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October 18, 2002
18 October 2002
Allison Salyer, editor
asalyer@aaes.org
WASHINGTON UPDATE
European Union nations failed to agree this week on rules to allow new biotech crops in the farming and food industry, but a top EU official said an end to the ban on such products was inevitable. The United States is considering going to the World Trade Organization to challenge the 4 year old moratorium on approving new genetically modified organisms. But divisions among the 15 EU nations on biotech labeling and tracking rules have kept the ban in place. Additional information may be found at www.washingtonpost.com
The Senate has approved the House Science Committee plan to bolster the nation's cyber-security. The bill, which is cleared for final approval by the House of Representatives is the result of numerous discussions that highlighted the emerging cyber-terrorist threat and the lack of a coordinated U.S. response. Under the bill (H.R. 3394), the National Science Foundation will create new cyber-security research centers, undergraduate programs grants, community college grants and fellowships. The National Institutes of Standards and Technology will create new program grants for partnerships between academia and industry, new post-docs, and a new program to encourage senior researchers in other fields to work on computer security. H.R. 3394 authorizes $903 million over five years for these new programs, to ensure that the U.S. is better prepared to prevent and combat terrorist attacks on private and government computers. Additional information may be found at www.house.gov/science
Unable to resolve disagreements about drought aid, Medicare givebacks and tax cuts, the House passed a continuing resolution lasting through November 22, by a 228-172 vote and is planning to leave Capitol Hill and return for a lame duck session the week after Election Day. The Senate also approved the CR under a unanimous consent agreement, but planned to be in session through the middle of next week. Additional information may be found at www.nationaljournal.com
The North Korean government has acknowledged for the first time that it has been secretly developing nuclear weapons for years in violation of international agreements, Bush administration officials admitted this week. The North Koreans, who confirmed the project when challenged by visiting U.S. diplomats earlier this month, said the existence of the program nullifies a 1994 deal with the United States to halt their nuclear weapons program in return for foreign help. The Bust administration, stunned by the admission, dispatched envoys to the region to consult with allies and called on North Korean leader Kim Jong II to halt the weapons project. The administration has also begun consultations with Congress about what to do next. Additional information may be found at www.washingtonpost.com
Association News
ASME
FIVE NEW STATE COORDINATORS SELECTED
ASME's Board on Government Relations is pleased to announce the appointment of five new 2002-2003 state government coordinators. They are: Dr. Franklin Chen of California, Dr. Frank Kreith of Colorado, Mr. Richard Heinecke of Mississippi, Mr. Andrew Blelloch of New Jersey, and Mr. Ted Aanstoos of Texas. The new coordinator bios can be found at: www.asme.org/gric/Coordinators/Members.html .
The State Government Coordinator program enables Society members to contribute their professional experience and expertise to the public policy process on a part-time basis. Coordinators monitor the important technical aspects of state legislation, provide information, and assist state legislators on technical and engineering issues. In addition, coordinators identify opportunities for Society members to influence the law-making process at the state government level.
For more information about the state government coordinator program, go to: www.asme.org/gric/Coordinators/CoordinatorsHome.html , or by contacting Melissa Murray at murraym@asme.org .
IEEE-USA On Oct. 15, IEEE-USA faxed a message to the U.S. Senate urging passage of the Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering and Development Act (S.2951). See letter at: http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/2002/02oct15.html
On Oct. 11, IEEE-USA released a new position statement on Copy Control Systems, which outlines concerns regarding industry and government efforts to mandate inclusion of specific copy control technologies in hardware as a means of copyright protection. See: www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POSITIONS/copycontrolsystems
On Oct. 11, IEEE-USA joined with a NERC coalition in a letter to House and Senate energy conferees urging retention of electrical power reliability provisions in final energy legislation. In a seperate letter, IEEE-USA wrote to conferees seeking inclusion of the Senate electric power reliability title (Title II, Sec. 206) in final energy legislation. See IEEE-USA letter at: http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/2002/02oct10.html
AAES
On October 8, AAES submitted testimony to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space on the issue of Title IX and the Sciences. In the testimony, AAES strongly supports increasing the strength of the engineering workforce by enhancing diversity. In that vein, we asked the Committee to consider the following options- Establishment of public-private partnerships to ensure equality of opportunity and diversity in the sciences at all levels; Allow federal funding to support single-sex charter schools or single-sex math and science classes; Increased funding of the Math and Science Partnerships Initiative; and Increased institutional graduate support for women at colleges and universities.
ASCE
Congress Approves Budget through Nov. 22; Highway Funding Maintained at $31.8 Billion Rate
As Congress remains mired in gridlock over homeland security, appropriations bills and other measures, leaders pushed through a fourth continuing resolution (CR), this one to keep the government operating through November 22nd. The level of highway funding in the continuing resolutions has been the subject of much debate, with transportation authorizers in the House of Representatives insisting that the $31.8 billion level of funding in the FY 2002 budget be sustained in any CR. While the total amount of funding may not exceed $27.7 billion, the money will be disbursed to the states at a rate based on the $31.8 billion level. Provided Congress passes a new transportation funding bill before next summer, the program will not exceed the $27.7 billion cap.
Meanwhile, Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, gave a speech from the Senate floor decrying the threatened cuts to the highway budget, saying that less funding for highways would seriously damage the already faltering economy. ìThe cut in funding Ö means nearly 200,000 Americans will not find gainful employment. According to the Department of Transportation our network of highways contributes, on average, one-quarter of the yearly productivity growth rate in the Unites States,î Jeffords stated.
Restoring highway funding to the FY 2002 level of $31.8 billion is a top priority for ASCE as well as several other organizations, including the nation's governors. ìWith the national economic recovery continuing to lag, governors are concerned by the prospect of a $4.1 billion reduction in highway funding, despite unanimous action in July by the Senate Appropriations Committee to maintain critical highway funding at the fiscal 2002 level,î read a statement released by the National Governors Association on September 26, 2002.
Budget Impasse Stalls EPA Budget for Fiscal 2003
A budget logjam in Congress has stalled action on the Fiscal Year 2003 appropriations for most federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
EPA officials say they are assessing the effects of having to use the $7.9 billion spending level for FY 2002 for several more weeks. The new fiscal year began October 1. "Everything pretty much is business as usual," an official said. But officials also acknowledge that a lengthy budget impasse on Capitol Hill may cause trouble if lawmakers do not give the agency a new budget soon.
This week the House and Senate approved a stop-gap continuing resolution that will keep the government operating at FY 2002 levels through November 22. It is unclear, however, whether the remaining 11 spending bills, including EPA's budget, will pass in a lame-duck session after the November 5 elections. Some Capitol Hill sources expect the spending issue to actually be shoved off until the next Congress, especially if the elections result in a change in party leadership in either chamber.
The $7.9 billion EPA budget for FY 2002 is an improvement on the Bush administration's FY 2003 proposal of $7.6 billion. But the House and Senate appropriations committees have cleared bills that would provide $8.2 billion and $8.3 billion, respectively, for EPA in 2003.
Conference Committee Approves NSF Authorization Bill
A House and Senate conference committee has completed work on the National Science Foundation (NSF) reauthorization bill, S. 2817. The bill authorizes increases in NSF funding that would double funding by 2007. The bill authorizes the doubling of the NSF budget by FY 2007. The bill would achieve this by 15% increases for the next five years. The House and Senate must still approve the compromise.
In a major victory for the advocates of K-12 math and science education, including ASCE, provisions that would consolidate NSF and Department of Education Math and Science Programs into a single program at NSF were deleted. ASCE, and a coalition of education, scientific and engineering groups expressed concern that this would remove any focus on math and science programs from the Department of Education.
Additionally, parts of the ASCE-supported Technology Talent Act were incorporated into the bill. The Technology Talent Act focused on increasing the number of math, science, technology and engineering undergraduates in the U.S. Under the bill, NSF would establish a multi-year "Tech Talent" competitive grant program that would award performance-based grants to institutions of higher education in hopes of increasing the number of undergraduate students studying science, math, engineering and technology disciplines. More information on these bills can be found at: thomas.loc.gov.