[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7292-S7294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                FEDERAL RESEARCH INVESTMENT ACT OF 1998

 Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, yesterday I introduced legislation 
that would elevate Congress' commitment to federally-funded research 
and development. This critical federal investment, performed throughout 
our national laboratories, universities, and private industry, is 
currently fueling 50% of our national economy through improvements in 
capital and labor productivity. While it is imperative that we 
reinforce this commitment by raising the funding levels, we must also 
establish a solid foundation for Congress to evaluate current and 
future civilian federally-funded research and development programs.
  Now is not the time to let American leadership in science and 
technology slip. As a Congress and as a nation, we must reaffirm our 
national commitment to science and technology and redouble our efforts 
to ensure that funding is not only maintained, but increased as America 
moves into the next century. Nothing less than the future of our 
Nation, and our leadership position in the world, depend upon it.


        Importance of Science and Technology to America's Future

  As a physician and surgeon, I've had the opportunity to witness 
everyday the remarkable difference that medical science and technology 
have made in people's lives. In the short span of time that I've been 
practicing--less than twenty years--I've seen how the products of 
medical research and development--lasers, mechanical cardiac assist 
devices, and automatic internal defibrillators--have not only saved, 
but

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vastly improved the quality of hundreds of thousands of lives every 
year.
  As a physician, I can envision a future in which science and 
technology will roll back the current frontiers of medical knowledge, 
identify the causes, and eliminate most of the effects of the diseases 
that now plague mankind.
  But, as a Senator, I've been afforded another opportunity. The 
ability to see, and learn, and understand, not just medicine--but 
America. I can envision the difference that science and technology will 
make in the life or our Nation.
  Science and technology have had a profound impact on our world. We've 
put men into space and looked into the farthest corners of the known 
universe. We've broken the code of the human genome and begun to 
dismantle previously intractable diseases. We've created a virtual 
world and a whole new realm called cyberspace.
  Our world runs on technology, and much of our economy runs on it as 
well. In fact, half of all U.S. economic growth is the result of 
technological progress. Technology has provided new goods and services, 
new jobs, and new capital--even whole new industries.
  Without a doubt, technology is the principle driving force behind 
America's long-term economic growth and our rising standard of living.


           Science and Technology are Important to Tennessee

  Science is especially important to Tennessee. From the Oak Ridge 
Laboratories' important contributions to America's security during the 
Cold War, to today's research university partnerships, science and 
technology are a big part of Tennessee's past, present and future.
  In 1995, the latest year for which figures are available--
  20 out of every 1,000 private sector workers in Tennessee were 
employed by high tech firms. The total payroll for those workers that 
year reached $1.5 billion.
  And every one of them earned, on average, $12,000 more per year than 
they would have in another type of private sector job in Tennessee.
  Of Tennessee's $8.8 billion export market, high technology products 
accounted for $2.1 billion or 24 percent.
  But significant growth and activity have occurred since 1995. The 
technology corridor, now being forged in East Tennessee, will be a 
model for America's 21st Century economy. From Chattanooga to 
Knoxville, and Oak Ridge to the Tri-Cities, private industry and 
working partnerships between the public and private sectors, and 
between research universities and industry, are creating jobs and 
opportunity; thus linking Tennessee to the nation and the world.
  For example, in Kingsport, Tennessee, Eastman Chemical produces more 
than 400 different kinds of modern chemicals, fibers, and plastics--as 
well as a wide range of intellectual property technologies that will 
soon be marketed on a global scale.
  In Tri-Cities, the new Regional Med-Tech Center is a planned, large-
scale, integrated development project that will one day link health 
care delivery systems and related research with high technology 
business.
  And the Spallation Neutron Source, a major undertaking of Oak Ridge 
Laboratory, when completed, will be the most powerful spallation source 
of neutrons in the world: enabling scientists to ``see'', and thus 
understand, the physical, chemical and biological properties of 
materials at the atomic level.


      America's Investment in Science and Technology Must Continue

  Clearly, America's investment in science and technology must 
continue. Mr. President, the history of the last five decades has shown 
us that there is a federal role in the creation and nurturing of 
science and technology, and that--even in times of fiscal austerity--
Congress' commitment has been relatively constant.
  However, the last three decades have also shown us something else: 
fiscal reality. The simple truth is that there's just not enough money 
to do everything we'd like to do. Discretionary spending is under 
immense fiscal pressure. One only has to look back over the last 30 
years to confirm the trend. In 1965, mandatory federal spending on 
entitlements and interest on the debt accounted for 30 percent of the 
federal budget. Fully 70 percent went toward discretionary programs--
roads, bridges, education, research, national parks, and national 
defense.
  Today, just 30 years later, that ratio has been almost completely 
reversed: 67 percent of the budget is spent on mandatory programs; 
leaving only 33 percent for everything else. This situation will only 
grow worse as the Baby Boom generation begins to retire.
  Thus, Mr. President, we have both a long-term problem: addressing the 
ever-increasing level of mandatory spending; and a near-term challenge: 
apportioning the ever-dwindling amount of discretionary funding. The 
confluence of increased dependency on technology and decreased fiscal 
flexibility has created a problem too obvious to ignore: not all 
deserving programs can be funded; not all authorized programs can be 
fully implemented.
  In other words, Mr. President, the luxury of fully funding science 
and technology programs across the board has long since passed. We must 
set priorities.


         Federal Research Investment Act: Vision for the Future

  The Federal Research Investment Act that I am introducing today 
represents the result of over a year of debate surrounding increased 
funding for federal research and development. I commend my colleagues, 
Senators Gramm, Lieberman, Domenici, and Bingaman, for not only 
commencing this debate, but also continuing it. Like my colleagues, I 
firmly believe that Congress must reaffirm our national commitment to 
science and technology. And that is precisely what the Federal Research 
Investment Act achieves through its strategy for the future--a vision 
that not only provides adequate levels of funding, but most 
importantly, ensures that the funding is both responsible and 
accountable over the long-term.
  This legislation realizes this goal by establishing and applying a 
set of guiding principles, established by the Science and Technology 
Caucus here in the Senate, to consistently ask the appropriate 
questions about each competing technology program; to focus on that 
program's effectiveness and appropriateness for federal funding; and to 
help us make the hard choices about which programs deserve to be funded 
and which do not. Only then can Congress be assured that it has 
invested wisely.
  These guiding principles, Mr. President, provide a framework that 
will not only guide the creation of new, federally-funded research and 
development programs, but also validate existing ones. Taken together, 
they create a powerful method for evaluating the debate by increasing 
Congress' ability to focus on the important issues, decreasing the 
likelihood that it will get sidetracked on politically-charged 
technicalities, and ensuring that federal R&D programs are consistent 
and effective. These principles will also help us establish national 
goals, and a vision for the future.
  The Federal Research Investment Act doubles the aggregate amount of 
civilian funding for research and development over a 12 year period. By 
steadily increasing the total level by 2.5 percent, in addition to the 
assumed rate of inflation, this legislation would provide Congress with 
realistic targets for prioritizing fundamental, scientific, and pre-
competitive engineering research over the long-term.
  Furthermore, this legislation has two components that I believe will 
change the face of how taxpayer dollars are invested in research and 
development. First, under this bill, the President would be required to 
submit, as part of his annual budget to Congress, a detailed report on 
how the Administration is paralleling Congressional funding goals. 
Thus, the President will be held accountable for how his budget 
achieves Congressional targets to double R&D spending over 12 years.
  Second, the Office of Science and Technology Policy will commission 
the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study to 
develop methods for evaluating Federally-funded research and 
development programs. The results of this study, in coordination with 
Government Performance Results Act, will provide a framework to help 
Congress and the Administration measure the success of federal 
programs. Only after Congress holds federal agencies accountable to 
strict, yet fair standards, will the legislative body

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be able to claim that is acting responsibly on behalf of American 
citizens.
  In closing Mr. President, I would like to urge my colleagues to 
support the Federal Research Investment Act. I further challenge each 
of you to reach out to your own universities and engage them in this 
critical dialogue as to the future of science and technology funding. 
This federal funding, after all, is a public investment in America's 
future.

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