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FYI THIS MONTH: JANUARY 2003
HIGHLIGHTS OF DEVELOPMENTS IN WASHINGTON IMPACTING THE PHYSICS
COMMUNITY FROM FYI, THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS BULLETIN OF
SCIENCE POLICY NEWS
Richard M. Jones, Audrey T. Leath
fyithismonth{at}aip.org

NEW SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), who became the 
new Senate Majority Leader this month, has shown himself interested 
in, and supportive of, science and technology during his time in 
Congress.  He has been a co-sponsor of legislation to double federal 
civilian R&D funding and has advocated a balanced research portfolio, 
a five-year doubling of the NSF budget, and increased funding for 
DOE's Office of Science (FYI #4).

BILLS TO INCREASE OFFICE OF SCIENCE FUNDING:  Already in the 108th
Congress, two bills have been introduced in the House that would 
increase the budget for DOE's Office of Science (FYI #5).  Useful for 
making a case in support of the Office are a series of short, 
easy-to-read, 1-2 page hand-outs known as "Occasional Papers."  These 
hand-outs, developed by the Office of Science, describe some of its 
important initiatives and future directions (FYI #8).

NEW NASA SPACE TRANSPORTATION PLAN:  Congress's final FY 2003
appropriations bill may include an Administration proposal for a new 
NASA Integrated Space Transportation Plan.  The budget-neutral plan, 
submitted as an amendment to the FY 2003 request, would enhance the 
space station's research capacity, extend the life of the shuttle 
fleet, and enable development of a crew return vehicle and future 
reusable launch vehicles (FYI #6).

PCAST LETTER ON SCIENCE FUNDING PARITY:  In August, the President's 
Council of Advisors on Science and Technology drafted a letter to 
President Bush urging that his FY 2004 request include a doubling of 
the federal investment in physical sciences and engineering over FY 
2002 levels.  In January, a new version of the letter was made 
available.  This draft, which is now to be sent from a PCAST panel to 
the Council's co-chairs, does not mention the word "doubling," and 
calls for bringing physical sciences and engineering funding into 
parity with the life sciences over four years (FYI #7).

OFFICE OF SCIENCE STRATEGIC PLAN:  The Office of Science will be 
releasing a Strategic Plan later this spring (FYI #9).  
Recommendations from the Office's advisory bodies, such as a 20-year 
"roadmap" for high-energy physics, issued last year, will be 
considered as the Strategic Plan is developed (FYI #12).

U.S. WILL REJOIN ITER:  On January 30, Energy Secretary Spencer 
Abraham announced Bush's decision that the U.S. will rejoin the 
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).  "Now is the 
time to expand our scope and embrace international efforts to realize 
the promise of fusion energy," Abraham said (FYI #13).  Several days 
previously, five key members of the House Science Committee had 
written to Abraham, expressing their support for such a decision (FYI 
#10).

BOEHLERT ON S&T FUNDING: "The outlook for research and development 
programs in the coming year seems reasonably good," House Science 
Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) remarked in a recent 
speech (FYI #11).

Please visit the AIP Science Policy site at http://www.aip.org/gov for
previous issues of FYI and other science policy information.

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