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Response to Questions submitted to Charles Hess 



by The House Agricultural Subcommittee 



On Departmental Operations and Nutrition 



1. Why should the Federal government be funding Agricultural research facilities in the. first 

 place? 



The research sponsored by the Federal government, particularly within the frame-work of 

 the National Research Initiative, addresses high priority research areas of national interest. 

 Economists have shown that there is considerable "spillover" of research results that go far 

 beyond the state boarders of a particular university or agricultural experiment station. It 

 Is appropriate that the Federal government share in the cost of the facilities in which to 

 conduct research as it currently does in the support of the costs for the research itself. 



2. When facilities need renovation and scientists need more space, what is the solution? 

 Especially when it all costs more money. 



One solution is to have a competitive facilities program requiring a one-to-one match with 

 non-Federal dollars. By default we already have a facilities program which is funded 

 somewhere between $50 and $70 million a year and whose current total commitment is 

 somewhere between $471 million and $597 million. As I have indicated in my testimony, 

 there is not a good match between the research programs funded by the NRI and the 

 facility program, nor is the funding for facilities going to locations where the research is 

 being conducted. With a competitive facilities program, funds would go to build or 

 renovate the highest priority facilities. By having a matching requirement, you can be 

 assured that the state making the proposal will be making a substantial commitment to the 

 project and will be interested in seeing that the project is a success. If other agencies such 

 as the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense 

 were encouraged to have competitive facilities programs, then there would be enough 

 funding to really begin to address the US research university infrastructure problem 

 identifled in the NSF studies on facilities. 



3. Why do you feel that Universities compete for direct appropriations to have their facility 

 needs funded? 



The need to find funding for the construction and renovation of facilities is becoming more 

 and more serious, particularly as the sophistication of the research increases as in 

 recombinant DNA or biotechnology research. Funding at the state level also has become 

 highly competitive. Finally, some states have been very successful in obtaining direct 

 funding. Scientists in other states are putting pressure on their administrators to do the 

 same. We are experiencing a "snow ball" effect. 



4. Please explain what you envisioned the competitive facilities grants program would 

 accomplish? 



The goals of the competitive facilities program are to: 



