Personally, I can't keep track of all the various Congressional committees and subcommittees and whatnot who have some sort of finger in the DOE funding pie, and find the appropriations process is impossibly convoluted. But apparently Visclosky plays an important role in deciding how much funding the DOE Office of Science will receive in FY2009. So his opinions matter. Furthermore, politicians are notorious for sidestepping direct answers. So it's dismaying to find him pulling no punches in his opening statement for the hearing, directly addressing his remarks to Orbach about DOE's chances for a funding increase in FY2009. A few choice quotes:
"I am not a logician and therefore when looking toward fiscal year 2009 I fail to comprehend the President's logic in requesting a huge increase for Science while cutting funding for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs by $467 million. I fail to comprehend the reason behind requesting a huge increase in science while decimating the DOE environmental cleanup and the water programs under our jurisdiction by more than $1 billion." ...
"Dr. Orbach, I am very mindful of the importance of federal funding for research and development in the area of physical sciences. If you don't receive your full request for science research, it's not because of lack of support for your Office, but the necessity of balancing competing needs that have nothing to do with science that is at issue."
If Visclocky's comments prove to be indicative of the prevailing sentiment in Congress, we could be in for a bit more belt-tightening in FY2009.
1 comment:
That is a rather depressing quote.
I just hope that Bill Gates'
Congressional testimony last week
gets the attention and consideration
it deserves.
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