Statement of Dr. Eamon M. Kelly Chairman, National Science Board Before the Subcommittee on Basic Research Committee on Science U.S. House of Representatives February 16, 2000 Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Johnson, and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you. I am Eamon Kelly, Chairman of the National Science Board and President Emeritus and Professor in the Payson Center for International Development & Technology Transfer at Tulane University. Since the founding of NSF in 1950, the National Science Board has exercised two roles - that of a national policy body, and that of a governing board for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The latter role is similar to that of a corporate board of directors operating within a framework of policy guidance established by the Congress and the Administration. The Board conducts an annual NSF long-range planning and budget review and approval to assure the health of the human, disciplinary, and infrastructure base for science and technology; to support new opportunities for the advancement of knowledge; and to make the process of priority-setting responsive to such opportunities. For example, earlier this month the Board commented on and approved the Foundation's Fiscal Year 2000-2005 GPRA Strategic Plan. I appear today, on behalf of the National Science Board, to thank the Subcommittee for its long and unflagging support of NSF. Your commitment to the Foundation's programs and activities in research and education is vital to our Nation's future. I would like to comment on the immediate future, as represented by the NSF budget request. A True Investment Budget First and foremost, I want to express my support (and delight) for the Foundation's request of $4.6 billion for Fiscal Year 2001. Last year in testimony to the Committee I warned of the Federal underinvestment in fundamental research. The proposed budget for NSF is the first step in remedying that underinvestment. The 21st Century Research Fund reflects the Administration's continuing recognition that research is the keystone of our $8.5 trillion economy and the route to an enhanced quality of life for all our citizens. A 17 percent increase in NSF is an investment in the lifeblood of science, engineering, and technology. Knowledge and inventions emerging today are a tribute to research investments made years or generations ago. They have transformed life as we know it, especially the revolution in communication embodied in the Internet and "e-commerce," software for home and business, and the access, storage, and retrieval of information. These payoffs were unforeseen and hard to estimate decades ago. But as a Nation, we affirmed confidence in our ability to understand, harness, and distribute the fruits of knowledge. We need to remind ourselves that science and engineering are long-term, high-risk investments, with high payoffs. It is this same sense of anticipation, of optimism, that I detect in the priorities of the NSF budget request. NSF Budget Priorities Fully one-half of the Foundation's budget request is for "core support" to grow the knowledge base. This takes time and requires a distribution of resources across a spectrum of disciplines, problems, and performing institutions. The other half of the request identifies specific priorities representing a 20 percent increase within the Foundation's research and related activities account and a 48 percent increase in major research equipment. These increases are appropriately bold for an "investment" budget. I would like to comment briefly on them. Information Technology Research will push the frontiers of high-end computing to expand our computer architecture, storage and retrieval, and network. The Terascale Computing System program will make supercomputing accessible to scientists and engineers across the Nation. And to better understand the social effects of those technologies, a research agenda on ethical, legal, education, and workforce issues will be supported across disciplines and cultures, including the use of technology in marketing goods and services in the global economy. Like Information Technology Research, Nanoscale Science and Engineering is an Administration multi-agency initiative that NSF will lead. Nanometer scale-that is, one billionth of a meter to several hundred billionths - enables us to work at the atomic and molecular levels. Such manipulations create boundless possibilities for design of materials, manufacturing, electronics, computer simulations and processes in the environment are virtually boundless. The National Nanofabrication Users Network, university-based research hubs, and small business will all participate in the nanotechnology revolution. Biocomplexity in the Environment is an ambitious program to integrate our understanding of dynamic systems ranging from simple organisms to whole ecosystems, from the transmission of waterborne contaminants to global climate change. Construction of a National Ecological Observatory Network will advance exploration of the biology of the planet pole-to-pole. I am proud to add that the Board just issued a report on Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century that calls for a significant increase in resources for environmental research, education, assessment, and infrastructure. The report has received a strong endorsement from the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Science and Technology Council. In the Board's view, the importance of and opportunities in the environmental arena warrant a five-year growth plan that would more than double NSF's current portfolio. The intellectual maturity of environmental research makes the timing right to ramp up and sustain a programmatic thrust across agencies. NSF-supported Major Research Equipment not cited above includes facilities and instruments ranging from earthquake observational equipment, to the South Pole Station, the Large Hadron Collider and the Millimeter Array. These tools enable research and education to coalesce in networks and centers of excellence. They are the infrastructure for knowledge production and transfer, shared with NSF's partners across disciplines, sectors, and national boundaries. Finally, new ideas and revolutionary tools require educated and trained people. Though education is not the focus of this hearing, NSF's 21st Century Workforce initiative addresses the need for developing human resources at all levels of education - formal and informal, in schools, homes, and communities. The importance of teachers and teaching, rigorous content, the use of information technologies, and research on learning are all priorities in the NSF request. The transitions between education milestones and preparation for entry into high-tech workplaces will determine the participation of all Americans in science and technology. There is no greater challenge than renewal of a skilled workforce. Citizens must be able to use knowledge of science and mathematics in their daily lives. Therefore, a more seamless approach to education K through 16, and especially the role of systemic reform, are continuing policy concerns for the Board. They are discussed in our 1999 report (previously transmitted to the Committee), Preparing Our Children: Math and Science Education in the National Interest. Trends and Opportunities Mr. Chairman, as we view the FY 2001 R&D budget proposal, let's keep the requested increases in perspective. In an $8.8 trillion knowledge-based economy, one can argue that more than 2.8 percent of the Nation's GDP should be devoted to R&D. But the reality is that the Federal contribution as a proportion of the U.S. investment is shrinking. Universal acclaim for the benefits realized from federally supported research has not yet generated commensurate public investment. Even in the face of the demonstrably high return on basic research investment - conservatively 30 percent - the U.S. public and private sectors are underinvesting in research. The $20 billion proposed investment in Federal basic research represents less than one-quarter of the $85 billion total. This minuscule proportion of the total Federal budget devoted to research indicates a mismatch between our interpretation of the past and our commitment to the future. I am heartened, however, by headlines such as one in last week's (2/9/00) Washington Post, "Productivity Propels Economy." As an economist I know that science and technology are propelling productivity. As business investment builds on advances particularly in computing and information processing, the link between productivity and higher standards of living becomes more transparent. Behind the causal relationship lie investments in fundamental science and technology. NSF is largely a "silent partner" to national productivity and economic growth, but it is a key contributor nonetheless. The opportunities reflected in the programs and activities of NSF challenge these fiscal trends. The Foundation's budget represents less than 4 percent of annual Federal spending on R&D, and by AAAS's reckoning, the NSF request amounts to only 15 percent of the Federal basic research budget. Yet almost one-quarter of all Federal support for basic research conducted at academic institutions comes from NSF, as does one-half of nonmedical research funding. Universities and colleges are the "center of gravity" producing knowledge, innovation, and trained personnel for the Nation's workforce. Indeed, at the dawn of a new millennium we can say unequivocally that research universities have become not only incubators of innovation, but also partners in developing and commercializing products that generate income and hold value for other sectors of the Nation's economy. Remember, two-thirds of the national R&D investment today is industry-funded. Prospects Mr. Chairman, I cannot stress enough that the long-term, high-risk, high-payoff strategy of the National Science Foundation must be preserved as a catalyst in the Federal R&D portfolio. The FY 2001 budget proposal restores some balance to that portfolio. It is truly an "investment" budget. It is overdue - and needed - but just a start. I can also assure you that the National Science Board will continue to monitor the Foundation's investments and priority-setting in science and technology. NSF's first GPRA performance report will provide some important measures of outcome and progress toward goals. In addition, the Board's Science and Engineering Indicators-2000 report will be published next month. It will provide, among other insights, an analytical perspective on how R&D is propelling the productivity now observed in the Nation's economic and employment statistics. I think the Committee will find many uses for the report. In closing, I wish to commend my colleague, NSF Director Rita Colwell, for her superb leadership and tireless efforts, and to thank the Committee for its support and oversight of research and education, especially at the National Science Foundation. I look forward to our future discussions. EAMON M. KELLY Eamon Michael Kelly was born in New York City and attended Columbia University from 1960 to 1965, where he earned the master and Ph.D. degrees in economics. Following graduation from Columbia, he joined the Penn State faculty at University Park, Pennsylvania. In 1968, Kelly was appointed to U.S. government service by the President, serving as Director of Policy Formulation with the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He was later named Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, where he participated in planning and initiating the federal government's first minority economic development program. Kelly joined the Ford Foundation in 1969 and served as Officer-in-Charge for the Office of Social Development, the Foundation's largest domestic and civil rights division. In 1977, Kelly served as a special consultant to the U.S. House of Representatives where he participated in drafting legislation that provided a $1.7 billion guarantee to prevent the insolvency of New York City. Later that year he was appointed Special Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. In that position, he successfully directed a government-wide investigation of the Teamster's $1.4 billion Central States Pension Fund and led negotiations resulting in the Fund being transferred to private management. After leaving the Labor Department, Kelly returned, at the request of the Secretary of Labor, to direct efforts that led to the end of a nationwide coal strike. In 1981, he was chosen to serve as the 13th president of Tulane University. In July 1998, Kelly retired as president of the university. Currently, Kelly, whose area of specialized interest is international urban and rural development, holds the rank of professor in the departments of Economics, Latin American Studies, and International Health and Development at Tulane. He is also a founding member of the Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer. Kelly is active on the boards of many professional, philanthropic, civic, and corporate organizations. In 1995, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the National Science Board (NSB), the governing body of the National Science Foundation, which sponsors scientific and engineering research, develops and supports educational programs, and helps guide national policy. In 1998, Kelly was elected chairman of the NSB. February 2000 1