We are pleased to welcome this morning as our opening witness, Mr. Jim 

 Wells, Associate Director of Energy and Science Issues for the Resources, 

 Community and Economic Development Division of the General Accounting 

 Office, who will present the findings of the GAO report. 



He will be followed by Dr. Darwin Murrell, Director of the Beltsville Agri- 

 cultural Research Center; Mr. Steven Ficca, Associate Director for Research 

 Services at the National Institutes of Health; and General Billie J. McGarvey, 

 Director of Facilities for NASA, who uill comment on the laboratory condi- 

 tions and their impact on research and development programs at each of their 

 agencies. 



We will then conclude with a statement from Dr. Joseph Martino, a senior 

 research scientist from the University of Dayton in Ohio. 



Gentlemen, we wiU hear from each of you, and at the conclusion of that, 

 we \\dll have some questions for the members of the panel. 



Mr. Wells, why don't you lead off. We would be happy to hear from you. 



HATEMENT OF JIM WELLS, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ENERGY 



AND SCIENCE ISSUES, RESOURCES, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC 



DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE 



Mr. Wells. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



We're pleased to be here today to discuss the findings of the report which 

 you are releasing today to the public. We have a number of copies that are 

 available. 



In light of the fact that you excellendy summarized the results of the GAO 

 finding, I'll be glad to summarize and hit the highlights and ask that my state- 

 ment be permitted to be submitted in the record in its entirety. 



Senator Sarbanes. Your fuU statement will be included in the record. 



Mr. Wells. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, you genuinely expressed 

 concern about the federal research agencies, that they may be underinvesting 

 in maintaining, repairing and upgrading their laboratory facilities. You wanted 

 information on the condition of the laboratories, the effect of inadequate fa- 

 cilities on the agencies' scientific productivity and their research capabilities. 

 And you also wanted information on the funding needed to repair or upgrade 

 these facilities. 



We collected information on eight federal agencies that have responsibility 

 for over 220 government-owned laboratories that spent $18 billion last year in 

 R&D funding. 



These agencies were the Department of Commerce, Defense, Energy, 

 EPA, NASA, Agricultural Research Service, NIH, and the Geological Survey. 

 Together these agencies spent about 73 percent of the total $24 billion R&D 

 dollars that were spent in 1992. 



The federal laboratory complex and its many facilities has grown rapidly 

 between 1943 and 1972 as their agencies expanded their R&D missions. By 

 the early 1990s, these facilities have aged. Fifty-four percent of the space was 

 more than 30 years old, with 31 percent of the laboratory space more than 40 

 years old. 



We brought a series of pictures with us this morning to highlight some of 

 the conditions that we saw at the five federal laboratories that we visited. 



