Four areas of the federal government are priorities for PAA. As decided by the PAA Board, the Public Affairs office concentrates on the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Bureau of the Census, and USAID's population research. The 105th Congress has just reconvened for its second session. Here we offer a brief overview of what that session may look like for these high priority accounts.
This is an election year for all members of the House and one-third of the Senate. Therefore, one can expect a politicized congressional session. However, the upcoming elections are not expected to change the Republican majority in either house. The Republicans will be defending 16 senatorial seats while the Democrats will be defending 18 senatorial seats. This election cycle is expected to favor incumbents, in both the House and the Senate. Regardless, both parties are looking toward the 2000 elections, when the next president will be elected, for gains in their respective congressional numbers.
PAA and APC have submitted testimony to the Labor/Health and Human Services/Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee regarding the FY99 budget for NIH. PAA and APC expressed support for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and described recent demographic trends and research findings of interest with Congress. It is expected that the NIH as well as the NSF will continue to be treated favorably in the appropriations process, because of strong congressional and presidential support of non-defense related research. The President's State of the Union Message is a case in point. In it, he proposed a 21st Century Research Fund for path breaking scientific inquiry. This fund promises to be the largest funding increase in history for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
NIH
As mentioned above, The National Institutes of Health continue to enjoy widespread support in Congress as well. An example of this support can be seen in the National Research Investment Act of 1998, introduced by Senators Gramm (R-Tx), Lieberman (D-Conn), Domenici (R-NM), and Bingaman (D-NM). This act calls for Congress to "invest in the future of the United States by doubling the amount authorized for basic scientific, medical, and pre-competitive engineering research." This act would double the amount spent on non-defense related research in 10 years, so that the amount of federal funding for fiscal year 2008 is $68 billion, of which $27.2 billion is promised to the NIH (the NIH are currently funded at $13.65 billion for their activities during FY98). Strong leadership, on behalf of the NIH has also been seen from a number of members of the House and Senate, but special mention must be made of Chairman John Porter (R-Ill), in the House, and Chairman Arlen Spector (R-PA), in the Senate for their sustained commitment to NIH funding.
NSF
Although the NIH stands to gain the most monetarily from The National Research Investment Act of 1998, the NSF would benefit as well. If this act, as currently proposed, is passed, the budget for the NSF will double by the year 2008, at an estimated increase of at least 7.2% a year. In the Act, Congress pledges to, "restore the high priority that science and technology has previously been afforded in the federal budget." If passed, the NSF will be one of the largest beneficiaries of the National Research Investment Act.
Bureau of the Census
Bureau Director Dr. Martha Farnsworth Riche announced her resignation on January 12, 1998. In explaining the reasons for her resignation, Dr. Riche said that she had accomplished her goals of restructuring the agency. She also cited personal reasons that contributed to her decision to leave. Atlanta Census Bureau Regional Director James Holmes has been named Acting Director of the Bureau, until Congressional approval of Riche's successor. If the President and Congress are unable to agree on a replacement, the 2000 Census will be conducted with an acting director at its helm. The uncertainty surrounding leadership at the Census Bureau, in conjunction with the political controversies over sampling, have increased worries about the quality and coverage of the 2000 Census. A new census subcommittee of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee was created in the House at the end of 1997. Rep. Dan Miller (R-Fla), a former statistics professor who holds a PhD in Marketing and Statistics, will head the committee, and will likely take an active role in census related matters. Other congressional activities relating to the 2000 Census include the creation of an 8-person bipartisan Census Monitoring Board with four members appointed by congressional Republicans and four members appointed by the President to oversee the census administration and file reports on its progress. In addition, in April 1998, a split dress rehearsal will be used to compare the two counting methods--sampling will be used in Sacramento, California while traditional enumeration will be used in Columbia, South Carolina. Finally, an expedited judicial review to decide the constitutionality of sampling has been included in last year's census appropriations compromise.
USAID
As in the first session of the 105th Congress, support and funding for USAID and international population assistance programs and research will continue to be inextricably linked to the issue of abortion and the global gag rule. The global gag rule would prohibit the use of USAID funds by any organization outside the United States which offers abortion services or abortion referral, regardless of the funding sources for these services. In the next Congress, one can expect continued battles, over payment of US dues to the UN and US contributions to the IMF to help Asia's faltering economies. Opponents of international population assistance and opponents of abortion will try to "trade" or give their support for the UN and the IMF assistance funding if others give their support to the global gag rule.
In closing, we would like to bring to your attention two web sites that may be of help for those wanting to learn what is happening either in NIH or in Congress. First, there is information on behavioral and social science review activities on the NIH's Center for Scientific Review's web site: http://www.csr.nih.gov/refrev.htm. The second site, maintained by a legislative information organization called Capital Advantage, offers information on Congress: http://www.congress.org. The most up-to-date information on Congressional activities, directly from Congress, can be found at http://www.congress.gov. We urge you to become familiar with your elected officials and their activities.
The above information is correct as of the day it is written. Please keep in mind that information changes rapidly. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the Public Affairs Office at (202) 483-5158.