Advocacy Archive

Senate Committee Reaffirms Support for
Behavorial Science at NSF

June 12, 1998

Dear Colleague:

While issues like tobacco and China are dominating the news from Capitol Hill, Congress continues to chip away at the "must do" legislation they need to get done before they can adjourn for the year. Topping the chore list is appropriations, the annual process of determining exactly how much money a federal agency gets for, say, supporting University research. We got the first indication of how Congress feels about the President's proposal for a 10 percent budget increase for the National Science Foundation (NSF) when the Senate Appropriations Committee came in significantly under that amount. The Committee approved an increase of only 6.3 percent for NSF in FY 1999, which begins October 1, 1998. This would increase NSF by $215 million, bringing the budget to $3.6 billion.

Did I say `only'? A scant year ago there would have been dancing in the aisles over a 6.3 percent jump for NSF. It's a great increase! But our expectations have been raised by the disappearing deficit, the President's proposal, and the favored position science currently enjoys on the Hill.

And talk about raised expectations: You may remember that NSF proposed a whopping 16.2 percent increase for behavioral and social science research. Congress doesn't set the numbers at the program level, so we'll have to wait until the NSF budget clears Congress and has been signed by the President to see how that plays out. But for NSF to even propose such a large increase is a clear signal of its enthusiasm for these areas.

One sure thing is that NSF has the Senate's backing on behavioral science. In the report that accompanied NSF funding, the Senate Committee gave a favorable nod to the pending reorganization of NSF's behavioral and social science research directorate (see the March Observer for details), and the Committee also encourages NSF to use the most recent Human Capital Initiative (HCI) report, titled "Basic Research in Psychological Science," to guide its research priorities. (See the APS website, or drop me a line, to get a copy of the HCI report.) Both topics were a focal point of our testimony on NSF this year. The report language below, which was initiated by APS with the support of Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) is the latest in a series of encouraging comments from Congress regarding the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) directorate and the Human Capital Initiative at NSF.

Excerpt from S. Rpt. 105-216 on FY 1999 Appropriations for the National Science Foundation:

"Behavioral Science Research -- The Committee understands that NSF is reorganizing its behavioral and social science research programs to accelerate the impressive advances that are occurring in these areas. The Committee applauds this reorganization as a sign of NSF's expanding commitment to these areas and reiterates its belief that basic research in the behavioral sciences is central in understanding and addressing many national concerns. The Committee also is pleased to note the publication of Basic Research in Psychological Science, a Human Capital Initiative report on the achievements in many areas of psychological research such as visual and auditory perception, memory and learning, decision making, social and culture-based behaviors, and human development. The Committee encourages NSF to use this report in establishing behavioral and social science research priorities." (p. 115)

As of this writing, action is scheduled to start in the House on June 18th.

Best, Alan