May 28, 2008

U.S. Senate Includes Critical Science Funding in FY'08 Supplemental Bill

APS Commends Approval of Science Spending - But Calls For More

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Physical Society (APS) commends the U.S. Senate for its approval of funding increases for crucial science programs in the Fiscal Year 2008 supplemental spending bill, especially the $100 million for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science and $200 million for the National Science Foundation.

DOE Limited Funding Threatens U.S. Security
Unfortunately, the $100 million Department of Energy funding falls woefully short of the money needed to keep scientific user facilities open for critical research conducted by university and industry scientists.  Staffing cutbacks and reductions in operation time at these facilities threaten to push many of their activities overseas.  The Department of Energy’s allocation also fails to fund crucial energy research proposals in the Basic Energy Sciences program at a time when Americans are paying extraordinarily high gas prices.

Supplemental Spending Should Include Additional Money for DOE and NSF
If we are to maintain our global leadership, the U.S. must launch the next generation of leading scientists and engineers by investing in basic scientific and engineering research, and math and science education. Specifically, the supplemental bill should include $250 million for the Energy Department and $200 million for the National Science Foundation. The continued flat-funding of crucial scientific programs will set this nation on a course for failure from which we won’t soon recover.