sic research obligations were $218.6 million, with 

 $48.7 million in the life sciences and $169.3 million 

 in the physical sciences. These obligations can be 

 further subdivided — the life sciences into $30.7 

 million for the biological sciences, $17.0 million for 

 the medical sciences, and $1.5 million for the agri- 

 cultural sciences; and the physical sciences into 

 $149.7 million for the physical sciences proper, $4.9 

 million for the mathematical sciences, and $14.7 mil- 

 lion for the engineering sciences. ^oi Qf the $218.6 

 million total, $146.7 million was classified as extra- 

 mural but the research was performed chiefly at na- 

 tional laboratories operated for the AEC by a variety 

 of contractors. Of the rest, $51.8 million was for re- 

 search performed by educational institutions and 

 $6.5 million for that by industry. AEC reported $4.5 

 million as intramural. -'O- 



Current Trends 



During 1975, the fiscal year during which it was 

 established, ERDA's reported estimate of obliga- 

 tions for basic research in the life sciences was 

 $15.6 million for 1975 and $17.6 million for 1976. 

 One year later, in 1976, the figures reported were 

 zero for both 1975 and 1976 and also for 1977. 

 However in 1977, the pendulum swung back and 

 the figures reported for 1976 and 1977 were both 

 over $24 million for basic research in the life sci- 

 ences. There is no indication that actual changes in 

 program accounted for these fluctuations. ^0' 



Some research was transferred from NSF in the 

 solar energy and geothermal fields, but the dollar 

 value of these projects was small. With the re- 

 search of the ERC's not included in the basic re- 

 search reported by ERDA, the 1977 ERDA basic 

 research obligations probably reflect the trends in 

 the research programs which came from the AEC. 

 Estimated obligations for 1977 are $390.7 million 

 total for basic research, divided into $24.9 million 

 in the life sciences, $297.5 million in the physical 

 sciences, $3.5 million in the environmental sci- 

 ences, $6.8 million in mathematics, and $58.0 mil- 

 lion in engineering. Of the total, $311.1 million is 

 for research performed by ERDAs FFRDC's and 

 $77.0 million for that by universities and colleges. 

 That basic research which is performed by other 

 nonprofit institutions, industry, and in-house per- 

 sonnel amounts to $2.6 million. ^"^ 



"'"hederul Funds. Vo\. XIII, NSFfi5-n, Tahle C-22 as sutise- 

 quently revised toeorrecl NASA reported obligations. 

 '"-Ibid. Table C- 18. 



"^"'Federal Funds. Vol. XXIV, NSI- 75-323. Tables C-34 and C 

 ^5■. Vol. XXV, NSr 76-31.S, Tables C-33 and C-34: Vol. XXVI 

 NSF77-3 17. Tables C-33 and C:-.34. 



""Ibid.. Vol. XX VI. Tables C-.3() and C-34. 



ERDA had less than 3 years in which to inte- 

 grate very diverse programs and to bring together 

 various groups of personnel, each of which had 

 their own operating history, in an attempt to build 

 an agency with a new focus. The newly formed 

 Department of Energy now faces the task of con- 

 tinuing what was started by ERDA and accom- 

 plishing further integration and refocusing. 



Veterans Administration^os 



The Veterans Administration (VA) was estab- 

 lished in 1930 to bring together all groups respon- 

 sible for veterans' benefits. In our early history 

 there were no veterans" benefits except pensions; 

 these were usually granted many years after a war. 

 For example, pensions were distributed 52 years 

 after the Revolution and 18 years after the 

 Spanish-American War. 



Origins 



Caring for disabled, sick, and homeless veter- 

 ans has been a national concern since before the 

 Civil War. The Soldiers Home was founded in 

 Washington, D.C., in 1851 but with very little 

 support from appropriated funds. In 1865 a Na- 

 tional Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers 

 and Sailors was established by act of Congress. 

 Several such asylums were built and their names 

 were changed to "homes" in 1873. 



After World War I, the United States had 

 204,000 wounded to be cared for, and the PHS 

 was expected to take care of them. The Army and 

 the Navy wanted to hold patients until they had 

 received maximum hospital care, but the veterans 

 wanted to go home. At the same time, a more 

 generous Government had provided war risk in- 

 surance under an office of that name, and a reha- 

 bilitation division under the Federal Board for 

 Vocational Education. In 1921 a committee was 

 appointed under the chairmanship of General 

 Charles G. Dawes to alleviate the confusion. 

 They met continuously from April 5, 1921, until 

 their report to the President was ready on April 7, 

 1921. The committee recommended immediate 

 consolidation of responsibility under the Office of 

 War Risk Insurance; later in the year, that Office 

 and the Rehabilitation Division were made the 

 nucleus of a new Veterans Bureau. The following 

 year 57 PHS hospitals and the PHS personnel of 

 the 46 of these that were operational were trans- 

 ferred to the Veterans Bureau. After two difficult 



'"''Except where otherwise indicated, this entire section was 

 taken from Adkins, R. E.. "Medical Care of Veterans," 

 House Committee Print No. 4. 90th Congress (GPO. Washing- 

 ton, D.C., 1967). 



360 



COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AND HISTORICAL TRENDS 



