House VA/HUD appropriators marked up their FY 2002 funding bill on
July 10. Although the complete bill text and report language are
not yet available, some unofficial information has been reported
on funding numbers for NSF and NASA. FYI #87 provided details on
what is known about the appropriations numbers for NSF; below is
information on the NASA appropriations. Because NASA reorganized
many of its accounts in the FY 2002 budget request, direct
comparisons with FY 2001 funding levels are difficult.

The subcommittee bill would provide total NASA funding of
$14,926.4 million. This is an increase of $641 million (4.5
percent) over the FY 2001 budget of $14,285.3 million, and an
increase of $415 million (2.9 percent) over President Bush’s
request of $14,511.4 million.

The Office of Space Science would receive $2,759.4 million. This
is a reduction of $27 million (1.0 percent) from the request of
$2,786.4 million. FY 2001 funding was $2,321.0 million, but
cannot be directly compared to the FY 2002 numbers due to the
reorganization of accounts. Reductions from the request include
the Next Generation Space Telescope (reduction of $20 million),
New Millennium program (reduction of $10 million), and STEREO
program (reduction of $10 million).

The subcommittee’s recommendation for the Office of Earth Sciences
was not yet available. Reports indicate that EOS follow-on
programs would be reduced by $31.0 million from the request,
although still $44.6 million above FY 2001 funding. The FY 2001
appropriation for the Office of Earth Sciences was $1,484.6
million.

The subcommittee bill would provide $685.9 million for the Office
of Biological and Physical Research. This reflects an increase of
$325.0 million, almost doubling the request of $360.9 million.
Part of this increase is due to moving space station research
funding into the Office of Biological and Physical Research. FY
2001 funding for this office was $312.9 million, but again, direct
comparisons cannot be made.

The total appropriation for Human Space Flight is $7,322.4
million, an increase over both the request and current-year
funding. The International Space Station would receive $1,831.3
million. An increase of $275 million over the request would be
provided for development of a Crew Return Vehicle.

The subcommittee would provide $187.8 million for academic
programs, an increase of $34.1 million over the request.

The subcommittee also reiterated concerns regarding the
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), noting that the
shift in responsibility for satellite technology export licensing
from the Commerce to the State Department has resulted in
“university-based fundamental science and engineering research,
widely disseminated and unclassified, [becoming] subject to overly
restrictive and inconsistent ITAR direction…. The Committee
understands that, while OSTP and NASA have proposed language to
the State Department, no clarification has yet been issued.” An
immediate report clarifying the issue is requested.

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Audrey T. Leath

Public Information Division

The American Institute of Physics

fyi@aip.org

(301) 209-3094

http://www.aip.org/gov

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