have
profound effects on food security, posing threats to overall stability.
On January 14, 2016, Robert Work, the Deputy Secretary of Defense
issued DOD Directive 4715.21 that establishes departmental policy and
responsibilities within DOD to assess and manage risks associated with
the impacts of climate change. The policy statement in this directive
says:
``. . . The DOD must be able to adapt current and future
operations to address the military. Mission planning and
execution must include: (a) identification and assessment of
the effects of climate change on the DOD mission; (b) taking
those effects into consideration when developing plans and
implementing procedures; and (c) anticipating and managing any
risks that develop as a result of climate change to build
resilience . . .''
DOD's ability to implement this new policy directive is dependent
on the scientific information that comes out of the geosciences
research supported by NSF and other agencies.
geosciences and the private sector commercial weather industry
On June 5, 2015, the Chairman and Executive Officer of the Weather
Company said the following about the economic importance of the
geosciences and related disciplines:
``. . . Research conducted through NSF's geosciences program,
NASA's Earth Sciences program and NOAA's weather and climate
research programs have enabled us, in partnership with these
agencies, to inform citizens and businesses of weather and
climate events in a tailored manner that enables them to be
weather-ready and climate-smart. Cutting these investments . .
. will have negative consequences on our economy and quality of
life in the coming years. They are vital investments to
maintain our leadership in environmental information and
services.''
geosciences and the insurance industry
In a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee in July of 2013 the President of the Reinsurance Association
of America said the following about the importance of research in the
geosciences to the economic viability of the insurance industry and
those they insure:
``. . . Our industry [the reinsurance industry] is science
based. Blending the actuarial sciences with the natural
sciences is critical in order to provide the public with
resources to recover from natural events . . . Developing an
understanding about climate and its impact on droughts, heat
waves, the frequency and intensity of tropical hurricanes,
thunderstorms and convective events, rising sea levels and
storm surge, more extreme precipitation events and flooding is
critical to our role in translating the interdependencies of
weather, climate risk assessment and pricing . . .''
geosciences and the private sector aquaculture industry
On May 8, 2015 Diane Pleschner-Steele, Executive Director of
California Wetfish Producers Association, a major industry aquaculture
organization in California said:
``. . . NSF's Geoscience Directorate funds data collecting
buoys that provide a long-term signal of increased ocean
acidification among other measurements. These forecasts will be
critical to maintain for both open-ocean aquaculture and
important shellfish fisheries, as these industries are hugely
important economically on both west and east coasts. Proposed
cuts to the Geoscience Directorate put the data on which the
seafood industry depends, and the domestic seafood-producing
economy as a whole, at risk . . .''
research underlying fracking technology yields economic benefits
Investment in the geosciences provided the fundamental
understanding of geologic structures and processes necessary to utilize
hydraulic fracturing (fracking) processes to release oil and gas from
shale formations. The ability of U.S. companies to develop these
natural resources is built upon decades of fundamental research and
technology development in the earth sciences. According to a 2013
report from U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 21st Century Energy Institute,
fracking has created a job boom even in States that don't actually have
shale deposits, with 1.7 million jobs already created and a total of
3.5 million projected by 2035.
geoscience graduates--source of technical talent for energy and
environment industry
The geosciences research that NSF funds helps educate and train the
next generation of geoscientists. According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), there were a total of 296,963 geoscience jobs in
2012, and this number is expected to increase by 14 percent by 2022 to
a total of 339,737 jobs. Approximately 143,000 geoscientists are
expected to retire by 2022, but over the next decade, approximately
51,000 students will be graduating with their bachelor's, masters, or
doctoral degrees in the geosciences. Therefore, according to the
American Geosciences Institute's (AGI) Status of the Geoscience
Workforce Report 2014, assuming minimal non-retirement attrition from
the geoscience workforce, there is expected to be a deficit of
approximately 135,000 geoscientists by 2022. Texas leads the Nation in
the number of geoscience undergraduates and graduate students enrolled
within geoscience departments.
The AGI report, Status of Recent Geoscience Graduates 2015, shows a
shift in hiring patterns for geoscience industries. For the first time
in the report's history, an industry other than oil and gas hired the
highest percentage of bachelor's graduates: environmental services.
According to the report, approximately 40 percent of bachelor's
graduates found a job in the environmental services industry, which
includes fields such as environmental consulting and remediation of
land assets such as water and soil. Sixteen percent of bachelor's
graduates went on to find jobs in the oil and gas industry in 2015,
down from 36 percent in 2014. Changing employment dynamics and record
low oil prices have led the oil and gas industry to reduce employment
opportunities. Nevertheless, 67 percent of master's graduates found
jobs in the oil and gas industry, an increase from 59 percent in 2014.
Other industries hiring geoscientists include: manufacturing or trade,
construction, information technology services, and agriculture. NSF's
support for the geosciences contributes significantly to the education
and training of these individuals via NSF's programs in research,
graduate student support, and undergraduate student support.
conclusion
It is important to appreciate that the NSF's investments in all
fields of science and engineering--including the geosciences--have
addressed important national and global challenges, spurred new
economic sectors, and led to the development and implementation of
advanced technologies that save lives, protect property, and support
our economy. We appreciate the difficult decisions Congress must make
within the constraints of the budget environment. However, we believe
the future of the Nation is well served by a strong and sustained
investment in the full scope of our research enterprise, which includes
the geosciences. Thank you for the opportunity to present these views.
______
Prepared Statement of the National Weather Service Employees
Organization
The employees of the National Weather Service urge the subcommittee
to once again reject the administration's proposal to eliminate funding
for the NWS Information Technology Officers. We also express our
concern over the woefully inadequate funding being sought to make
urgently needed repairs to our Nation's weather offices.
information technology officers
The administration has proposed to eliminate 122 additional
positions at Weather Forecast Offices nationwide in addition to over
300 positions already eliminated from those offices since 2010 through
attrition. Congress has rejected this proposal in each of the last four
appropriations cycles, insisting that the NWS first complete its
Operational and Workforce Analysis, currently being conducted by
McKinsey and Co. This analysis is still ongoing, but the first phase of
the study, released last fall, revealed that there were nearly 600
vacant positions in the NWS overall (a 14 percent vacancy rate) and
that most forecast offices have insufficient staff to handle the
existing workload. The ITOs are necessary to assist with these critical
staffing shortages. Many are also trained meteorologists, and even
those that are not assist during critical weather events. The ITO at
the Albany Forecast Office describes how he contributes to the offices
operations during severe weather:
Although our job title is Information Technology Officer, the
majority of ITOs do indeed work weather forecast shifts, issue
watches, warnings and advisories, provide decision support
services, conduct media interviews for weather, work severe
weather events and conduct storm surveys. ITOs are a main
component during severe weather events. There is absolutely no
time to pickup the phone and call a support desk if there is an
issue with an F2 tornado warning going out. Most offices have a
policy to have the ITO working during severe weather events.
During my time at Albany, I have issued numerous severe
thunderstorm warnings, tornado warnings, flash flood warnings,
flood warnings and civil emergency messages. I also provided
decision support services for numerous incident events from a
chemical spill to a tour boat with 65 people capsizing. During
extreme events, ITOs are constantly wearing two hats
(meteorologist and IT).
The ITO from the Nashville Forecast Office, who is not a
meteorologist, explains how he is also able to contribute broadly to
the work of his office:
For the past several years I have filled in to do the job of
Observation Program Leader and the coop program, and fill in
pulling upper air shifts for a retired Hydro-Meteorological
Technicians. During severe weather operations, I help with
timely local storm reports, weather products and graphics, and
onsite support. On February 20th, 2014, we had a NOAA Weather
Radio console failure, resulting in none of our tornado and
severe thunderstorm warnings getting out to our customers via
Weather Radio. For over 2 hours, I went live while
troubleshooting and correcting the issue. Without my service in
and out of operations, this would have never happened in a
timely, life-protecting manner. Off site support would have
never provided the life protecting service that I did that
night. Severe weather operations do not end with the end of the
event. I also am a team leader in post storm severe weather
surveys.
As the Senate Appropriations Committee noted when rejecting an
earlier proposal to eliminate the ITOs, the ``IT staff have proven to
be valuable parts of the local weather forecast teams.'' Senate Report
No. 112-158, at 31. In fact, the ITO at the Baltimore/Washington
Forecast Office was recently named as the NWS Eastern Region ``Employee
of the Year'' for 2015, out of over 500 co-workers. A team that
included the three ITOs from Charleston, South Carolina and Morehead
City and Wilmington, North Carolina, was named ``Eastern Region
Outstanding Team of the Quarter'' for the second quarter of 2015 by the
NWS Eastern Region Director, Jason Tuell, who wrote in an ``all-hands''
email:
The 2015 tropical season was the inaugural season for the
baseline AWIPS II tropical software. A rare, preseason tropical
cyclone resulted in significant challenges as AWIPS II software
configuration and testing for tropical cyclones needed to be
greatly accelerated. The team collaborated non-stop for the
week leading up to the formation of Tropical Storm Ana. Through
the accelerated process of achieving operational readiness, the
team identified several previously unknown software
deficiencies, implemented and shared short-term fixes ``on the
fly'', and coordinated long-term solutions with software
developers. As the first Tropical Storm Watches were raised by
the National Hurricane Center on the evening of May 7, the team
stayed on the job well into the early morning hours to
troubleshoot and overcome technical difficulties that would
otherwise have resulted in significant delays in the
dissemination of critical tropical cyclone products and
services. The team continued to provide operational support
through the weekend of May 9 and 10, ensuring that the NWS
mission was fulfilled as slow-moving Tropical Storm Ana made
landfall in the Carolinas.
The NOAA budget justification contains a promise to reassign the
ITOs to other vacant positions. But the NWS should promptly fill the
hundreds of critical vacancies with new hires instead. Reassignment of
ITOs to other vacancies will do nothing to reduce the overall staffing
shortfall that, as the McKinsey study has already determined, has
resulted in a dire situation in which the workload exceeds available
workforce at most forecast offices.
And once again, the budget justification fails to explain how 24
regionally based ITOs can, at a distance, handle the same workload
performed by 122 employees who work at the site of the problem. No
workload analysis has ever been conducted. This year's budget
justification contains the same preposterous claim that the regional
team approach will ``meet or exceed current service levels'' without
any factual basis or prototyping. The proposal once again claims that
``the current service delivery model has redundancies,'' but it fails
to identify a single one.
The budget justification also claims that the NWS ``has identified
efficiencies which have been realized in the delivery of IT support to
field offices through investments in open source software and
implementation of IT best practices.'' NWSEO circulated NOAA's budget
justification to the ITOs for review and comment. Not a single ITO
could identify any ``efficiencies which have been realized'' through
open source software of implementation or any so-called ``IT best
practices.'' Simply stated, the ITOs don't know what this portion of
the budget justification could possibly be referring to. The workload
of the ITOs remains as busy, if not busier, than ever. According to the
ITOs, the deployment of AWIPS 2 has not reduced their workload as the
budget justification claims. The ITO at the Wichita Forecast Office
explains that:
With the completed implementation of AWIPS II, having an ITO
on site with local knowledge is even more crucial. The new
AWIPS platform, while more user-friendly, is considerably more
complex to maintain. When problems are encountered in AWIPS,
forecasters often notify the office ITO, when applicable, who
then determines if the problem can be fixed locally, or needs
to be escalated to the remote Network Control Facility (NCF).
Baseline issues and serious problems are escalated to the NCF,
so that any fixes can be incorporated into future releases, or
issued as Discrepancy Reports. In most cases, however, the ITO,
who has intricate, local knowledge of the system can rectify
the issues much more quickly. In addition, the AWIPS II
contractor has left the field offices with hundreds of software
deficiencies, for which the local field offices must mitigate
or find work-arounds.
This view was echoed by the ITO at the Atlanta Forecast Office:
Since deployment of AWIPS 2, I've found out that my workload
regarding AWIPS 2 has not decreased, but at the very least,
stayed the same. There is still customization and testing of
AWIPS 2 that still needs to be done, to ensure that AWIPS 2 is
properly configured, something a centralized READI team member
will struggle with, as (s)he will need to be aware of each
office's unique situation.
It appears to NWSEO and to the ITOs that the author of this portion
of the budget justification has no familiarity with the actual work of
the NWS ITOs nor of NWS Forecast Office operations, but rather relied
on some generic justification for reducing IT positions elsewhere in
the government.
facility construction and repair
As the agency's budget justification correctly notes, ``maintaining
the structural integrity'' of NWS forecast offices and other
operational facilities is required for ``ensuring uninterrupted
forecasts for local communities.'' NOAA Budget Estimates Fiscal Year
2017 at NWS-80. The President's budget requests $8,650,000 for
``facilities construction and major repairs'' at the Nation's 122
Weather Forecast Offices, 13 River Forecast Centers and 18 smaller
Weather Service Offices. However, this amount is woefully inadequate to
address rapidly deteriorating conditions at these critical
installations.
The NWS's Office of Facilities is conducting a 3-year ``Facilities
Condition Assessment.'' NWS facilities are being surveyed by a third-
party independent evaluator. One-third of the facilities are being
surveyed each year. The first third--consisting of 65 sites--was
surveyed in fiscal year 2014 and the results of that survey have just
been compiled and assessed. Shockingly, the survey reveals that
$26,515,622 is needed for ``Priority 1 maintenance'' that is ``required
within 90 days.'' This number represents the immediate need at just
one-third of the agency's facilities, and therefore it is fair to
assume that at least $75 million may be needed agency-wide for
immediate, essential repairs. All but four of the Weather Forecast
Offices surveyed in this first set need over $100,000 in ``priority 1''
maintenance. Numerous facilities were identified that need repairs in
excess of one-third of the replacement cost of the entire building.
Yet, the amount requested by the President's budget only envisions ``up
to 12 highest priority major system replacements annually.'' NOAA
Budget Estimates Fiscal Year 2017 at NWS-80.
The failing physical condition of NWS facilities is attributable to
two primary causes. Unlike most other Federal offices, Weather Forecast
Offices and other NWS operational facilities operate 24/7, 365 days a
year and therefore receive three to four times the normal ``wear and
tear'' on its systems than do other offices in the same amount of time.
In addition, the amount of funds requested and appropriated in prior
years has been inadequate to address the growing maintenance problems.
Further delayed maintenance may well require more costly building
replacement. Therefore, Congress should appropriate at least the
$26,515,622 identified so far as needed for priority 1 repairs.
Thank you for considering the views of the employees of National
Weather Service as you shape this year's Department of Commerce
Appropriations Act.
______
Prepared Statement of the Native American Rights Fund
Summary of the Request: The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) \1\
submits this written statement regarding the fiscal year 2017 budget
request for the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the record. We
respectfully request this subcommittee's consideration in the
development of the fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science and
Related Agencies appropriations bill of maintaining funding within the
Department of Justice, Office of Justice Program, State and Local Law
Enforcement Assistance account at a level similar to that provided in
recent years of approximately $2 million for the Tribal Civil and
Criminal Legal Assistance, Training and Technical Assistance grant
program within either ``assistance to Indian tribes'' or a tribal set-
aside of a percentage of all Office of Justice Programs accounts, as
the administration has again proposed for fiscal year 2017. We also
request the inclusion of report language--as provided in recent years
in the Committee's report accompanying the spending bill--that would
direct that DOJ's allocation of fiscal year 2017 funding for
``assistance to Indian tribes'' or under a tribal set aside of overall
DOJ funding include mention of some funding for the provision of civil
and criminal legal assistance to individual tribal citizens and to
tribal judicial systems pursuant to the Indian Tribal Justice Technical
and Legal Assistance Act (Public Law 106-559).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is the
oldest and largest non-profit law firm dedicated to asserting and
defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals
nationwide. NARF's practice is concentrated in five key areas: the
preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural
resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the
accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development
of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and
issues.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Background to the Request: In 2000, Congress enacted the Indian
Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act (Public Law 106-559).
Sections 102 and 103 of that statute specifically authorized the
Department of Justice, subject to available appropriations, to provide
grants to ``non-profit entities . . . which provide legal assistance
services for Indian tribes, members of Indian tribes, or tribal justice
systems pursuant to Federal poverty guidelines'' [emphasis added] for
tribal civil and tribal criminal legal assistance, respectively. The
Indian Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 2000 was
reauthorized as section 242 of the Tribal Law and Order Act (Public Law
111-211).
For the past 6 years, a consortium of 24 Indian Legal Services
programs connected with the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and
operating in 23 States has been awarded funding under DOJ's Tribal
Civil and Criminal Legal Assistance, Training and Technical Assistance
(TCCLA) grants program. In addition to individual representation,
Indian Legal Services programs are currently assisting more than 160
tribal governments and/or tribal judicial systems.
Most recently, under the fiscal year 2015 grant solicitation, the
Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded the Indian Legal Services programs
a total of $1.2 million to provide civil and criminal legal assistance
to thousands of Native American clients, including juveniles, who meet
Federal poverty guidelines. We are awaiting an announcement about
whether some of the fiscal year 2016 appropriation for ``assistance to
Indian tribes'' will be allocated to the TCCLA program.
Since 1968, Indian Legal Services programs have been providing
essential capacity-building services to many tribal courts across the
country, and have provided representation of Indian individuals in
those courts. In particular, Indian Legal Services programs have been
assisting tribal governments and tribal citizens to implement and
accomplish the significant victories that Indian Country achieved with
the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 (TLOA) and the Violence Against
Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA).
With respect to the work of capacity-building services to tribal
judicial systems, tribes have noted that the lack of attorneys
practicing in tribal court is the single biggest barrier to exercising
the authorities under the Tribal Law and Order Act and the Violence
Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. A number of Indian Legal
Services programs are currently providing capacity-building assistance
to tribes, and that is laying the foundation toward their
implementation of TLOA and VAWA. This work includes assisting tribes
with revisions to their criminal codes for compliance with these
statutes, as well as drafting and updating codes, policies and
procedures; establishing or rehabilitating tribal courts; training
judicial and law enforcement personnel; and negotiation or litigation
to address jurisdictional issues with State court systems. The programs
are engaged in TLOA or VAWA implementation assistance for 18 of the 160
tribes they serve, and provide the only public defender service
available in at least 46 tribal courts.
In many instances, these Indian Legal Services programs have been
``on the ground'' in tribal communities for decades, an integral part
of the legal structure of the reservation communities they serve. The
attorneys are well-versed in the uniqueness and complexities of Indian
law, and are specialized legal practitioners. The Indian Legal Services
programs are assisting tribal governments and their justice systems in
being grounded in solid codes and laws--which benefits not only members
of the tribal community, but non-Indians who do business, attend
school, collaborate with tribal enterprises and live in these tribal
communities. This work includes such assistance as tribal court
development, restructuring and improvement; development of tribal
dispute resolution, peacemaker/mediation systems and alternatives to
incarceration; drafting of civil and criminal codes, including
children's codes, and rules of procedure; and training of tribal court
and justice systems personnel and tribal court lay advocates and
guardians ad litem. Lay advocate and peacemaker trainings have been
done with tribal colleges and university law schools.
In addition, legal representation of American Indian and Alaska
Native youth and families is a central focus of many of the Indian
Legal Services programs' individual representation cases. In affording
access to justice for individuals, the programs' individual legal
representation has expanded from traditional legal issues such as
employment, disability benefits claims and housing issues to include
domestic violence, pro se assistance, family member prisoner
visitation, re-entry and expunctions for certain criminal charges, and
child welfare, guardianship and adoption. This work also includes
representation of families in Indian Child Welfare Act cases in State
court; addressing the impact on individuals and families from substance
abuse and correlated incidents of criminal activity by reforming tribal
sentencing guidelines; representation in divorce, child custody,
paternity, child support, guardianship (minor and adult), and children
in need of care cases (juvenile dependency) and in will drafting cases;
and providing civil legal and public defender services.
Here are several State-specific examples of Indian Legal Services
program:
--Alaska Legal Services has continued working with a south-central
Alaska tribe that is developing a groundbreaking joint State-
tribal therapeutic drug court, providing legal advice to the
tribe as it develops ideas on how State and tribal judges can
sit jointly on cases.
--Serving the citizens of and located on the Navajo Reservation in
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, one of DNA People's Legal
attorneys has been working with Navajo Nation Prosecutors to
start revising the Navajo Nation Criminal Code as it relates to
the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
--After meeting with the California law review commission, California
Indian Legal Services staff has been developing a final draft
of the model adult guardianship code to address how the tribes
will fit in the State's adoption of the Uniform Adult
Guardianship and Protective Procedures Act.
--Pine Tree Legal Assistance of Maine has been assisting the
Passamaquoddy Restorative Justice Commission with proposed
revisions to the tribe's sentencing guidelines that would allow
for the inclusion of both traditional conflict resolution
practices and community-based healing and restoration
processes.
--Oklahoma Indian Legal Services developed an expungement practice to
clear criminal records of tribal members whose lives are
adversely impacted by their criminal record.
--Northwest Justice Project in Washington provides free legal advice
clinics for low-income tribal members on hard-to-reach Indian
reservations in the State. The legal advice clinics discuss
civil legal issues such as Family Law (custody, divorce and
child support); Housing Law (evictions foreclosures, tenant and
mobile home rights); Consumer Law (pay day loans, collections
and repossessions); Education Law (suspensions, expulsions and
special education rights); Employment Law (terminations); and
Health and Welfare Benefits.
--Wisconsin Judicare has been participating with statewide efforts to
improve Indian Child Welfare Act compliance over the past 5
years since the passage of the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare
Act.
The TCCLA grants that Indian Legal Services programs have been
awarded are funded separately from DOJ's Consolidated Tribal Assistance
Solicitation (CTAS) program. In fact, a number of the Indian Legal
Services programs provide capacity-building assistance to very small
tribes or consortia of small tribes which do not have the personnel or
resources to submit applications for CTAS funding, and/or civil or
criminal legal representation of their members.
In fiscal year 2017, whether Congress provides funding to the DOJ
in an overall sum for Indian Country law enforcement programs (such as
the $30 million appropriated in fiscal year 2016 for ``assistance for
Indian tribes''), or as a tribal set-aside of a percentage of overall
DOJ funding, we request that funding of approximately $2 million be
designated for the purpose of the provision of tribal civil and
criminal legal assistance to individual tribal citizens and to tribal
judicial systems pursuant to the Indian Tribal Justice Technical and
Legal Assistance Act.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
______
Prepared Statement of the Nature Conservancy
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the fiscal year 2017
appropriations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). The Nature Conservancy is a non-profit conservation
organization working around the world to protect ecologically important
lands and waters for both people and nature. As the Nation enters the
fiscal year 2017 budget cycle and another year of fiscal challenges,
the Nature Conservancy recognizes the need for fiscal restraint. We
believe the budget levels the Nature Conservancy supports represent a
prudent investment in our country's future with modest, targeted
increases that are expected to yield great returns. This investment not
only helps NOAA catalyze local and regional action, but also reduces
risk and saves money based on tangible economic and societal benefits
that natural resources provide.
Over the years and across many sites, NOAA has been an invaluable
partner to the Conservancy. NOAA programs that provide practical,
community-oriented approaches to restoration, resource management, and
conservation are natural fits for the Conservancy's mission. NOAA
Fisheries has made important strides in addressing key challenges and
strengthening fisheries management and recovery of protected species;
however, much more needs to be done. To recover fish stocks so that
they provide food and jobs to struggling fishermen now and in the
future, we need to reduce destructive fishing practices, restore
coastal habitats that produce fish, and support the efforts of
fishermen and local communities that depend on fishing--and do so in a
way that engages fishermen in collaborative efforts. In addition,
NOAA's data, research, and monitoring of coastal and marine systems
directly provide data and decision-support tools that inform the safe
operations of industry, prioritize habitats for restoration, and
advance science-based management decisions. Through financial and
technical support, NOAA's programs enhance coastal economies dependent
on healthy coastal systems and reduce the risk posed by storms and
changing coastal conditions.
national marine fisheries service
Fisheries and Ecosystem Science Programs and Services: The Nature
Conservancy supports the President's request of $150.169 million. There
is a high correlation between good information about the status of a
fish stock and the effectiveness of management. Systems for collecting
fishery data tend to be paper-based, slow, expensive and prone to
errors and gaps. On-board video monitoring has been piloted, but has
yet to be implemented in any U.S. fisheries. The administration has
incorporated the fiscal year 2016 increase for Electronic Monitoring
and Reporting into base funding. The subcommittee's previous report
language has been very helpful, and continued congressional guidance on
the need to provide clear data and storage standards will be useful in
moving these efforts from pilot to full implementation. Priority should
be given to those fisheries that have already piloted these efforts.
Also key is improving our understanding of the ecological and economic
connections between fisheries and nearshore habitats. The
administration's proposed $5.929 million increase for Ecosystem-based
Solutions for Fisheries Management will provide tools and information
to better target fisheries habitat restoration efforts.
Habitat Conservation and Restoration: The Nature Conservancy
supports the President's request of $58.39 million. Coastal wetlands
and nearshore waters produce the fish and shellfish that feed America.
The health of these places is essential to the economic and social
well-being of those who live, work, and recreate in coastal
communities. Additionally the restoration and protection of coastal
resources help to provide flood control and prevent erosion to protect
our communities from storm surges. Through the Community-based
Restoration Program and the Habitat Blueprint initiative, The Nature
Conservancy works closely with NOAA to restore the health of degraded
habitats in places and ways that benefit not just local marine life,
but communities and coastal economies as well. Project funds are
awarded on a competitive basis and typically leverage the resources and
capacity of multiple partners. This work enhances our understanding of
the connections between fisheries productivity and habitat, measures
the effectiveness of conservation and restoration activities, and
applies those lessons to improve future efforts. The administration has
also requested an important $3.5 million increase to enhance NOAA's
capacity to for consultations on and implementation of Essential Fish
Habitat. The Regional Fishery Management Councils address fishing
impacts on these areas, and NOAA must have sufficient capacity to
provide technical assistance to the Councils and to work with Federal
agencies to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of their actions
on these important fishery habitats.
Fisheries Management Programs and Services: The Nature Conservancy
supports the President's request of $121.895 million. NOAA Fisheries
has made important strides in addressing these challenges and
strengthening fisheries management; however, much more needs to be
done. To recover fish stocks so that they provide food and jobs to
struggling fishermen now and in the future, we need to reduce
destructive fishing practices, restore coastal habitats that produce
fish, and support the efforts of fishermen and fishing communities and
do so in a collaborative way. Work begun to improve the management of
electronic monitoring and reporting with the increase in the fiscal
year 2016 budget has notably been incorporated into base program
funding. Recent legislation and administrative action to combat
illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fisheries show great promise
in leveling the playing field for legal fishermen. The modest proposed
increase of $1.556 million to improve traceability will enable NOAA to
take the next steps on traceability of seafood. Catch shares give
participating fishermen a stake in the benefits of a well-managed
fishery and align the incentives for resource stewardship with the
natural incentive for fishermen to increase their earnings with a
sustainable business model. Transition to these systems is difficult
and the modest $2.505 million proposed increase will help NOAA get the
design and implementation of these new catch share programs right by
engaging fishing communities.
Fisheries Data Collections, Surveys and Assessments: The Nature
Conservancy supports the President's request of $164.749 million.
Limited or poor quality information on the status of fishery stocks
undermines the effectiveness of fishery management and can erode
political support for conservation measures. Accurate and timely stock
assessments are essential for the sound management of fisheries and the
sustainability of fishing resources. The funding proposed will help the
agency prioritize assessments, determine what level of assessments are
needed and, where to appropriately incorporate ecosystem linkages--such
as climate, habitat, multispecies assemblages, and socioeconomic
factors.
Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund: The Nature Conservancy
supports the President's request of $65 million. The Conservancy
appreciates the Subcommittee's efforts to maintain robust funding
levels for the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF). It is the
most critical Federal program addressing major threats to Pacific
salmon so that these fish can continue to sustain culture, economies,
recreation, and ecosystem health. PCSRF funding is tailored for each
State, competitively awarded based on merit, and has funded hundreds of
successful, on-the-ground salmon conservation efforts. PCSRF invests in
cooperative efforts to conserve species under NOAA's jurisdiction, and
projects are matched at a 3:1 ratio (Federal/non-Federal). Notably, the
PCSRF has catalyzed thousands of partnerships among Federal, State,
local, and tribal governments, and conservation, business, and
community organizations.
Protected Resources Science and Management: The Nature Conservancy
supports the President's request of $216.721 million. Competitive
grants to States and tribes support conservation actions that
contribute to recovery, or have direct conservation benefits for,
listed species, recently de-listed species, and candidate species that
reside within that State. NOAA's proposed $16.012 million increase for
Species Recovery Grants will allow the agency to expand partnerships to
address the growing number of listed species and allow for larger,
ecosystem-level scale recovery efforts. The Nature Conservancy works
with State agency partners to restore endangered species and monitor
the results of these efforts, including several Species in the
Spotlight initiative species. These grants are essential for having a
direct benefit to ``on the water'' restoration efforts. Additional
listed species and emerging challenges to recovery has increased the
number and complexity of NOAA's consultation and permitting
requirements under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal
Protection Act. The proposed $13.452 million to Increase Consultation
Capacity will aid NOAA's ability to complete these requirements in a
timely and predictable manner. Recovery of listed Atlantic and Pacific
salmon provide distinct challenges. NOAA's cooperative efforts with
States, tribes, and other partners such as The Nature Conservancy help
to improve our understanding of and ability to protect listed salmon
and the habitats that sustain them. Maintaining the increase provided
in fiscal year 2016 to the Atlantic salmon base funding and the propose
$2.338 million proposed increase to Pacific salmon will allow NOAA to
enhance recovery efforts including monitoring, fish passages, hatchery
operations, and stakeholder engagement.
national ocean service
Coastal Management Grants: The Nature Conservancy supports the
President's request of $90.646 million. Our Nation's coastal areas are
vital to our economy and our way of life. The narrow area along our
coasts is home to approximately 163 million people and coastal
economies contribute over 45 percent of our gross domestic product. The
$15 million proposed increase in competitively awarded Regional Coastal
Resilience Grants will provide the resources and tools to build coastal
resilience to avoid costly Federal disaster assistance and sustain
healthy fisheries, maintain robust tourism opportunities, provide for
increased shipping demands, and other coastal industries. The inaugural
funding solicitations for the grants combined into this proposal drew
in 196 applications with $151 million in funding requests, nearly 16
times the available funding, demonstrating a significant need for these
grants. Coastal communities have clearly shown that they are ready to
leverage this funding to take proactive measures to protect their way
of life. If the subcommittee does combine the two grant programs as
proposed, it should ensure the full range of eligible activities be
maintained going forward. Additionally, the Nature Conservancy has
worked with NOAA through the Digital Coast partnership to develop
decision support tools and techniques that help communities understand
and reduce risk and build resilience. By sharing the results of the
work done through these grants and the Digital Coast partnership across
Federal, State, and tribal agencies, industry, and with non-
governmental organizations can increase our collective ability to
understand and incorporate into decisionmaking complex coastal
economic, social, and ecological needs.
Coral Reef Program: The Nature Conservancy supports no less than
the President's request of $26.1 million. The decline of coral reefs
has significant social, economic, and ecological impacts on people and
communities in the United States and around the world. The Conservancy
works with NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program under a competitively
awarded, multi-year cooperative agreement to address the top threats to
coral reef ecosystems: climate change, overfishing, and land-based
sources of pollution. Together we develop place-based strategies,
measure the effectiveness of management efforts, and build capacity
among reef managers globally.
Coastal Zone Management and Services: The Nature Conservancy
supports the President's request of $53.847 million. NOAA's data,
research, and monitoring of coastal and marine systems provide data and
decision-support tools that inform the safe operations of industry,
prioritize habitats for restoration, and advance science-based
management decisions. The administration has requested a $5 million
increase for Ecosystem-based Solutions for Coastal Resilience.
Improving our ability to incorporate natural infrastructure into
coastal protection efforts before and after storms can help communities
achieve multiple benefits such as improving fisheries productivity and
coastal water quality. The proposed $4.006 million increase for
Capacity to Respond to Extreme Events will improve modeling and
observations and increased technical assistance to coastal communities
to help reduce their risk to coastal storms and extreme weather,
ultimately saving Federal disaster response and recovery expenditures.
This will be further leverage by the proposed $2 million increase for
the AmeriCorps' Resilience Corps Pilot Program Training and Technical
Assistance. Decision support tools and increasing capacity within
communities are cost-effective mechanisms to enable the implementation
of resilience strategies.
National Estuarine Research Reserve System: The Nature Conservancy
supports the President's request of $23 million. The National Estuarine
Research Reserve System (NERRS) partners with States and territories to
ensure long-term education, stewardship, and research on estuarine
habitats. Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific, Caribbean and Great Lakes reserves
advance knowledge and stewardship of estuaries and serve as a
scientific foundation for coastal management decisions.
Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas: The Nature Conservancy
supports the President's request of $49.8 million. National marine
sanctuaries support economic growth and hundreds of coastal businesses
in sanctuary communities, preserve vibrant underwater and maritime
treasures for Americans to enjoy, and provide critical public access
for ocean recreation, research, and education.
Thank you for this opportunity to share the Nature Conservancy's
priorities. We would be pleased to provide the subcommittee with
additional information on any of the Conservancy's activities.
[This statement was submitted by Stephanie Bailenson, Senior Policy
Advisor for Oceans & Coasts.]
______
Prepared Statement of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, my name is Lorraine
Loomis and I am the Chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
(NWIFC). The NWIFC is comprised of the 20 tribes that are party to the
United States v. Washington \1\ (U.S. v. Washington). We are providing
testimony for the record in support of funding for the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) for the fiscal year 2017 appropriations.
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\1\ United States v. Washington, Boldt Decision (1974) reaffirmed
Western Washington Tribes' treaty fishing rights.
SUMMARY OF FISCAL YEAR 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUESTS
--$110.0 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (NOAA/
NMFS).
--$14.7 million for the Pacific Salmon Treaty, including $3.0 million
for the 2008 Chinook Salmon Agreement (NOAA/NMFS).
--$20.3 million for the Mitchell Act Hatchery Programs (NOAA/NMFS).
We are generally pleased with the President's fiscal year 2017
budget request but much more needs to be done. The natural resources
that we depend on are vital to our tribal communities, economies and
jobs. The land and the many natural resources we depend on are a
necessity for our communities to thrive.
The continued loss and degradation of the salmon habitat continues
to hamper our salmon recovery efforts. The western Washington treaty
tribes brought this concern to the Federal Government in our Treaty
Rights at Risk (TRAR) initiative almost 5 years ago, which ultimately
threatens our tribal treaty rights. The Federal Government has the
obligation and authority to ensure both the recovery of salmon and the
protection of tribal treaty rights. These constitutionally protected
treaties, the Federal trust responsibility and extensive case law,
including the U.S. v. Washington decision, all support the role of
tribes as natural resource managers, both on and off reservation. The
issues we put forth in our TRAR has been slow to create any change in
the manner in which Federal agencies operate. It has not been enough to
change the trajectory of salmon recovery in our region from a negative
to a positive direction.
Salmon has always been the foundation of tribal cultures,
traditions and economies in western Washington. Wild salmon and their
habitat continue to decline despite massive reductions in harvest and a
significant investment in salmon recovery and habitat restoration.
However, fulfilling these Federal obligations is not an option and
these investments must continue as we work to recover the salmon
populations.
In Washington State, we have developed a successful co-management
partnership between the Federal, State and tribal governments. Tribes
seize every opportunity to coordinate with other governments and non-
governmental entities to avoid duplication, maximize positive impacts,
and emphasize the application of ecosystem-based management. This
collaboration has helped us to deal with many problems, and as
sovereign nations, we will continue to participate in resource recovery
and habitat restoration with the State of Washington and the Federal
Government because we understand the great value of such cooperation.
Hatchery production also continues to be a critical component in
fulfilling these treaty-reserved rights and play a vital role in the
management of our fisheries. In addition to our habitat concerns, the
hatchery systems in the State of Washington are under attack by third
party litigation due to the lack of approved Hatchery and Genetic
Management Plans (HGMPs) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The
problem will continue until the National Marine Fisheries Service and
U.S Fish and Wildlife Service have completed their ESA determinations.
Resources and immediate action is needed to address the current backlog
of HGMPs so that our communities are not further impacted by loss of
their fisheries.
To address these many concerns adequate funding is necessary for
hatchery production and salmon habitat restoration. The programs we
support provide the necessary salmon production and assists tribes in
the implementation of salmon recovery plans that moves us in the
direction of achieving the recovery goals, which is a direct request in
our TRAR initiative. As Congress considers the fiscal year 2017 budget,
we ask you to consider our requests that are further described below.
JUSTIFICATION OF REQUESTS
Provide $110.0 million for NOAA Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
We respectfully request $110.0 million, an increase of $45.0
million over the President's fiscal year 2017 request of $65.0 million.
The fiscal year 2016 appropriations provided a total of $65.0 million.
These funds have decreased from the peak of $110.0 million in fiscal
year 2002. We continue to support the original congressional intent of
these funds that would enable the Federal Government to fulfill its
obligations to salmon recovery and the treaty fishing rights of the
tribes.
The PCSRF is a multi-state, multi-tribe program established by
Congress in fiscal year 2000 with a primary goal to help recover wild
salmon throughout the Pacific coast region. The PCSRF supports projects
that restore, conserve and protect Pacific salmon and steelhead and
their habitats. PCSRF is making a significant contribution to the
recovery of wild salmon throughout the region by financially supporting
and leveraging local and regional efforts. Salmon restoration projects
not only benefits fish populations and their habitat but provides much
needed jobs for the local communities.
The tribes' overall goal in the PCSRF program is to restore wild
salmon populations while the key objective is to protect and restore
important habitat in Puget Sound and along the Washington coast. This
is essential for western Washington tribes to exercise their treaty-
reserved fishing rights consistent with U.S. v. Washington and Hoh v.
Baldrige \2\ and also promotes the recovery of Endangered Species Act
(ESA) listed species and other salmon populations. The tribes have used
these funds to support the scientific salmon recovery approach that
makes this program so unique and important.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Hoh v. Baldrige--A Federal court ruling that required fisheries
management on a river-by-river basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
These funds support policy and technical capacities within tribal
resources management to plan, implement, and monitor recovery
activities. In addition to watershed restoration and salmon recovery
work they also help fund fish hatchery reform efforts to allow for the
exercise of tribal treaty fishing rights. Hatchery projects are a
critical component of salmon recovery as they help reduce the impacts
of listed stocks. It is for these reasons that the tribes strongly
support the PCSRF.
Provide $14.7 million for NOAA Pacific Salmon Treaty, including $3.0
million associated with the 2008 Chinook Salmon Agreement
We support the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC)/U.S. Section's
request of $14.7 million, an increase of $3.4 million over the
President's fiscal year 2017 request of $11.3 million. The fiscal year
2016 appropriations provided a total of $11.3 million. We also support
as part of their request $1.5 million for the Puget Sound Critical
Stock Augmentation Program and $1.5 million for the Coded Wire Tag
(CWT) Program as required by the 2008 PST Chinook Annex Agreement.
The Puget Sound Critical Stock Augmentation Program provides
funding for the operation and maintenance costs for the hatchery
augmentation programs established for Dungeness, Stillaguamish, and
Nooksack Chinook. These hatchery efforts were initiated in connection
with the 2008 Chinook Agreement of the U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon
Treaty (PST) as the conservation needs of these populations could not
be met by harvest restriction actions alone. The CWT funding allows for
continued maintenance and efficiency improvements of the coast-wide CWT
program. This is essential for the sustainability and management of our
fisheries resources. Currently there is not enough funding allocated to
carry out the requirements of the PST, which causes the PSC to not be
able to perform all of its responsibilities required in the treaty and
its Chinook and coho annexes.
The PST was implemented in 1985 through the cooperative efforts of
tribal, State, U.S. and Canadian governments, and sport and commercial
fishing interests. The PSC was created by the United States and Canada
to implement the treaty, which was most recently updated in 2008. The
PSC establishes fishery regimes, develops management recommendations,
assesses each country's performance and compliance with the treaty, and
is the forum for all entities to work towards reaching an agreement on
mutual fisheries issues.
Adult salmon returning to most western Washington streams migrate
through U.S. and Canadian waters and are harvested by fisherman from
both countries. For years, there were no restrictions on the
interception of returning salmon by fishermen of neighboring countries.
The 2008 update of the treaty gave additional protection to weak runs
of Chinook salmon returning to Puget Sound rivers. The update also
provided compensation to Alaskan fishermen for lost fishing
opportunities, while also funding habitat restoration in the Puget
Sound region.
Provide $20.3 million for NOAA Mitchell Act Hatchery Programs
We support the President's fiscal year 2017 request of $20.3
million for the Mitchell Act Hatchery Programs. The fiscal year 2016
appropriations provided a total of $20.2 million. Funding is provided
for the operation and maintenance of hatcheries that release between 50
and 60 million juvenile salmon and steelhead in Oregon and Washington.
This program has historically provided fish production for tribal
treaty and non-tribal commercial and recreational fisheries in the
Columbia River, and also contributes to ocean fisheries from Northern
California to Southeast Alaska. Overall production from these
hatcheries has been reduced from more than 110 million to fewer than 60
million fish due to inadequate funding. The Mitchell Act hatchery
production is intended to mitigate for fish and habitat loss caused by
the Federal hydropower dam system on the Columbia River and provides
important economic and cultural benefits.
Funding is provided for improving the Mitchell Act Hatchery
Programs to ensure that both conservation and harvest goals are met
while contributing to sustainable fisheries and meeting the tribal
treaty obligation. It is especially important to us in that they
provide significant fish production for harvest opportunities for
tribal treaty fisheries along the Washington coast. Providing adequate
funding to maintain the current production levels from the Mitchell Act
hatcheries on the Columbia River is important as this production not
only supports coastal salmon fisheries but dampens the impact of
Canadian and Alaskan ocean fisheries under the terms of the PST Chinook
Annex on Puget Sound and coastal stocks.
Substantial changes have been made, and will continue to be
required of the Mitchell Act hatcheries, due to the application of the
ESA throughout the Columbia Basin. Mitchell Act hatcheries are
currently implementing hatchery reform efforts to ensure they are
operated using the best scientific principles that will contribute to
sustainable fisheries and the recovery of naturally spawning
populations of salmon and steelhead. Adequate funding will allow these
facilities to be retrofitted to meet current ESA standards as
identified through the hatchery reform process.
CONCLUSION
The treaties and the treaty-reserved right to harvest are the
supreme law of the land under the U.S. Constitution. It is critically
important for Congress and the Federal Government to do even more to
coordinate their efforts with State and tribal governments. We need
your continued support in upholding the treaty obligations and
fulfilling the trust responsibility of those treaties in order for
tribes to be successful.
We respectfully urge you to continue to support our efforts to
protect and restore our natural resources that in turn will provide for
thriving economies. Thank you.
______
Prepared Statement of the Ocean Conservancy
Thank you for this opportunity to provide Ocean Conservancy's
recommendations for fiscal year 2017 funding for NOAA. Ocean
Conservancy has worked for over 40 years to address threats to the
ocean through sound, practical policies that protect our ocean and
improve our lives. We support funding for NOAA at or above the
President's request of $5.8 billion, and we support balanced
investments across NOAA's atmospheric and oceanic missions. We
recommend the following funding levels for specific programs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal year 2016 Fiscal year 2017 Fiscal year 2017
Account, Program or Activity enacted PB request OC request
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operations Research and Facilities
National Ocean Service:
Coastal Science and Assessment:
Marine Debris............................... $6 m $6 m $8 m
Ocean and Coastal Mgmt. and Services:
Coastal Management Grants: Regional Coastal $5 m $20 m $20 m
Resilience Grants..........................
National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund........... .................. $10 m $10 m
National Marine Fisheries Service:
Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, & Other Species.... $110.246 m $125.107 m $125.107 m
Fisheries Data Collections, Surveys and $163.271 m $164.749 m $164.749 m
Assessments....................................
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research:
Regional Climate Data and Information........... $38 m $52.703 m $52.703 m
NOAA Arctic Research Program................ .................. $4.255 m increase $4.255 m increase
Climate Competitive Research.................... $60 m $66.250 m $66.250 m
Impacts of Climate on Fish Stocks........... .................. $5.83 m increase $5.83 m increase
Integrated Ocean Acidification.................. $10 m $21.775 m $30 m
Office of Marine and Aviation Operations:
Marine Operations & Maintenance................. $178.838 m $184.376 m $184.376 m
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marine Debris: $8 million
Marine debris, particularly plastic waste pollution, has become one
of the most widespread pollution problems facing the world's oceans and
waterways. It has serious effects on the marine environment and the
economy, causing impacts from wildlife entanglement, ingestion and
ghost fishing to navigational hazards and vessel damage. To address
this growing problem, NOAA's Marine Debris program conducts reduction,
prevention, and research activities through grants and engaging in
strategic partnerships. The program is authorized at $10 million and
was funded at $6 million in fiscal year 2016. More research is needed
in four critical areas (the sources of plastic waste in the ocean,
their distribution, the fates of those materials, as well as their
impacts) to support data-driven policy solutions to prevent plastic
from entering the environment. We support an increase in funding to $8
million in order to meet these urgent research needs.
Regional Coastal Resilience Grants: $20 million
The resilience of our coastal communities is a critical mission for
NOAA and the National Ocean Service. Resilient means more than just
storm-ready. Truly resilient communities are able to effectively adapt
to changing economic, social, and environmental conditions over time
and effectively respond to new challenges and threats to
infrastructure, community well-being, and ecosystem health.
Comprehensive resilience for coastal communities and economies can only
be achieved at the regional level when communities, States, and Federal
agencies come together to share their collective knowledge and
establish a unified direction. Regions must evaluate a range of
changing ocean conditions such as chemistry and ecology, sea level rise
and coastal inundation, weather hazard risks, new ocean uses, and
increasing use conflicts. Competitive Regional Coastal Resilience
Grants from NOAA support work to address these regional challenges,
ensuring that ocean priorities are set with fine-resolution, localized
data to enable regional, State, and local implementation of resilience
actions. We support an increase in funding to $20 million in order to
meet significant demand for these grants, as demonstrated by more than
$150 million in grant applications last year.
National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund: $10 million
When the fiscal year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act passed in
December, it established the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund
(NOCSF). This fund at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is to
be jointly managed with NOAA. Dollars that flow through the fund will
be spent on research and activities to better understand and utilize
ocean and coastal resources and coastal infrastructure. This type of
fund was first conceived in 2004 by the U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy. After 10 years of advocating for such a fund, Ocean Conservancy
and others in the ocean community are pleased and relieved to finally
see it created. We support the request in NOAA's budget for $10 million
to capitalize the NOCSF so this program can begin its important work.
Gulf of Mexico Restoration
Restoration of the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the BP Deepwater
Horizon oil disaster and years of environmental stressors is only in
its early stages. It is critical that NOAA's expertise be deployed
effectively to support and carry out restoration efforts. We support
the following funding in NOAA's budget to ensure the success of Gulf
restoration through the RESTORE Act and the Natural Resource Damage
Act:
--Funding for NOAA's Restoration Center as needed
NOAA's Restoration Center is providing key coordination and
expertise to government-wide restoration efforts. For example, it is
clear that the Restoration Center will serve as a center of gravity for
the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group. In order to effectively
lead this effort, the Restoration Center must be sufficiently resourced
and it must also have the support and services needed from other parts
of NOAA.
--Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles and Other Species: $125.107 million
NOAA's work to protect living marine resources is important
nationwide, but is especially critical in the Gulf region. We support
the requested $13.452 million increase for Marine Mammals in particular
because it will support increased capacity for restoration efforts in
the Gulf region. In addition, we support continued funding for the John
H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, which funds
the first responders for sick or dying marine mammals.
Fisheries Science and Management
We support funding for programs that implement the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act. As we review the Act for
reauthorization, it is important to note that the Act is working--NOAA
has made great strides towards ending overfishing and continued
investments in these programs are needed. In particular, we support the
following:
--Fisheries Data Collections, Surveys and Assessments: $164.749
million
This recently consolidated line supports a host of activities
critical to MSA implementation. For example, it provides resources for
fisheries managers to assess priority fish stocks, implement the
requirement for annual catch limits (ACLs), and ensure the successful
recovery of overfished populations. Stock assessments give fishery
managers greater confidence that their ACLs will avoid overfishing
while providing optimal fishing opportunities. We also support funding
for the Marine Recreational Information Program. Despite their often
sizeable economic and biological impacts, much less data are collected
from recreational saltwater fisheries than commercial fisheries due to
the sheer number of participants and limited sampling of anglers'
catches. The low level of data collection and lack of timely reporting
of data in these fisheries is a large source of uncertainty and has
become a flashpoint for controversy in regions where catch restrictions
have been adopted to rebuild overfished stocks, particularly in the
Southeast. By all accounts, improved sampling and timelier reporting of
catch data are needed for successful management of marine recreational
fisheries.
--Electronic Monitoring and Reporting
We support funding for electronic monitoring and reporting for
nationwide efforts. In particular we support funding that goes to the
Gulf of Mexico region, where managers need electronic monitoring to
keep track of catch and prevent overruns in the red snapper fishery,
there is significant need for additional funding. Based on the findings
of the November 2014 ``Technical Subcommittee Report to the South
Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils:
Recommendations for Electronic Logbook Reporting'' NOAA's requested
increases are only a portion of what is needed to support effective
electronic monitoring. The Gulf of Mexico region alone will require
more than $5 million annually to support electronic monitoring.
--Impacts of Climate on Fish Stocks: $5.83 million increase
We support NOAA's request for increased funding in the Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric research to provide research grants that will
provide new information and solutions to increasing challenges as
important fisheries face a changing ocean due to climate change.
--Marine Operations and Maintenance: $184.376 million
Marine Operations and Maintenance should be funded at or above the
President's request level of $178.838 million. Days at sea funded by
this line are functionally tied to fishery stock assessments, and the
two programs must be viewed together.
Integrated Ocean Acidification: $30 million
In recent years, scientists have raised the alarm about ocean
acidification--a process whereby ocean waters' absorption of carbon
dioxide emissions alters marine acidity. These changes can have far-
reaching consequences for marine life, including economically important
species like shellfish. For example, the shellfish industry in the
Pacific Northwest has been devastated in recent years as increasingly
acidic water impacted oyster hatcheries, nearly wiping out several
years-worth of oyster ``seed.''
Given the magnitude of the potential impacts of ocean acidification
we believe this area warrants not the increased research investment
proposed in the President's fiscal year 2017 request ($21.775 million),
but rather the higher $30 million proposed in fiscal year 2016. We
greatly appreciate last year's appropriation of $10 million for fiscal
year 2016, and believe the increase in funding is critical to allow
NOAA to do more than just keep existing programs running and continue
assessing acidification effects on commercial and recreational marine
species. With additional funding NOAA can improve and expand regional
ocean acidification experimental facilities and take on additional
projects, like developing synthesis and visualization products that
stakeholders are asking for. By increasing the programmatic funding for
Integrated Ocean Acidification, NOAA will be able to take these
concrete actions to more effectively tackle the economic and local
implications of ocean acidification and prepare for future strategies
that will protect our Nation's key ocean and coastal economies.
NOAA Arctic Research Program: $4.255 million increase
We support NOAA's request to make investments we need now to be
prepared for economic and ecological challenges of a changing Arctic.
Ocean Conservancy supported NOAA's requested increases for Arctic
programs last fiscal year as well, but only a portion of the additional
funding requested for the Arctic was appropriated. Considering the
ongoing U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council, it is even more
important now that investments be made to demonstrate U.S. leadership
in the Arctic. Temperatures in the Arctic are warming at twice the rate
of the global average and seasonal sea ice is diminishing rapidly.
Funding to expand and improve NOAA's Arctic Observing Network is
critical to track and understand these profound changes and provide
products that inform industries and decision-makers and support our
ability to adapt.
______
Prepared Statement of the Planetary Society
Humankind is on the cusp of a scientific revolution. For the first
time in history, we have the ability to actively search for new biology
in habitable environments beyond Earth. Whether or not we choose to
pursue this opportunity will be a legacy of our generation.
Mars and Europa are two of the most intriguing astrobiological
destinations in our solar system and are proposed as the top two most
important destinations for flagship missions in the National Academies'
Visions and Voyages for Planetary Science decadal survey report. The
ancient habitable environment of Mars may have preserved signs of life,
should it have ever existed there. Europa, with its ocean of liquid
water, abundance of necessary chemicals and nutrients, and heat created
from interaction with Jupiter's enormous gravitational pull, is a prime
candidate for an environment capable of supporting life now.
The search for life isn't the only reason to explore. Knowledge of
our solar system's origins and evolution is revealed through the
information returned by robotic spacecraft. The extremes in climate
represented by Venus and Mars can help us understand changes to our own
climate. And the act of exploration itself is a sign of an open,
curious culture committed to the pursuit of knowledge. Recent triumphs
in exploration by NASA have delighted the public with scientific
wonders in our solar system, revealing active glaciers on Pluto,
strange bright spots on the asteroid Ceres, flowing water-brines on
Mars, and the seasons on Titan, to name only a few. NASA has achieved
these discoveries by maintaining steady investment in its Planetary
Science Division in previous decades, though in recent years it has
been subject to cuts proposed by the White House, though mitigated
regularly by Congress.
A healthy and vibrant space exploration program is an excellent
investment to energize, engage, and inspire the next generation of
scientists, engineers, educators, as well as our citizens. Space
missions contribute to thousands of high-tech jobs in the aerospace
industry, at research laboratories, and in universities around the
country. They stimulate the best and brightest with interesting and
meaningful scientific and technical challenges that make our Nation
stronger and more competitive. NASA's exploration missions have
repeatedly demonstrated their power in engaging and exciting the public
imagination.
The human spaceflight efforts of NASA also face a critical decision
point that will determine our legacy to future generations.
Specifically, how NASA will extend human exploration beyond Earth
orbit. The Planetary Society strongly supports Mars as the destination
for human exploration, and has encouraged NASA to develop a clear,
executable, and affordable plan to achieve this goal over the next
several decades. An orbit-first architecture, where humans would first
orbit Mars in 2033 and then land later in the decade, is one highly
promising concept that could fit within the current budget with
inflationary growth. NASA's new start on a cis-lunar habitat, included
in the fiscal year 2017 request, is a critical step on the path to
humans on Mars.
The Planetary Society notes that the administration's fiscal year
2017 budget request for NASA is a step in the right direction compared
to recent years. However, the Society is disappointed that the proposal
falls short, by roughly $260 million, of the level Congress provided
last year, and singles out the Planetary Science Division as the lone
science division facing cuts in 2017. These numbers look even worse
without the unlikely addition of new ``mandatory'' spending sources
proposed in the budget.
In addition to maintaining growth in the other science divisions,
we urge the subcommittee to restore the Planetary Science Division to
fiscal year 2016 levels plus growth for inflation--to at least $1.71
billion.
While there are positive aspects of the administration's request, a
concern for the Society is the proposed delay and overall lack of
commitment in the budget for the mission to Europa. Last year, Congress
made clear that NASA was to move forward with a Europa multiple flyby
spacecraft and a lander that meets the science goals of the decadal
survey, along with a 5-year budget plan to support a 2022 launch on the
Space Launch System (SLS). However, the administration's plan ignores
the congressional mandate. Instead, NASA proposes to cut funding for
Europa in fiscal year 2017 by $125 million and delay the mission until
the late 2020s. The Society strongly supports the Europa approach
spelled out in the Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations Act and urges the
subcommittee to stay the course.
NASA's infrastructure here on Earth, particularly the Deep Space
Network (DSN), is crucial for the successful exploration of our solar
system and the cosmos. We are concerned that recent budget cuts to the
DSN will impact the reliability of the network and potentially impact
the safety of our deep space assets. Plutonium-238 infrastructure is
well-funded in the request, and we thank the administration and
Congress for the continued support for restoring this critical
capability.
We are pleased to see that the administration included funds for
extended operations of all ongoing planetary science missions, though
we note that the Mars Opportunity rover, Mars Express, and Mars Odyssey
missions depend on new mandatory funding sources for their continued
operations.
The Society strongly supports a robust Mars exploration program,
both human and robotic. The upcoming Mars 2020 rover is a critical step
toward the scientific community's top priority of Mars sample return,
as well as an important technology demonstration for entry, descent,
and landing and in-situ resource utilization experiments that will
inform future human exploration. Among its many scientific goals, the
Mars 2020 mission will collect and store a cache of samples on the
surface of the red planet. However, NASA has yet to define a plan for
follow-on missions to retrieve these samples and return them to Earth,
or even how it will continue to support ground assets with a future
scientific/telecommunications orbiter. We urge the subcommittee to
press NASA to clarify its plan to return these martian samples to Earth
in the 2020s.
The Society is concerned that proposed cuts to the Space Launch
System (SLS) program could impact the availability of the new rocket.
SLS is the foundation of the transportation system for sending humans
to Mars, as well as a key enabler for a sustained outer planets
exploration program, to Europa, Enceladus, and other destinations.
Adequate funding should be provided to maintain SLS on the most
efficient development timeline.
Should Congress continue the budgetary momentum it has sustained
for NASA in recent years, all major programs in human spaceflight--SLS,
Orion, and Commercial Crew--could be funded at needed levels while
maintaining the growth the science divisions and restoring Planetary
Science to $1.71 billion in fiscal year 2017. This is a growth of 5
percent, the same as in fiscal year 2016, bringing NASA's top-line to
$20.3 billion.
With the upcoming transition in Presidential administrations, we
urge Congress and the administration to build on the broad bipartisan
support for the Nation's space program and set NASA on a steady course
forward. We believe humankind is on the brink of revolutionary
discoveries, if we choose to make it happen.
______
Prepared Statement of the Population Association of America/Association
of Population Centers
Thank you, Chairman Shelby, Ranking Member Mikulski, and other
distinguished members of the subcommittee, for this opportunity to
express support for the Census Bureau, the National Science Foundation
(NSF), and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). These agencies are
important to the Population Association of America (PAA) and
Association of Population Centers (APC), because they provide direct
and indirect support to population scientists and the field of
population, or demographic, research overall. In fiscal year 2017, we
urge the subcommittee to adopt the following funding recommendations:
Census Bureau, $1.6 billion, consistent with the administration's
request; National Science Foundation (NSF), $ 8 billion, consistent
with the recommendation of the Coalition for National Science Funding;
and, Bureau of Economic Analysis, $110.7 million, consistent with the
administration's request.
The PAA and APC are two affiliated organizations that together
represent over 3,000 social and behavioral scientists and almost 40
federally funded population research centers nationwide that conduct
research on the implications of population change. Our members, which
include demographers, economists, sociologists, and statisticians,
conduct scientific research, analyze changing demographic and socio-
economic trends, develop policy recommendations, and train
undergraduate and graduate students. Their research expertise covers a
wide range of issues, including adolescent health and development,
aging, health disparities, immigration and migration, marriage and
divorce, education, social networks, housing, retirement, and labor.
Population scientists compete for funding from the NSF and rely on data
produced by the Nation's statistical agencies, including the Census
Bureau and BEA, to conduct research and research training activities.
the census bureau
The Census Bureau is the premier source of data regarding U.S.
demographic, socio-economic, and housing characteristics. While PAA/APC
members have diverse research expertise, they share a common need for
access to accurate, timely data about the Nation's changing socio-
economic and demographic characteristics that only the U.S. Census
Bureau can provide through its conduct of the decennial census,
American Community Survey (ACS), and a variety of other surveys and
programs.
We recognize that the fiscal year 2017 request is $300 million more
than the agency's fiscal year 2016 funding level. However, as you know,
the Census Bureau's budget is cyclical, and fiscal year 2017 is a
pivotal year in the 2020 Census planning cycle. Next year, the Census
Bureau must complete production of interoperable systems to implement a
re-designed Census as well as initiate the Local Update of Census
Addresses program in partnership with State and local governments,
finalize questionnaire content for congressional approval, and acquire
Regional Census Centers. Additionally, the Bureau will be preparing to
perform an End-to-End Readiness test in 2018, requiring completion of
the new information technology systems. Other ambitious tasks on the
agency's ``to do'' list include finalizing decisions on use of
administrative records-- data collected through other government
programs, such as IRS, Medicaid, and Postal Service--to remove vacant
and nonexistent addresses from the costly field follow-up universe and
to enumerate some households that do not self-respond
These ambitious plans, if supported, would not only enhance the
conduct and outcome of the 2020 Census, but could also make it more
cost effective, saving an estimated $5 billion over the lifecycle cost
of the census. Conversely, without sufficient resources to pursue these
innovations, the bureau is likely to rely on traditional and far more
costly census methods--an outcome that would jeopardize the accuracy of
the 2020 Census and most certainly preclude the agency from abiding by
Congress' directive to keep the cost of the next census at the 2010
level.
With respect to the ACS, the PAA and APC urge the subcommittee to
oppose any attempts that may occur during consideration of the fiscal
year 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill to change the
mandatory response status of the ACS. In 2003, the Census Bureau
conducted a test on a voluntary ACS. They found that survey costs
increased by approximately $60 million ($90 in real dollars) and
response rates decreased by an estimated 20 percent. Canada's recent
experience of moving from a mandatory to voluntary National Household
Survey (NHS), the Canadian equivalent of the ACS, is a cautionary
example. The overall response rate dropped from 94 percent to under 69
percent, increasing costs by $22 million as Statistics Canada increased
the sample size to make up for lower response. Despite these efforts,
Statistics Canada could not produce reliable socio-economic estimates
for 25 percent of all ``places'' in the Nation--mostly small
communities and rural areas--alarming data users in the private and
public sectors alike. Given the obvious failure of the voluntary NHS,
within days of taking office, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
reinstated the mandatory NHS. The United States should heed Canada's
example and maintain the integrity of the mandatory ACS.
national science foundation (nsf)
The mission of NSF is to promote the progress of science; to
advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the
national defense. Understanding the implications of complex population
dynamics is vital to the agency's mission. The Directorate of Social,
Behavioral and Economic (SBE) Sciences is the primary source of support
for the population sciences within the NSF. The Directorate funds
critical large-scale longitudinal surveys, such as the Panel Study of
Income Dynamics, that inform pressing policy decisions and enable
policy makers to make effective decisions. Other projects, such as the
Social Observatory Coordinating Network, integrate social science and
health research, linking community and national data to improve
population health.
NSF is the funding source for over 20 percent of all federally
supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and
universities, including basic behavioral and social research. Moreover,
the SBE Directorate funds more than half of the university-based social
and behavioral sciences research in the Nation.
PAA and APC, as members of the Coalition for National Science
Funding, request that the subcommittee provide NSF with $8 billion.
Since 2010, the agency has lost ground in real dollars, notwithstanding
the modest increase appropriated in the fiscal year 2016 omnibus bill.
The funding level recommended for fiscal year 2017 will enable the NSF
SBE Directorate to continue its support of social science surveys and a
robust portfolio of population research projects. The NSF also
continues to focus on interdisciplinary research initiatives,
recognizing that social and behavioral factors are intrinsic to many
critical areas of research--for example the ongoing Understanding the
Brain initiative. Funding at this level will allow NSF to continue
funding the most promising grant applications that promote
transformational and multidisciplinary research. Steady and sustainable
real growth will enhance the Nation's capability to make new
discoveries, leading to new innovations.
bureau of economic analysis (bea)
While a relatively small agency, the BEA is enormously important to
understanding our multi-trillion dollar economy. A diverse range of
data users rely on BEA data: Federal, State and local government
officials use BEA data to inform economic and fiscal policy; businesses
use BEA data to guide investment decisions; and scientists use BEA data
to understand and interpret trends in labor, employment, and national
and international economies.
PAA and APC are very grateful for the increase BEA received in
fiscal year 2016, reversing the decline in inflation-adjusted dollars
to its budget since fiscal year 2010. We join other national
organizations to urge the subcommittee to sustain BEA by providing it
with a modest increase in fiscal year 2017, bringing the total to
$110.7 million. With this support, BEA could pursue new initiatives,
including the Regional Economic Dashboard and the Accelerating and
Improving Quality of Economic Indicators, which will improve our
understanding of changing economic dynamics.
Thank you for considering our requests and for supporting Federal
programs that benefit the population sciences.
______
Prepared Statement of the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS)
National Policy Group
The mission of the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) is
to assist local, State, Federal, and tribal criminal justice partners
by providing adaptive solutions and services that facilitate
information sharing, support criminal investigations, and promote
officer safety. With the ongoing threats to safety and security, it is
important to adequately fund proven and trusted programs such as RISS.
It is respectfully requested that RISS be funded in fiscal year 2017 at
$48.5 million.
RISS is composed of six regional centers and the RISS Technology
Support Center. RISS works regionally and nationwide to respond to the
unique crime problems of each region while strengthening the country's
information sharing environment. More than 9,000 local, State, Federal,
and tribal law enforcement and public safety agencies are members of
RISS. RISS supports efforts against organized and violent crime, gang
activity, drug activity, terrorism, human trafficking, identity theft,
cybercrime, and other regional priorities. Hundreds of thousands of law
enforcement officers and criminal justice professionals use RISS
services and resources every day to assist with their efforts in
fighting crime.
For more than 40 years, RISS has demonstrated its value and benefit
to the criminal justice and law enforcement community (visit
www.riss.net/Impact to view shared successes). RISS provides critical
investigative and analytical services, secure access to intelligence
systems and investigative data from all levels of government,
technology and field-based solutions, and essential officer safety
resources.
riss--an excellent return on investment for our nation
RISS provides diverse and specialized investigative services and
resources to help identify, apprehend, and prosecute criminals.
Specifically, RISS:
--Develops analytical products, such as specialized charts, crime
scene diagrams, telephone toll analysis products, and financial
analysis reports.
--Provides digital forensics and audio/video enhancements.
--Loans specialized investigative equipment, such as specialized
cameras, recorders, and other devices.
--Researches intelligence and investigative resources and provides a
comprehensive report of findings to officers.
--Provides one-on-one technical support through RISS's field services
staff.
--Provides confidential funds to assist officers with undercover
operations and buy-busts.
--Trains thousands of law enforcement officers on timely and relevant
topics, such as emerging crime, officer safety, and
investigative techniques.
--Develops publications and law enforcement-sensitive briefings.
Every day, officers are using RISS to help detect, deter, prevent,
and respond to crime problems. Without these services to support law
enforcement efforts, narcotics, stolen property, and other contraband,
as well as violent offenders, gang members, and other criminals, might
still be on our streets. Over the last 10 years, officers leveraging
RISS's services arrested almost 44,000 offenders and seized more than
$625.9 million in narcotics, property, and currency. The resources and
services offered by RISS are crucial to ensure that RISS officers and
agencies can solve crimes and remove criminals from our communities.
The Federal Government has invested in RISS, and RISS has proved to be
an excellent return on that investment.
riss--a source for secure and innovative information sharing solutions
The ability to share information remains one of the most important
factors to help communities address their most pressing criminal
justice problems in effective ways. The RISS Secure Cloud (RISSNET) is
a sensitive but unclassified (SBU) system that connects disparate
systems, provides bidirectional sharing, and offers a single
simultaneous search of connected systems. Without access to RISSNET
resources and information, multijurisdictional information sharing
would become difficult, leads may be lost, and some cases may not be
solved timely or at all. Hundreds of resources (most owned by RISS
partners) rely on the RISSNET infrastructure to share millions of
records among and between law enforcement from all levels. Currently,
more than 80 systems are connected or pending connection to RISSNET.
More than 39.5 million records are available through these and other
RISSNET resources. RISS has developed a number of resources accessible
via RISSNET that are critical to the law enforcement community's
mission, including the following:
--The RISS Criminal Intelligence Database (RISSIntel) provides for a
real-time, online federated search of more than 40 RISS and
partner intelligence databases.
--The RISS National Gang Program (RISSGang) consists of an
intelligence database, a Web site, and information resources.
--The RISS Automated Trusted Information Exchange (ATIX) provides a
secure platform for law enforcement, public safety, first
responders, and the private sector to share information.
--The RISSLeads Investigative Web site enables authorized law
enforcement officers to post information regarding cases or
other law enforcement issues.
--The RISS Officer Safety Web site provides law enforcement and
criminal justice users with timely officer safety information
and a secure infrastructure to exchange and share officer
safety-related information among agencies.
--Secure hosted Web sites enable partners to securely share
information and materials. There are more than 30 secure hosted
Web sites.
saving lives and solving cases through officer safety deconfliction
RISS recognized the importance of ensuring the safety of law
enforcement officers and, in an effort to further enhance officer
safety, developed the RISS Officer Safety Event Deconfliction System
(RISSafe). Thousands of agencies and officers use RISSafe every day.
Since inception, more than 1,175,800 operations have been entered into
RISSafe, resulting in 362,000 identified conflicts. Without the
identification of these conflicts, officers might have interfered with
another agency's or officer's investigation, links between cases might
have been lost, or officers or citizens might have been unintentionally
hurt or killed. RISSafe is accessible and monitored on a 24/7/365 basis
and available at no cost to all law enforcement agencies, regardless of
RISS membership. Currently, 28 RISSafe Watch Centers are operational,
22 of which are operated by organizations other than RISS. These
organizations have invested resources to support this critical officer
safety program.
In May 2015, the three nationally recognized event deconfliction
systems--Case Explorer, SAFETNet, and RISSafe--were integrated. The
partners worked in collaboration to accomplish this goal with the help
of many vested partners, including the Bureau of Justice Assistance
(BJA); the Office of the Program Manager, Information Sharing
Environment (PM-ISE); the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA); and many others. This
milestone further strengthens officer and citizen safety across the
country.
riss--an essential partner in nationwide initiatives
RISS supports Federal and nationwide initiatives that help enhance
and expand efficient and effective information sharing among the
criminal justice community. Examples of RISS's Federal and nationwide
partnerships include:
--U.S. Department of Justice
--Assured SBU Interoperability Initiative
--Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative
--National Network of Fusion Centers
--Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers
--INTERPOL
--National Motor Vehicle Title Information System
--United States Secret Service's Targeted Violence Information
Sharing System
Many other partnerships have resulted in streamlined processes,
increased information sharing and officer access to critical data,
safer officers and communities, and the advancement of important
technology solutions. Some of those are highlighted below.
As part of the Northeast Fusion Center Intelligence Project, RISS
is connecting fusion centers' intelligence systems to RISSIntel via
RISSNET. Multiple fusion center systems have been connected to
RISSIntel under this project.
Through the Law Enforcement National Data Exchange (N-DEx) and RISS
partnership effort, access to N-DEx is becoming available to authorized
RISSNET users via the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Law Enforcement
Enterprise Portal (LEEP) without an additional username or password.
This capability enables officers to obtain information quickly, saves
officers' time, streamlines operations, and enhances law enforcement's
ability to respond to crime effectively and efficiently.
As foundational members of the SBU Working Group and the National
Identity Exchange Federation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) and RISS have made
significant progress in implementing bidirectional secure single sign-
on between the two systems. This integration provides a streamlined
approach that enables users to quickly and easily access critical
information.
building on riss successes in the future
At the $48.5-million level, RISS will be positioned to maintain and
build on its successes. Specifically, RISS will:
--Move forward with important technology initiatives in the areas of
federation and bidirectional system connections.
--Purchase essential network equipment to maintain and safeguard the
RISS secure infrastructure.
--Expand and enhance existing RISS investigative services and RISSNET
resources.
--Support RISSafe's 24/7/365 component and continue to work with
partners to promote the use of event deconfliction.
--Support Federal efforts and nationwide partnerships to expand
information sharing capabilities and available resources to
officers and law enforcement personnel.
--Replace and obtain new specialized equipment.
--Support emerging initiatives, such as human trafficking,
cybersecurity, and school violence programs.
Funding at $48.5 million will aid RISS in addressing these
important initiatives and leverage proven technology, maximize trusted
relationships, and help create a more secure information sharing
environment. As criminals grow savvier and technologically advanced and
as emerging crime problems arise, law enforcement will continue to seek
effective, innovative, and trusted solutions to help them resolve and
respond to criminal and terrorist activities. RISS is a necessary
component of law enforcement efforts and is the ``one-stop shop'' to
fill officers' needs and help maximize their efforts. RISS is dedicated
to ensuring the highest quality in all of its programs.
conclusion
RISS has worked diligently to seek innovative solutions to provide
fast, quality-driven support to the law enforcement and public safety
communities under reduced funding and is committed to finding solutions
to help fill the gaps and move forward. Inadequate funding and support
for RISS would significantly weaken the Nation's information sharing
environment, hinder investigations, and impact the safety of our
officers and our communities. It would be counterproductive to require
local and State RISS members to self-fund match requirements or to
reduce the amount of BJA discretionary funding. Agencies require more
funding to fight the Nation's crime problem. RISS is unable to make up
the decrease in funding that a match would cause, for it has no revenue
source of its own. RISS is grateful to provide this testimony at your
request and appreciates the support this committee continuously
provides to the RISS Program.
______
Prepared Statement of Restore America's Estuaries
Restore America's Estuaries is a nonpartisan, nonprofit
organization that has been working since 1995 to restore our Nation's
greatest estuaries. Our mission is to restore and protect estuaries as
essential resources for our Nation. Restore America's Estuaries is an
alliance of community-based coastal conservation organizations across
the Nation that protect and restore coastal and estuarine habitat. Our
member organizations include: American Littoral Society, Chesapeake Bay
Foundation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Save the Sound--a
program of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Galveston Bay
Foundation, North Carolina Coastal Federation, EarthCorps, Save The
Bay--San Francisco, Save the Bay--Narragansett Bay, and Tampa Bay
Watch. Collectively, we represent over 250,000 members nationwide.
As you develop the fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science and
Related Agencies appropriations bill, Restore America's Estuaries
encourages you to provide the funding levels below within the
Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) for core programs which significantly support coastal community
and ecosystem resilience and local economies:
--$68.4 million for Habitat Conservation and Restoration
(NOAA: ORF: NMFS: Habitat Conservation and Restoration)
--$10 million for Regional Coastal Resilience Grants
(NOAA: ORF: NOS: Ocean and Coastal Management and Services:
Coastal Management Grants: Regional Coastal Resilience Grants)
--$23.9 million for National Estuarine Research Reserve System
Operations
(NOAA: ORF: NOS: Ocean and Coastal Management and Services:
National Estuarine Research Reserve System)
--$1.7 million for National Estuarine Research Reserve System
Construction
(NOAA: PAC: NOS: NERRS Construction)
These non-regulatory investments strengthen and revitalize
America's coastal communities by protecting and restoring habitat,
improving local water quality, and enhancing resilience. Healthy
coastlines protect communities from flood damage and extreme weather,
improve commercial fisheries, safeguard vital infrastructure, and
support tourism and recreational opportunities.
noaa habitat conservation and restoration
(NOAA: ORF: NMFS: Habitat Conservation and Restoration)
NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation (OHC) protects, restores, and
promotes stewardship of coastal and marine habitat to support our
Nation's fisheries and improves the resilience of coastal communities
through financial support and the provision of restoration expertise
and services. Funding for the Office of Habitat Conservation through
the Habitat Conservation and Restoration PPA supports the Community-
based Restoration Program, Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants, the
Estuary Restoration Program, and staff capacity to efficiently execute
and facilitate habitat restoration nationwide.
NOAA's Community-based Restoration Program (CBRP), funds on-the-
ground projects to restore the Nation's coastal, marine, and migratory
fish habitat while creating jobs and benefiting local economies.
Habitat restoration is critical to sustaining and rebuilding fish
populations needed to support sportfishing opportunities and the
commercial fishing industry in the coming years. Healthier habitats
resulting from restoration increase community resilience by buffering
against storms, protecting vital infrastructure, and providing new
recreational opportunities.
The Community-based Restoration Program provides scientific
expertise, funding, and technical support to national, regional, and
local conservation partners to restore coastal and marine habitat. This
non-regulatory tool has helped build collaborations with more than
2,500 organizations, from industry to nonprofits to local governments,
and funded more than 2,000 projects that have restored over 81,000
coastal acres. The program has engaged more than 258,000 project
volunteers and generated more than $150 million in non-Federal match
and in-kind contributions from project partners.
Our Nation's coastal communities face ever-increasing pressures
from extreme weather events, changing environmental conditions, and sea
level rise. These hazards not only threaten the 39 percent of the
Nation's population that live in coastal counties, but also the
economy, to which coastal counties provide nearly half of the Nation's
GDP.
NOAA's Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants aim to reduce these
risks and associated costs by funding proactive, community-based
projects that improve ecosystem and community resilience to extreme
weather, sea level rise, flooding, and other coastal hazards. The
Program focuses on building partnerships that leverage non-Federal
funds to carry out projects that restore degraded or altered habitats
to functioning, resilient ecosystems that not only provide direct
benefits to communities, but also provide healthy habitat for
commercial and listed fish species. The inaugural funding solicitation
for this program drew in $46 million in funding requests for shovel-
ready resilience projects, more than nine times the available funding,
demonstrating a significant need for these grants.
The Estuary Restoration Program was transferred from the National
Ocean Service to the National Marine Fisheries Service under the
Habitat Conservation and Restoration PPA without additional funding in
fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations. The Estuary Restoration Act
established a comprehensive interagency organization, the Estuary
Habitat Restoration Council, comprised of five key Federal restoration
agencies to lead a coordinated approach to estuary habitat restoration.
Under the Act, NOAA is responsible for maintaining the National
Estuaries Restoration Inventory (NERI). Modest funding is necessary for
maintaining and updating NERI and to ensure cross-agency collaboration
continues. Restore America's Estuaries urges your continued support of
the Estuary Restoration Council and NOAA's Estuary Restoration Program.
We strongly urge the subcommittee to provide $68.4 million for
Habitat Conservation and Restoration, including no less than $10
million for Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants and $21.1 million for
the Community-Based Restoration Program. Funding at this level supports
the President's fiscal year 2017 budget request, but we request that
the subcommittee retain funding for Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants
within NMFS. We greatly appreciate the subcommittee's past strong
support for habitat restoration and, in particular, the Coastal
Ecosystem Resiliency Grants program.
noaa regional coastal resilience grants
(NOAA: ORF: NOS: Ocean and Coastal Management and Services: Coastal
Management Grants: Regional Coastal Resilience Grants)
The National Ocean Service Regional Coastal Resilience Grants help
interested communities improve resilience to extreme weather events,
climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions by providing funding for
collaborative partnerships that develop and use science-based solutions
to address coastal hazards. These diverse efforts, including risk
assessment, development of strategic resilience plans, and
implementation of comprehensive adaptation strategies will help ensure
that coastal communities are prepared for and more easily recover from
coastal hazards. In fiscal year 2016, NOAA received more than 130
proposals from coastal communities requesting more than $151 million
for coastal resilience projects, demonstrating an unmet need for
resilience planning and tools and project implementation nationwide.
Restore America's Estuaries urges the subcommittee to provide no
less than $10 million for the Regional Coastal Resilience Grant
Program. We ask the subcommittee to ensure that NOS coordinates closely
with the NMFS Office of Habitat Conservation to increase efficiency and
leverage capacity to help meet shared goals.
noaa national estuarine research reserve system
(NOAA: ORF: NOS: Ocean and Coastal Management and Services: National
Estuarine Research Reserve System)/(NOAA: PAC: NOS: NERRS
Construction)
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) is comprised
of 28 protected reserves that support long-term research, education,
training, and monitoring. Through an effective partnership between NOAA
and coastal States, NERRS plays a critical role in sustaining resilient
coasts and coastal communities.
The States have been entrusted to operate and manage NOAA's program
in 22 States and Puerto Rico, where over 1.3 million acres of land and
water are protected in perpetuity. Through scientific research and
science-based management, NERRS provides numerous benefits to
communities that result in improved water quality, increased upland
flood and erosion control, and improved habitat quality that support
local fisheries and provide storm protection to coastal communities.
NERRS assists our coastal communities, industries and resource
managers to enhance coastal resiliency in a changing environment. As
severe weather events become more common, Federal, State, and local
officials are recognizing that estuaries have the capacity to provide
green resilience infrastructure. Through NERRS, NOAA can tailor science
and management practices to enable local planners to use estuarine
habitat as a tool for resilience and adaptation.
Restore America's Estuaries respectfully requests $23.9 million for
NERRS operations and $1.7 million for NERRS construction in fiscal year
2017. At this funding level, NERRS will be able to carry out much-
needed infrastructure maintenance and upgrades that will allow NERRS to
continue to deliver comprehensive environmental intelligence data and
services to support coastal communities.
conclusion
Restore America's Estuaries greatly appreciates the support this
subcommittee has provided in the past for these important programs.
These programs help to accomplish on-the-ground restoration work which
results in major benefits:
--Jobs.--Coastal habitat restoration projects create between 17-33
jobs per $1 million invested, more than twice as many jobs as
the oil and gas sector and road construction industries
combined.
--More fish.--Traditional fisheries management tools alone are
inadequate. Fish need healthy and abundant habitat for
sustainable commercial and recreational fisheries.
--Resiliency.--Restoring coastal wetlands knocks down storm waves and
reduces devastating storm surges before they reach the shore,
protecting lives, property, and vital infrastructure for the
nearly 40 percent of Americans that live in coastal communities
--Leverage.--Community-based restoration projects leverage 3-5 times
the Federal investment through private matching funds,
amplifying the Federal investment and impact.
Thank you for taking our requests into consideration as you move
forward in the fiscal year 2017 appropriations process. We stand ready
to work with you and your staff to ensure the health of our Nation's
estuaries and coasts.
______
Prepared Statement of the Sac and Fox Nation
Chairman Shelby and distinguished members of the subcommittee, I am
Kay Rhoads, Principal Chief of the Great Sac and Fox Nation. The Sac
and Fox Nation is home of Jim Thorpe, one of the most versatile
athletes of modern sports who earned Olympic gold medals for the 1912
pentathlon and decathlon. Thank you for accepting this written
testimony which presents to you our tribal requests for funding
programs in the Office of Justice Services, Department of Justice.
Congress has taken historic steps in recent years with the passage
of the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) in 2010 and the Violence Against
Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013), both of which begin to
address some of the structural barriers to public health and safety in
tribal communities. For the promise of these laws to be fully realized,
they must be fully implemented, which requires sufficient resources for
tribal justice systems and ongoing coordination and consultation
between various Federal agencies and tribal governments. The public
safety and justice needs of our communities should not be ignored and
both of these bills should be funded to fulfill the intent of Congress.
The Sac and Fox Nation would like to advance the following
Department of Justice budget requests for fiscal year 2017:
1. Fully Fund the Tribal Law and Order Act
2. Fully Fund All Tribal Provisions of the Violence Against Women
Act
3. Tribal Grants--Utilize DOJ Appropriations as Base Funding with
Tribes Setting Own Priorities
4. Tribal Set-Aside from All Discretionary Office of Justice
Programs
The Sac and Fox Nation also supports the appropriation requests of
the National Congress of American Indians.
About the Sac and Fox Nation
The Sac and Fox Nation is a Self-Governance Tribe headquartered in
Stroud, Oklahoma. Our tribal jurisdictional area covers Lincoln, Payne,
and Pottawatomie counties. Of the 4,000 enrolled tribal members, 2,600
live in Oklahoma. Our culture is based upon respect for the life within
ourselves, our families, our communities, and all of creation. The
Creator gave this way of life to the Sac and Fox people. The culture is
the way things are done in relation to each other and all of creation.
The Sac and Fox way of life is spiritually based. We seek the guidance
of the Creator in how to live. The oldest continuing religious
practices are ceremonies like clan feasts, namings, adoptions, and
burials. More recent religious practices include the Drum Dance, the
Native American Church and Christianity.
Fully Fund Tribal Law and Order Act as Authorized
The Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) has three basic purposes:
1. Make Federal departments and agencies more accountable for
serving Native peoples and land;
2. Provide greater freedom for Indian Tribes and Nations to design
and run their own justice systems; and
3. Enhance cooperation among Tribal, Federal and State officials
in key areas such as law enforcement, training, interoperability and
access to criminal justice information.
The Sac and Fox Nation operates a Juvenile Detention Center which
provides services to 46 tribes in Oklahoma, Kanas and Texas, as well as
the State of Oklahoma. We are anxious to advance the opportunities that
TLOA can offer to further expand and increase access to our facility.
However, unless TLOA is fully funded, facilities such as ours will not
be able to attain the full potential and help to guide children in the
system towards a successful future.
The full potential of TLOA cannot be realized or implemented
without sufficient resources for tribal justice systems and ongoing
coordination and consultation between tribal governments and various
Federal agencies. DOJ recognized the importance of completing the
circle when it issued the ``Proposed Statement of Principles'', in
which is referenced that a stable funding at sufficient levels for
essential tribal justice functions is critical to the long-term growth
of tribal institutions. Yet the act remains under funded.
Fully Fund Violence Against Women Act as Authorized
We applaud the work of Indian Country and Congress to successfully
enact the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that
includes all women in Indian Country as of December 12, 2014. The
exemption of Alaska was disheartening and unacceptable to exclude any
Native woman equal access to justice. Thank you for helping us to
protect our mothers, daughters, sisters and wives from jurisdictional
gaps or safe havens for criminals. But without funding to implement the
law, this is an idle victory. We urge you to fully fund all of the
tribal provisions of VAWA at the authorized amount.
With the implementation of the expanded jurisdiction arising from
the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, Tribal Nations
are meeting a budget crisis. At the Sac and Fox Nation, we have gone
through the process of amending all of our laws dealing with this
jurisdiction to ensure both compliance and fairness for all defendants.
However, in order to ensure that overarching need, we have to be able
to provide for a proper public defender to ensure that all defendants
are getting the best representation possible. However, the funding
provided to justice programs is at such a low level that we are
prevented from having someone on staff to fill that role. This creates
a problem of access and availability which must be corrected. Moreover,
we also need to have the ability to jail persons who are convicted,
especially those with long sentences due to multiple convictions or
serious offenses. However, the funding levels for incarceration that
are currently appropriated to tribes are simply not enough to cover
these costs. The Sac and Fox Nation is a prime example of this. We do
not have our own facility to incarcerate convicted persons, or access
to Bureau of Prisons facilities, and must send them to county jails
which may cost us anywhere from $33-$78 per day. At those rates
incarcerating one person for a year would use a large majority of our
incarceration budget. This makes it significantly harder for us to
protect the women and children of the Sac and Fox Nation from violence.
We ask that you seriously consider increasing the appropriations to
support the changes that we are making for the future.
Tribal Grants--Utilize DOJ appropriations as base funding with tribes
setting own priorities--Eliminate the competitive grant funding
process and utilize Justice Department appropriations as base
funding where tribes and tribal courts themselves determine
their own priorities.
Competitive funding for tribal priorities is a no win situation
that continues to pit tribe against tribe. One of the biggest issues
with DOJ funding is that it is competitive. In order to obtain the
funding tribes must compete against each other based on DOJ's
priorities and guidelines rather than identifying their own priorities
to best serve their citizens at the local level.
Instead the approach should be to utilize DOJ appropriations as
base funding so that tribes are encouraged to determine their
priorities. It appears that DOJ understands this concept inasmuch as it
posed the idea of base funding in the form of a block grant during
tribal consultation on the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW). We
propose that DOJ not merely propose this for OVW, but consider this for
all tribal appropriations in the Department.
Tribal Set-Aside (Seven Percent).--Again we ask for a 7 percent
tribal set-aside from all discretionary Office of Justice Programs
program funding. Ensure that they are allocated as flexible base
funding. The 7 percent set-aside was cut in the passage of the fiscal
year 2012 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act. As a
result tribal justice programs were cut across the board and continue
to struggle to address the increasing need of these funds which were
further impacted by the sequestration.
A majority of tribal trust and treaty promises are funded in the
domestic discretionary budget. In fiscal year 2014, non-defense
discretionary funding was nearly 18 percent below fiscal year 2010
levels adjusted only for inflation as a result of cuts made in the
fiscal year 2011 appropriations process and the Budget Control Act,
including sequestration. Tribes urged the appropriators to replace the
sequestered funds and avoid cutting even more deeply from key domestic
investments, which include the solemn duty to fund the trust
responsibility. The Murray-Ryan budget agreement partially replaced
sequestration but tribal programs were not restored.
Congress and the administration should enact an amendment to the
Budget Control Act of 2011 to fully exempt Indian program funding from
future sequestrations to honor the Federal trust responsibility and the
chronic and severe underfunding of all tribal programs.
This would be a show of good faith that ``great nations like great
men honor their word''!
Thank you.
______
Prepared Statement of the Sea Grant Association
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Sea Grant
College Program. On behalf of the 33 Sea Grant programs in every
coastal and Great Lake State, plus Puerto Rico and Guam, the Sea Grant
Association (SGA) expresses its gratitude to the Congress for strong
and consistent support it has provided year in and year out for the
National Sea Grant College Program (Sea Grant). Sea Grant was created
by the U.S. Congress in 1966 to be a highly leveraged Federal and State
partnership to harness the intellectual capacity of the Nation's
universities to solve ocean, coastal, Great Lakes and island (hereby
referred to as coastal) problems. Sea Grant provides unique access to
scientific expertise and to new discoveries. Through its scientists and
communications, education, extension and legal specialists (hereby
referred to as engagement professionals), Sea Grant generates,
translates and delivers cutting-edge, unbiased, science-based
information to address complex issues.
For the United States to be more responsive to the economic
development potential of its coastal resources, improve coastal
resilience, and balance the environmental challenges its coastal
communities face, the Sea Grant Association is requesting Federal
funding of $80 million in fiscal year 2017 for the research, education,
and extension activities that make up the National Sea Grant College
Program. This recommended funding level would support the key focus
areas in the program's strategic plan: healthy coastal ecosystems;
sustainable fisheries and aquaculture; resilient communities and
economies; environmental literacy and workforce development.
The National Sea Grant College Program contributions to the
economic health of the Nation's coastal communities.--In 2014, the Sea
Grant program delivered the following benefits to the Nation as a
result of its activities:
--$450 million in economic development;
--6,500 businesses created or retained;
--17,500 jobs created or retained;
--290,000 volunteer hours for outreach;
--760 undergraduate students supported;
--980 graduate students supported;
--53,000 stakeholders modify practices based on information and
technical assistance provided by Sea Grant;
--220 communities implement new sustainable practices; and
--21,700 acres of ecosystems restored.
The Importance of the Nation's Coastal Communities.--Sea Grant is
NOAA's Federal-State partnership program that supports science-based,
environmentally sustainable practices to ensure our coastal communities
remain engines of economic growth in a rapidly changing world. More
than half of the United States population lives in coastal counties
that generate 58 percent ($8.3 trillion) of the Nation's gross domestic
product (GPD). In 2011, Americans, on average, ate 15 pounds of fish
and shellfish per person--4.7 billion pounds all together--making the
U.S. second in the world in total seafood consumption. Offshore oil
production in the U. S. Exclusive Economic Zone accounts for 24 percent
of the total U.S. crude oil production. If American coastal watershed
counties collectively comprised a single country, that country would
have a GDP higher than that of China. The United States has
jurisdiction over 3.4 million square miles of oceans--an expanse
greater than the land area of all 50 States combined. This is a dynamic
area that offers a mosaic of biologically diverse habitats that provide
a wealth of environmental resources and economic opportunities, while
at the same exposing human and biological communities to hazards such
as damaging tsunamis and hurricanes, industrial accidents and outbreaks
of water borne pathogens. Sea Grant's portfolio touches on all of these
issues in meaningful ways helping those who live, work and recreate on
our Nations' coast to prosper.
Serious challenges present the greatest opportunities for change,
and Sea Grant is prepared not only to respond, but to help coastal
communities prepare to meet these challenges. One of Sea Grant's
demonstrated strengths is its ability to quickly mobilize universities
and other partners to address challenges across the country and around
the world. The national Sea Grant network of university scientists and
communication, education, extension and legal professionals has the
ability, through the organization's coordinated State and regional
infrastructure, to address local and State priorities of national
importance. At this time of great risk to the sustainability of our
ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources, there is an even greater
opportunity for the Sea Grant network to play a significant role,
through innovation and creativity, in addressing the goals set forth in
this plan. The Sea Grant programs will strive to achieve these national
goals in a manner that reflects the particular needs of individual
States and communities and the Nation as a whole.
The National Sea Grant College Program envisions a future where
people live, work and play along our coasts in harmony with the natural
resources that attract and sustain them. This is a vision of coastal
America where we use our natural resources in ways that capture the
economic, environmental and cultural benefits they offer, while
preserving their quality and abundance for future generations. This
vision complements the vision articulated in NOAA's Strategic Plan:
``Healthy ecosystems, communities and economies that are resilient in
the face of change.'' Sea Grant's mission is to provide integrated
research, communication, education, extension and legal programs to
coastal communities that lead to the responsible use of the Nation's
ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources through informed personal,
policy and management decisions.
Sea Grant is a national network. This network includes the National
Sea Grant Office, 33 university-based State programs, the National Sea
Grant Advisory Board, the National Sea Grant Law Center, the National
Sea Grant Library and hundreds of participating institutions. The Sea
Grant network enables NOAA and the Nation to tap the best science,
technology and expertise to balance human and environmental needs in
coastal communities. Sea Grant's alliance with major research
universities around the country provides access to thousands of
scientists, students and engagement professionals. Sea Grant's
university-based programs are fundamental to the development of the
future scientists and resource managers needed to conduct research and
to guide the responsible use and conservation of our Nation's coastal
resources. With its strong research capabilities, local knowledge and
on-the-ground workforce, Sea Grant provides an effective national
network of unmatched ability to rapidly identify and capitalize on
opportunities and to generate timely, practical solutions to real
problems in real places. Since its creation, the National Sea Grant
College Program has been at the forefront of addressing economic
opportunities and environmental issues facing coastal communities
through its research and outreach efforts. Sea Grant is user-driven and
university-based, and it is fully and actively engaged with regional,
State, and local organizations. Sea Grant helps America use its coastal
resources wisely in order to sustain the health and productivity of
coastal communities.
Sea Grant in Action in Local Communities
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant research and outreach leads to
development of commercial off-bottom oyster farming industry in Alabama
that approaches $1,000,000 per year. The Gulf Coast oyster industry has
suffered a number of setbacks, both natural and manmade, that are
challenging an industry built around inexpensive, plentiful oysters.
Off-bottom oyster farming for the high-value, half-shell niche market,
as practiced on the northeast and Pacific coasts, provides an
opportunity for Gulf residents to create jobs, increase profits and
diversify the oyster industry. Sea Grant-funded scientists established
two large oyster farming parks that serve as platforms for training and
business development, as part of a partnership between Louisiana Sea
Grant, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC), Auburn
University, and Louisiana State University. The parks demonstrate grow-
out and harvesting technology and techniques. Scientists also provided
technical advice and evaluations of possible sites to potential oyster
farmers. Along with scientists, Sea Grant legal specialists were
integral in providing research to inform passage of State legislation
that clarified and simplified the permitting process. Nine new
commercial oyster farms have been established in Alabama, with a total
farm-gate value exceeding $825,000 to date, which is expected to more
than double in 2015, increasing incomes and generation of local jobs
(at least 6 full-time positions and over 10 part-time positions). At
least 5 wholesalers in Alabama also profited from the sales of these
oysters. Two new oyster equipment companies were established in
Alabama, with total sales inception well over $100,000. Several
applications for new commercial farms are pending the results of the
governor's review board mandated by Alabama HB 361. This work has also
led the Gulf Oyster Industry Council to appoint a technical advisor on
oyster farming since 2012. In partnership with Organized Seafood
Association of Alabama (OSAA), MASGC has conducted a hands-on training
program Oyster Farming Fundamentals, which has trained 16 adult
students that have collectively raised 350,000 oyster seed, and
developing a ``vo-tech'' program that trains high school students to be
oyster farmers.
Wisconsin Sea Grant.--Sea Grant recognizes the vital nature of its
engagement within collaborative NOAA activities. Such efforts not only
broaden Wisconsin's experiences and learning opportunities but also
allow Wisconsin staff to contribute to a stronger focus when addressing
national and regional marine challenges to ensure sustainable use. One
such rich partnership is with the Lake Superior National Estuarine
Research Reserve. In 2010, the Lake Superior National Estuarine
Research Reserve was dedicated. It was the culmination of several years
of involvement by Wisconsin Sea Grant to bring this fellow NOAA program
to the State. Sea Grant staff had contributed to the scoping study,
participated in the site selection, currently serve on the advisory
board and has co-located three staff members in the LS-NERR facility in
Superior, Wisconsin. In total, these efforts have led to important
collaborative work, including assistance with an annual science summit;
a science speaker series; and Sea Grant funding for specific joint
research projects. The joint research is also being funded through yet
another NOAA partnership, with Minnesota Sea Grant.
Florida's $3 Million commercial sponge fishery employed traditional
harvesting practices that impaired the ability of sponges to regrow,
making the industry unsustainable. Florida Sea Grant agent, John
Stevely, an internationally recognized sponge expert, developed a new
harvesting protocol (one that harvests sponges by cutting rather than
hooking) that allows the sponges to regenerate. This method is now used
by the industry to harvest sponges sustainably. Areas that had been
traditionally closed to sponge harvesting have been reopened following
Florida Sea Grant research that showed current harvesting methods are
sustainable. It is estimated that Florida Sea Grant's recommended
approach to sponge harvesting has resulted in the retention of 150 jobs
and $3 million in annual earnings to the Florida commercial sponge
industry. Jim Cantonis, President of ACME Sponge and Chamnios, Tarpon
Springs, Florida, commented that ``If it was not for Florida Sea Grant,
there would be no commercial sponge industry in Florida.''
Sea Grant's role in STEM Education.--The Sea Grant program provides
an important mechanism that delivers high quality, stimulating STEM
education to students using the oceans and coasts or the Great Lakes,
as the exciting vehicle for conveying important scientific and natural
resource concepts. The support that Sea Grant provides is an important
catalyst and helps create important educational partnerships in coastal
communities. We urge the subcommittee to continue to support Sea Grant
STEM activities in the fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice and Science
Appropriations bill.
Sea Grant--A Cost Effective Investment in Coastal Communities.--
Approximately 95 percent of the Federal funding provided to Sea Grant
leaves Washington DC and goes to the State programs where it is used to
conduct research, carry out extension and outreach activities, and
deliver valuable services to the Nation. Moreover, Federal funding
through the Sea Grant program has a significant leveraging impact with
every two Federal dollars invested attracting at least an additional
dollar in mandatory non-Federal resources in matching funding, in
addition to the additional funds and resources leveraged through
extensive partnerships. With $80 million in Federal funding for fiscal
year 2017, Sea Grant will leverage an additional $40 million to $80
million in State and local support, continue to increase the economic
development and resiliency of our coastal communities, contribute to
STEM education in our communities, and help sustain the health and
productivity of the ecosystems on which they depend. The National Sea
Grant College Program is one of the very few nationally competitive
grant programs that can demonstrate this kind of real impact at the
local, State, and national levels. The Sea Grant Association is
grateful to the subcommittee for the opportunity to provide this
information.
______
Prepared Statement of SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice
Information and Statistics
Introduction
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, for the
opportunity to submit testimony on the Department of Justice (DOJ)
funding to be provided for in the fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice,
Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. SEARCH recommends an
appropriation of $73 million for the National Criminal History
Improvement Program (NCHIP) and the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS) Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP),
which is the amount that was included in the 2016 Consolidated
Appropriations Act.
SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and
Statistics (SEARCH), is a nonprofit membership organization created by
and for the States. SEARCH's Governor-appointed, dues-paying members
from the States and Territories have the responsibility, among other
things, to oversee both NCHIP and NARIP within their States.
Over the years, States have made great strides in meeting their
criminal history record improvement goals under both programs. The past
2 years of robust funding for these programs as reflected in the fiscal
year 2015 and fiscal year 2016 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related
Agencies appropriations was welcomed by the States who use the funding
to modernize and enhance operations and technology, to more effectively
share data for critical criminal justice and public safety decisions.
NCHIP funding has helped States dramatically improve the quality and
completeness of criminal history records, as well as make them
electronically available nationwide. NARIP has vastly improved
information available for firearms eligibility via the NICS system,
including increasing mental health records available to NICS by nearly
1500 percent.\1\
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\1\ http://www.search.org/mental-health-records-in-nics-increase-
1491-over-the-past-decade/.
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There is still work to be done to realize a truly complete and
accurate national criminal history background check system. That system
not only informs a variety of critical public safety decisions, but
also noncriminal justice decisions, such as those regarding applicants
for employment and licensing; volunteers who work with children,
elderly and other vulnerable populations; and individuals purchasing
firearms. It is important to recognize that information stored in the
States' criminal history record repositories and used for criminal
justice decisionmaking (such as at arrest, filing of charges,
sentencing, and inmate housing), is the same information required for
other public safety and civil decisions (such as decisions about
individuals applying for employment or volunteer work, and for firearms
eligibility determinations).
The States are leveraging prior congressional funding to engage in
broad-scale initiatives and partnerships with other State agencies to
improve and enhance criminal history record information collection and
sharing. These partnerships between the criminal history repositories
and the State courts, corrections, prosecution and mental health
agencies--among others--have been encouraged through these substantive
grant funding streams and mean enterprise solutions can be developed to
common cross-agency information sharing challenges. They hope to
continue this work with new funding in fiscal year 2017.
SEARCH appreciates the subcommittee's recognition that while both
NCHIP and NARIP each focus on improvements to the efficiency,
effectiveness, timeliness and accuracy of criminal history record and
associated data for decisionmaking purposes, each program emphasizes
specific and distinct goals.
NCHIP allows States to focus on a broad range of criminal history
improvement activities that are unique and specific to each State.
States have identified and prioritized the improvements needed in their
systems to support critical decisionmaking at the State and national
level for both criminal and civil decisions. Some of those priorities
include improving arrest records, increasing dispositions, increasing
conviction record availability in the Federal systems, and enhancing
positive identification capabilities.
Maine, for example, has used NCHIP funding to locate missing
criminal history record dispositions or fingerprint-supported records,
specifically focusing on improving felony, sex offender and domestic
violence records. Connecticut has used NCHIP funding to migrate paper
criminal history record dispositions into a searchable electronic
format to improve the overall efficiency in searching disposition
records and reduce the disposition backlog. North Carolina has used
NCHIP funding to identify and enter 74,000 mental health commitments
into NICS. Washington State has used NCHIP funding to dramatically
increase the number of dispositions in the State's criminal history
system. Like many other States, Georgia and Vermont have used NCHIP
funding to become fully compliant with the National Fingerprint File,
assuming ownership of its criminal history records, and maintaining the
record as part of the FBI's Interstate Identification Index.
The flexibility of NCHIP funding allows States to enhance
enterprise information sharing and data use to support a myriad of key
decisions in the justice arena each and every day. For example, the
lack of positive, biometric identification associated with criminal
history records is often a major challenge. Kentucky used fiscal year
2015 funding to develop a Court Fingerprint Notification application
within its E-Warrants system. When an offender appears before a judge,
the judge will be automatically notified if the offender's fingerprints
are not on file, allowing the judge the ability to order that
fingerprints be taken. South Carolina used NCHIP funding to improve the
number and quality of palm prints it submits to the FBI for nationwide
use.
In contrast to the NCHIP grant funding, NARIP funding focuses
specifically on improving information sharing with NICS for firearms
purchases. There are 10 categories established in Federal law that
disqualify an individual from purchasing firearms. They include
disqualifiers such as felony conviction information, fugitive from
justice, domestic violence protection order, involuntary commitment to
mental health institution, etc.
Nearly 90 percent of the records used to make these disqualifying
decisions are based on the information that States provide to NICS.\2\
That information comes from three key sources: the Interstate
Identification Index (III--the national system for exchanging criminal
record information), the National Crime Information center (NCIC--an
automated, nationally accessible database of crime data, criminal
justice and justice-related records, including wanted persons and
protection orders) and the NICS Index (created for presale background
checks of firearms purchase). Any efforts States undertake to improve
the information contribution to any of these databases enhances the
effectiveness of firearms eligibility decisionmaking.
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\2\ FBI Criminal Justice Information Services III Statistics,
February 1, 2013.
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NARIP grants allow States to improve information made available to
NICS, such as increasing the number of disqualifying mental health
records into the NICS Index and domestic violence orders of protection
into the NCIC. Such targeted funding assists States meet challenges
specifically associated with getting information to the system.
However, NARIP funds are only available to 27 States at this point, as
not all States qualify for the funding.\3\
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\3\ NARIP has two main requirements: States must (1) establish a
process where those adjudicated as ``mentally defective'' can seek to
reinstate their right to purchase a firearm, and (2) comply with a
process to estimate the number of NICS disqualifying records they
maintain. Only 27 States have met requirement #1.
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Those States that do qualify can target information sharing efforts
to improve their contributions to NICS. Kentucky officials, for
example, have used funds to develop a capability to identify persons
prohibited from firearms purchases due to fugitive from justice status
and automatically transmit these records to the NICS Index.
In New York, NARIP grant funds have significantly improved the
records that New York State makes available to the NICS Index. New York
can now efficiently transmit records of mental health involuntary
admissions and civil guardianships to NICS. The State also collects and
reports Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence (MCDV) convictions to
NICS so that vulnerable spouses, children and intimate partners are
further protected. The State also completed significant system
enhancements to improve the accuracy and completeness of disposition
data made available to NICS via New York's Criminal History Reports.
In Florida, the State Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)
partnered with the clerks of court and law enforcement agencies to
update missing court dispositions, arrest records, and historic civil
mental health records which could result in domestic violence
convictions and other firearm purchase disqualifiers. Over 1.8 million
new dispositions have been added and more than 6.4 million records have
been updated. In addition, 180,000 civil mental health records were
added and are now available for NICS firearm purchase decisions.
SEARCH makes three key recommendations regarding NCHIP and NARIP
funding:
1. Support NCHIP funding for improvements to State criminal history
record information to robustly support criminal and civil
decisionmaking nationwide.--The NCHIP program has been successful in
helping States to improve the accuracy, reliability and completeness of
their automated, criminal history record systems. Meaningful NCHIP
funding will more broadly improve this Nation's criminal justice
information sharing backbone. And the Federal investment can be
leveraged many times over by contributing to the ability of State and
local criminal justice agencies to provide timely, accurate and
compatible information to Federal programs such as III. Most
importantly, all States qualify for funding under NCHIP.
NCHIP funding since fiscal year 2014 has reinvigorated a program
that had suffered in years past from considerably reduced funding.
Because State criminal history records are the primary source for the
FBI III database, any constraints on the States weakens the ability of
many State and Federal programs to identify threats and keep our Nation
safe.
2. Continue to invest in improving background screening for
firearms purchases.--We urge Congress to continue the investment in the
Federal-State criminal background screening partnership that comprises
NICS. NICS is a critical tool in the fight against gun violence, and
the States and FBI rely on NICS every day for informed decisionmaking
on firearms transactions.
There are still many opportunities for improving the timeliness and
availability of information to NICS. There are still millions of
records related to felony convictions, under indictment/information,
fugitive from justice and drug abuser prohibiting categories that are
not always available to NICS. States have made huge strides in making
mental health records available to NICS. Many States would like to
target information sharing in the other prohibitor categories to
further improve their information sharing to NICS.
3. Provide an appropriation of $73 million for NCHIP and NARIP.--
Providing level funding for NCHIP and NARIP in fiscal year 2017 will
allow States to utilize these programs to improve their criminal
history records in support of general criminal justice and civil
decisionmaking, as well as improvements to background screening for
firearms purchases.
Conclusion
SEARCH thanks the Chairman and members of the subcommittee for
their steadfast support of these programs in the face of daunting
budget challenges. Given the reliance on criminal history record
systems for critical decisions that keep our citizens safe from guns,
predators, terrorists and other criminals, it is a worthwhile and
needed investment. The accuracy, completeness and reliability of the
Nation's criminal history record system is more important than ever
before, for criminal investigations; officer safety; sentencing and
other criminal justice purposes; for expungement and other reentry
strategies; for homeland security and anti-terrorism purposes; for
public non-criminal justice purposes, such as security clearances and
employment suitability; and for research that provides critical
guidance in shaping law and policy.
As you can see from the examples above, for both of NICS and NCHIP,
SEARCH encourages Congress to allow States to use funding at their
discretion to address the specific challenges each State faces in
making more records available to the national system.
On behalf of SEARCH's Governor-appointees, and the thousands of
criminal justice officials who benefit from SEARCH's efforts, I thank
you for your consideration.
______
Prepared Statement of the Society for Industrial and Applied
Mathematics (SIAM)
Summary: This written testimony is submitted on behalf of the
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) to ask you to
continue your support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in
fiscal year 2017 by providing NSF with the President's proposed funding
level of $7.964 billion. In particular, we urge you to provide strong
support for key applied mathematics and computational science programs
in the Division of Mathematical Sciences and the Division of Advanced
Cyberinfrastructure.
Full Statement: We are submitting this written testimony for the
record to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related
Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the U.S. Senate on
behalf of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
SIAM has over 14,000 members, including applied and computational
mathematicians, computer scientists, numerical analysts, engineers,
statisticians, and mathematics educators. They work in industrial and
service organizations, universities, colleges, and government agencies
and laboratories all over the world. In addition, SIAM has almost 500
institutional members, including colleges, universities, corporations,
and research organizations.
First, we would like to emphasize how much SIAM appreciates your
subcommittee's continued leadership on and recognition of the critical
role of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its support for
mathematics, science, and engineering in enabling a strong U.S.
economy, workforce, and society.
Today, we submit this testimony to ask you to continue your support
of NSF in fiscal year 2017 and beyond. In particular, we join with the
research and higher education community and request that you provide
NSF with $8 billion.
As we are reminded every day, the Nation's economic strength,
national security, and public health and welfare are being challenged
in profound and unprecedented ways. Addressing these challenges
requires that we confront fundamental scientific questions.
Computational and applied mathematical sciences, the scientific
disciplines that occupy SIAM members, are particularly critical to
addressing U.S. competitiveness and security challenges across a broad
array of fields: medicine, engineering, technology, biology, chemistry,
computer science, and others. SIAM recognizes the challenging fiscal
situation; however, we also face an ``innovation deficit,'' the
widening gap between the actual level of Federal Government funding for
research and what the investment needs to be if the United States is to
remain the world's innovation leader. Federal investments in
mathematics, science, and engineering remain crucial as they power
innovation and economic growth upon which our economy and fiscal health
depend.
national science foundation
NSF provides essential Federal support for applied mathematics and
computational science, including more than 60 percent of all Federal
support for basic academic research in the mathematical sciences. Of
particular importance to SIAM, NSF funding supports the development of
new mathematical models and computational algorithms, which are
critical to making substantial advances in such fields as neuroscience,
energy technologies, genomics, analysis and control of risk, and
nanotechnology. In addition, new techniques developed in mathematics
and computing research often have direct application in industry.
Modern life as we know it--from search engines like Google to the
design of modern aircraft, from financial markets to medical imaging--
would not be possible without the techniques developed by
mathematicians and computational scientists. NSF also supports
mathematics education at all levels, ensuring that the next generation
of the U.S. workforce is appropriately trained to participate in
cutting-edge technological sectors and that students are attracted to
careers in mathematics and computing.
Below are highlights of the main budgetary and programmatic
components at NSF that support applied mathematics and computational
science.
nsf division of mathematical sciences
The NSF Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) in the Directorate
for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) provides the core support
for all mathematical sciences. DMS supports areas such as algebra,
analysis, applied mathematics, combinatorics, computational
mathematics, foundations, geometry, mathematical biology, number
theory, probability, statistics, and topology. In addition, DMS
supports national mathematical science research institutes;
infrastructure, including workshops, conferences, and equipment; and
postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate training opportunities.
The activities supported by DMS and performed by SIAM members, such
as modeling, analysis, algorithms, and simulation, provide new ways of
obtaining insight into the nature of complex phenomena, such as
infectious diseases, financial transaction systems, terrorist networks,
and designer materials. SIAM strongly urges you to provide at least
$6.425 billion for Research and Related Activities at NSF to enable
funding for DMS at the President's proposed level of $249.2 million.
This funding would enable critical support for early career researchers
and would help reverse the damaging cuts of recent years to enable
essential mathematical research and workforce development programs.
Investment in DMS is critical because of the foundational and
cross-cutting role that mathematics and computational science play in
sustaining the Nation's economic competitiveness and national security,
and in making substantial advances on societal challenges such as
energy, the environment, and public health. NSF, with its support of a
broad range of scientific areas, plays an important role in bringing
U.S. expertise together in interdisciplinary initiatives that bear on
these challenges. DMS has traditionally played a central role in such
cross-NSF efforts, with programs supporting the interface of
mathematics with a variety of other fields. SIAM endorses DMS
participation in NSF-wide initiatives such as Data for Scientific
Discovery and Action (D4SDA), Risk and Resilience, Cyber-enabled
Materials and Manufacturing for Smart Systems (CEMMSS), and
Understanding the Brain (UtB), to develop mathematical and
computational tools that enable progress on these challenges. SIAM also
supports DMS in its role as leader and coordinator of MPS's
participation in the crosscutting Optics and Photonics initiative. SIAM
additionally applauds DMS's new effort to engage mathematical
scientists broadly in national initiatives through the Mathematical
Sciences Innovation Incubator, which enables DMS cooperation on a broad
array of programs and initiatives to spur new collaborations between
mathematical scientists and researchers in other fields.
nsf division of advanced cyberinfrastructure
Work in applied mathematics and computational science is critical
to enabling effective use of the rapid advances in information
technology and cyberinfrastructure. Programs in the NSF Division of
Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (ACI) in the Directorate for Computer and
Information Science and Engineering (CISE) focus on providing research
communities access to advanced computing capabilities to convert data
to knowledge and increase our understanding through computational
simulation and prediction.
SIAM again strongly urges you to provide at least $6.425 billion
for Research and Related Activities to enable funding for ACI at the
President's proposed funding level of $236.3 million. This investment
in computational resources and science is needed to solve complex
science and engineering problems. In addition, SIAM strongly endorses
ACI's role as steward for computational science across NSF,
strengthening NSF support for relevant activities and driving
universities to improve their research and education programs in this
multidisciplinary area.
SIAM strongly supports ACI data activities, including data
infrastructure, tools, and repositories, as well as the NSF-wide D4DSA.
The explosion in data available to scientists from advances in
experimental equipment, simulation techniques, and computer power is
well known, and applied mathematics has an important role to play in
developing the methods and tools to translate this shower of numbers
into new knowledge. The programs in ACI that support work on software
and applications for the next generation of supercomputers and other
cyberinfrastructure systems are also very important to enable effective
use of advances in hardware, to facilitate applications that tackle key
scientific questions, and to better understand increasingly complex
software systems.
SIAM strongly endorses NSF's role in the government-wide National
Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI), which aims to position the
Nation to meet critical national security needs, fully leverage
computing technology for economic competitiveness and scientific
discovery, and position the U.S. for sustained technical leadership.
Together with MPS, ACI will co-lead NSF's participation in NSCI by
facilitating the development of resilient, reusable, and durable
scientific software architectures to advance discovery through
scientific computation.
supporting the pipeline of mathematicians and scientists
Investing in the education and development of young scientists and
engineers is a critical role of NSF and a major step the Federal
Government can take to ensure the future prosperity and welfare of the
United States. SIAM strongly supports significant funding for the
Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program and the Faculty Early Career
Development (CAREER) program. Strong investments in these programs will
support thousands of new graduate students, which will help develop the
country's next generation of scientists.
Before reaching the graduate and early career stage, young
mathematicians and scientists gain critical interests and skills as
undergraduates. SIAM supports efforts by NSF to improve undergraduate
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and
notes the key role that mathematicians play in training for these
fields.
conclusion
We would like to conclude by thanking you again for your ongoing
support of NSF that enables the research and education communities it
supports, including thousands of SIAM members, to undertake activities
that contribute to the health, security, and economic strength of the
United States. NSF needs sustained annual funding to maintain our
competitive edge in science and technology, and therefore we
respectfully ask that you continue robust support of these critical
programs in fiscal year 2017.
We appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony to the
subcommittee on behalf of SIAM. SIAM looks forward to providing any
additional information or assistance you may ask of us during the
fiscal year 2017 appropriations process.
______
Prepared Statement of the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology
On behalf of the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology (SIOP), we are pleased to provide this written testimony to
the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and
Science, and Related Agencies for the official record. SIOP urges the
Subcommittee to provide $8 billion for the National Science Foundation
(NSF), including strong support for the Directorate for Social,
Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE), in the fiscal year 2017
appropriations process.
SIOP and its members recognize and appreciate the challenging
fiscal environment in which we, as a nation, currently find ourselves;
however, we believe strongly that Federal investment in social and
behavioral science research directly impacts the U.S. economy, national
security, and the health and well-being of Americans.
Through SBE, NSF supports basic research to develop a scientific
evidence base for improving the performance, effectiveness, management,
and development of organizations. The methods, measurements, and
theories developed through this Federal investment enhance business
practices, policy-making, and interprofessional collaboration. The
evidence base derived from basic research in the science of
organizations is applied across sectors and disciplines. For example,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) leverages the
evidence base of organizational science for team selection and training
for agency missions to mitigate team member conflicts and promote team
cohesion.
Additionally, new pressures to address privacy, performance, and
safety in the workplace have further expanded the need for Federal
investment in social and behavioral science research, especially
industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology, emphasizing the
importance of the entire work system, in addition to the individual.
Recent events and conditions, including violence and incivility in the
workplace, challenging economic circumstances, subtle and formal
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender, coping with
talent shortages in technical jobs, and the implementation of new
governmental regulations, catalyze the development and application of
new methodologies for studying how people think and behave in the
workplace.
With funding assistance from NSF, as well as other Federal
agencies, the field of I-O psychology has developed data-driven methods
to predict successful teams, address workplace dysfunction, improve the
work experience of individuals, and enhance job performance and
employee engagement. Using this rich knowledge and understanding has
informed and maximized private companies, as well as the public
workforce. Continued Federal support for I-O psychology keeps the
knowledge in the public domain and enhances shared workplace efficiency
and understanding of worker well-being at all levels. Other
applications of I-O psychology include: improving airline safety
through Crew Resource Management, transitioning veterans and
servicemembers to civilian jobs, managing age diversity in the
workplace, and mitigating the impact of furloughs on the Federal
workforce, among others.
SIOP is a community of more than 8,000 members worldwide with the
common interest in promoting the science, practice, and teaching of I-O
psychology to enhance human well-being and performance in
organizational and work settings. SIOP provides a platform for
scientists, academics, consultants, and practitioners to collaborate,
implement, and evaluate cutting-edge approaches to workplace challenges
across sectors.
Given NSF's critical role in supporting fundamental research and
education across science and engineering disciplines, SIOP supports an
overall fiscal year 2017 NSF budget of $8 billion. SIOP requests robust
support for the NSF SBE Directorate, which funds important research
studies, enabling an evidence base, methodology, and measurements for
improving organizational function, performance, and design across
sectors and disciplines.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer SIOP's support for NSF.
Please do not hesitate to contact SIOP should you have any questions.
Additional information is also available at www.siop.org.
[This statement was submitted by Steve Kozlowski, President, and
Dave Nershi, Executive Director.]
______
Prepared Statement of the United States Section of the Pacific Salmon
Commission
Mr. Chairman, and honorable members of the subcommittee, I am W.
Ron Allen, the Alternate Tribal Commissioner and Chair for the U.S.
Section Budget Committee of the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC). I am
also Tribal Chairman/CEO of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe located on
the northern Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. The U.S .Section
prepares an annual budget for implementation of the Pacific Salmon
Treaty.
Department of Commerce funding in support of implementing the
Pacific Salmon Treaty is part of the Salmon Management Activities
account in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) budget. Funding
in the Department of Commerce budget intended for the programs to
fulfill national commitments created by the Treaty was $11,170,919 in
the 2015 budget. The U.S. Section estimates that a budget of
$14,700,000 for fiscal year 2017 is needed to implement national
commitments created by the Treaty.
The implementation of the Treaty is funded through the Departments
of Commerce, Interior and State. The Department of Commerce principally
funds programs conducted by the States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and
Alaska and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The costs of the
programs conducted by the States to fulfill national commitments
created by the Treaty are substantially greater than the funding
provided in the NMFS budget in past years. Consequently the States have
supplemented the Federal Treaty appropriations from other sources
including State general funds.
The Pacific Salmon Treaty line Item of the National Marine
Fisheries Service budget was funded at $6,780,987 for fiscal year 2015
and provides base support for the States of Alaska, Washington, Oregon,
and Idaho and the National Marine Fisheries Service to conduct salmon
stock assessment and fishery management programs required to implement
the Treaty's conservation and allocation provisions for coho, sockeye,
Chinook, chum, and pink salmon fisheries. Effective, science-based
implementation of negotiated salmon fishing arrangements and abundance-
based management approaches for Chinook, southern coho, Northern
Boundary and Transboundary River salmon fisheries include efforts such
as increased annual tagging and tag recovery operations, harvest
monitoring, genetic stock identification and other emerging stock
identification techniques. The U.S. Section identified a need of
$9,700,000 for fiscal year 2017 to fully carry out these activities.
The Chinook Salmon Agreement line item in the Salmon Management
Activities is funded at $1,619,697 in fiscal year 2015 and represents a
reduction of $217,000 from previous levels. This funding supports
research and stock assessment necessary to acquire and analyze the
technical information needed to fully implement the abundance-based
Chinook salmon management program provided for by the Treaty. The
States of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and the 24 Treaty
Tribes conduct projects that are selected through a rigorous
competitive process.
The International Fisheries Commissions line, under Regional
Councils and Fisheries Commissions in the NMFS budget is funded at
$356,889 and provides the U.S. contribution to bilateral cooperative
salmon enhancement on the transboundary river systems which rise in
Canada and flow to the sea through Southeast Alaska. This project was
established in 1988 to meet U.S. obligations specified in the Treaty
and had been previously funded at $400,000 annually.
The 2008 Agreement line supports programs to improve the Coded Wire
Tag system and to monitor and protect critical Puget Sound Chinook
stocks. These funds are necessary to reach a new 2018 agreement with
revised fishery provisions between the U.S. and Canada. The amount
appropriated for fiscal year 2015 was $3,023,376. The U.S.
Commissioners view continued funding of these programs in the fiscal
year 2017 Federal budget as necessary to address Chinook salmon
conservation needs and to meet existing Treaty commitments.
The core Treaty implementation projects included in the Pacific
Salmon Treaty line, and the U.S. Chinook Agreement line under Salmon
Management Activities, as well as the International Fisheries
Commission line under Regional Councils and Fisheries Commissions,
consist of a wide range of stock assessment, fishery monitoring, and
technical support activities for all five species of Pacific salmon
evident in the fisheries and rivers from Cape Suckling in Alaska to
Cape Falcon in Oregon. The States of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
and the National Marine Fisheries Service conduct a wide range of
programs for salmon stock abundance assessment, escapement enumeration,
stock distribution, and fishery catch and effort information. The
information is used to establish fishing seasons, harvest levels, and
accountability to the provisions of Treaty fishing regimes.
Like many other programs, funding to implement the Pacific Salmon
Treaty decreased in recent years. Prior to that, the base annual Treaty
implementation funding remained essentially flat since the inception of
the Treaty in 1985. In order to continue to fulfill the Federal
commitments created by the Treaty, and as costs and complexity has
increased over time, the States had to augment Federal funding with
other Federal and State resources. However, alternative sources of
funding have been reduced, or in some cases completely eliminated.
In addition to the recent budget reductions due to sequestration,
NOAA changed the process for applying administrative fees to the
funding intended for the implementation of the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
This change was first implemented 2 years ago, after many years of not
charging administrative fees to this account. Multiple administrative
fees are applied at Department of Commerce headquarters, National
Marine Fisheries Service headquarters and at the regional level
resulting in less direct funding available for on the ground activities
to implement the Treaty. While the U.S. Section understands the need
for appropriate overhead charges to occur at the aforementioned offices
to support administrative activities related to the Pacific Salmon
Treaty, the current process for and rate of the administrative fees
compromises the efforts to successfully implement the Treaty.
The provisions of five annex chapters to the Treaty expire on
December 31, 2018. These chapters contain the specifics for
implementing the Treaty for each species in each geographic area. The
renegotiation for revised annex chapters is underway. In order to
ensure that the renegotiations are successfully completed, the programs
in the National Marine Fisheries Service budget and contained within
the Salmon Management Activities account must be adequately funded. The
consequences of not successfully completing the renegotiations will
negatively affect the health of Pacific salmon populations and the
fisheries that depend on them.
This concludes the Statement of the U.S. Section of the Pacific
Salmon Commission submitted for consideration by your subcommittee. We
wish to thank the subcommittee for the support given to us in the past.
Please let us know if we can supply additional information or respond
to any questions the subcommittee members may have.
Thank you.
______
Prepared Statement of the University Corporation for Atmospheric
Research
On behalf of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
(UCAR), I am pleased to submit this testimony to the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related
Agencies supporting the fiscal year 2017 President's request for the
vital research programs of NSF, NOAA, and NASA--with particular
emphasis on the geosciences portfolio within their programs. These
essential research agencies fund atmospheric and related science in
hundreds of universities across the country, benefitting from the
knowledge, expertise and innovation of our academic institutions.
UCAR is a consortium of over 100 research institutions, including
77 doctoral degree granting universities, which manages and operates
the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) on behalf of the
National Science Foundation (NSF). UCAR is proud to collaborate with
and enhance the capabilities of our member universities and Federal
partners so that they can carry out important research and meet mission
responsibilities on behalf of the American public.
the importance of our research investments
UCAR has worked to elevate the understanding of, and support for,
the atmospheric sciences nationwide. The atmospheric science
departments at our member institutions are drivers of innovation and
the fundamental scientific research that has pushed our understanding
of weather, climate, space weather, atmosphere, and their interplay,
into exciting and groundbreaking new areas. These advances have
improved our ability to predict and understand some of the most
dangerous phenomena that occur on our planet every day. Protection of
life and property are the central drivers of this scientific innovation
and discovery. However, more broadly, these innovations play a
significant role in protecting our national security, our homeland, our
businesses, our infrastructure and most importantly, our families and
communities. As demand for information, prediction, and mitigation
increase nationally and across the globe, it is the collaborative and
exhaustive research being conducted in our universities and research
laboratories that will answer this call and make our families,
communities, businesses, and infrastructure better equipped and
prepared to meet the challenges and dangers of living inside Earth's
dynamic atmosphere.
The return on investments in the atmospheric sciences exemplifies
how Federal R&D drives economic growth. The commercial weather industry
leverages U.S. investments in weather observation, atmospheric
research, and computer modeling to produce tailored products for a wide
variety of clients, including the general public. There are now more
than 350 commercial weather companies in the U.S., generating nearly $3
billion in annual revenues. The growth rate of this industry is
estimated to be about 10 percent per year. The vast majority of these
innovations and technological advances are products of our academic
institutions. Researchers, graduate students, and investigators at our
universities are an astounding and innovative resource that, in light
of the linkage between innovation and our economy, should be seen for
what they are--our most valuable national asset. Across the country
there is groundbreaking atmospheric science being done that will power
our economy, save lives, protect our citizens, and impact every single
American in a profound way.
key programs at nsf, noaa, and nasa
Within NSF, NOAA, and NASA, there are a number of specific
initiatives we call to the subcommittee's attention and ask for your
strong support for these initiatives:
--NSF's geoscience directorate, its division of atmospheric and
geospace sciences; and the National Center for Atmospheric
Research (NCAR);
--Key NOAA programs including the Airborne Phased Array Radar program
(APAR), the new Research Transition Acceleration Program
(RTAP), and the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology,
Ionosphere, and Climate--2 (COSMIC) and its ground station; and
--NASA earth sciences and heliophysics research programs.
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).--NCAR, NSF's only
federally Funded Research and Development Center in the geosciences,
has an exceptional record of leadership, scientific achievement and
effective translation of scientific advances into useful knowledge for
a nation that is highly impacted by atmospheric events that are
sometimes catastrophic. Yet despite a 10 percent increase in NSF
appropriations since fiscal year 2011, NSF base support for NCAR has
remained essentially flat. There is real and growing concern by the
UCAR Board of Trustees that at the current funding levels, NCAR will be
unable to support critical new scientific priorities while maintaining
existing national scientific capabilities; such as the expanded
computing facility operating in Wyoming or the High-performance
Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER).
These are examples of newly established capabilities resulting from
prior appropriations provided by this subcommittee now under stress due
to shortfalls in NCAR base funding. NCAR is an essential part of the
research capabilities needed by the atmospheric and geospace sciences
community. Accordingly, we request that you support the NSF's request
for the atmospheric and geospace sciences division ($268 million) and
NCAR base funding of $105 million--a level that will help support
current operating and staffing costs.
Airborne Phased Array Radar (APAR).--The proposed NOAA investment
of $4.6 million in the APAR program will enable research and
development of advanced methods of aircraft-based hazardous weather
observation, which provide critical information about severe, tropical
and heavy precipitation storms, for more accurate public warnings and
forecasts. Airborne Doppler radar measurements provide critical
location and intensity information about these storms, especially over
open ocean or rugged terrain, where other radar information does not
exist. Forecasters around the world utilize these radar observations,
combined with satellite data and other environmental observations, to
study storms and generate predictions of storm intensity and direction.
However, NOAA cannot fully take advantage of current technology due to
mounting restrictions on aircrafts. Therefore, this proposed investment
will initially focus on the research and development of an airborne
radar system which can be utilized on a NOAA aircraft, and will provide
more data, more accurately. Requested funding will be used to examine
the potential benefits of APAR for providing the real time data needed
for National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts and warnings and to
determine how APAR's additional, advanced capabilities can improve
forecasts in the future. NOAA Research will work with the research
community to initially develop and demonstrate APAR's feasibility for
collecting airborne radar measurements in hazardous weather
environments, including hurricanes and severe local storms.
Additionally, NOAA and its partners will use these measurements to
conduct research to understand severe storms and improve NOAA's
predictions and warnings for the public. Through this effort, future
opportunities to develop and test other airborne observing systems,
besides radar, will emerge and ensure that NOAA has the best airborne
observing platform for hazardous weather events.
Research Transition Acceleration Program (RTAP).--In fiscal year
2017 NOAA proposes to establish a $10 million program to ensure
continuous development and transition of the latest scientific and
technological advances to National Weather Service (NWS) Operations.
Through the RTAP proposal NOAA seeks to establish a broad program that
accelerates the transition of the most promising research for the full
spectrum of NOAA's mission requirements (e.g., weather, climate,
fisheries management, ocean and coastal stewardship) to application and
operations. The rapid transition of research projects to mission-driven
applications, operational services, and commercialization is essential
to achieve full return on NOAA's Research and Development (R&D)
investment and to advance NOAA core missions. Numerous research
projects with significant potential to benefit society are ready for
rapid transition, but require increased resources for demonstration in
relevant test environments, evaluation for commercial potential, and
possible patent protection. This program will increase the number of
demonstration-ready research activities for application and deployment
to NOAA's diverse mission areas and for delivery to external partners
and stakeholders. Funding will allow NOAA to accelerate the movement of
transition ready projects through the demonstration and test phase of
R&D and/or commercial application.
Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and
Climate
(COSMIC).--COSMIC is a six-satellite constellation that was launched to
the polar orbit in 2006 in a joint collaboration between Taiwan,
National Science Foundation, NASA, United States Air Force (USAF), and
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). It was a
research effort to explore a new, inexpensive atmospheric sounding
technique, GNSS RO, to obtain global atmospheric temperature profiles,
which were not available globally from other sources. The results of
the research were so positive that NOAA started using GNSS RO data
operationally. GNSS RO has been proven to be a cost-effective means of
increasing the volume of quality global atmospheric soundings,
providing temperature, water vapor, and pressure profiles, which result
in more accurate long-range weather forecasts. The COSMIC design life
was reached in April 2011.
COSMIC-2 is a continuation of the partnership between the United
States (NOAA and USAF) and Taiwan to produce an operational
constellation of GNSS RO satellites. The USAF is providing six RO
sensors to be launched in low-inclination (equatorial) orbit, known as
COSMIC-2A. Taiwan will procure and operate the spacecraft for the GNSS
RO satellites. NOAA will provide the ground reception system for
processing data from the GNSS RO satellites. NOAA intends to leverage
this ground system to acquire other RO data where possible whether from
other governmental organizations or commercial operators. NOAA has
requested $8.1 million for ground reception and processing of GNSS RO
satellite data. UCAR strongly supports this request. With this funding
NOAA intends to complete all information technology security testing
and verification in preparation for COSMIC-2 launches. Also, UCAR
processing functions will be tested and certified by the National
Centers for Environmental Prediction. This level of funding will
support the operational testing and validation of the Numerical Weather
Prediction models for COSMIC-2.
NASA Earth Science.--UCAR requests full funding of the Earth
Science Division, per the President's request. This amount ensures
exciting projects such as the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT)
mission, which will conduct the first-ever global survey of Earth's
surface water. Data from the satellite has promising uses for flood and
drought management at local, regional, and national levels; improved
risk assessments by the insurance industry; harnessing ocean energy
opportunities; and optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of both
military and commercial marine operations. Strong funding for NASA
Earth Sciences will also support the launch of Landsat 9 and 10 in a
timely manner, which will provide manifest benefits to municipalities,
corporations, and the general public in land-use planning.
NASA Heliophysics.--UCAR requests full funding of the Heliophysics
Science Division, per the President's request. This amount ensures
strong research in the study of the sun and its impact on the Earth. In
1859, a large Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)--known as the Carrington
Event--sent charged plasma to the Earth from the sun, causing
widespread failure of the telegraph system. Recently smaller events
caused localized disruptions in telecommunications and electricity grid
systems, which negatively impacted industry and military activities, as
well as the daily lives of American citizens. Because of societal
reliance on space-based assets, as well as the electricity grid, and a
number of other systems vulnerable to extreme space weather, the
economic impact of another Carrington Event to the United States alone
is $2.6 trillion. As such, we must improve our ability to understand
and predict space weather to mitigate the risks and costs associated
with future threats. Strong funding for the Heliophysics Division would
enable NASA to fully participate in the cross-agency Space Weather
Action Plan that will enable the United States to better understand,
prepare for, and respond to space weather.
concluding thoughts
We recognize the constraints the subcommittee must confront in
developing its fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill. We hope you will
see the investment in the research programs of NSF, NOAA, and NASA as
essential priority investments that will contribute to the Nation's
economic and national security as well as public safety. Thank you for
the opportunity to submit these views.